When does Merle die in The Walking Dead?
By Renee Hansen
Michael Rooker portrayed Merle Dixon in The Walking Dead series. This character is one of many created for the series that doesn’t have a comic book counterpart. He was the brother of Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), who still survives in the series.
Upon the first introduction of Merle Dixon, fans knew he was trouble. From the racial slurs to violent tendencies, it was obvious he would cause problems for the group. He is first seen on a rooftop in Atlanta, shooting off bullets for no apparent reason.
Despite his significant faults, he was deadly with a firearm, an expert tracker and hunter, and someone you wanted on your side in a fight.
The Walking Dead Merle Dixon
In season one, Merle was left on a roof in Atlanta handcuffed to a pipe. The keys had been dropped, and with a walker horde coming down on them, the rest of the group had to make their escape. When his brother Daryl found out about this, he demanded they return to rescue him. When they arrived, they found out that he had cut his hand off with a hacksaw.
It was assumed that he would die from the wound, but Daryl told them, “Aint nobody who can kill Merle but Merle.”
This would prove true as he reappears in the season 3 episode “Walk With Me.” He is sporting a new knife-hand apparatus and is a soldier in the Governer’s army. This is when he reunites with Andrea, and they are both shocked to see the other alive.
He would eventually join the group at the prison to be with his brother. No one wants him there because he almost killed Michonne and other things he did while under the orders of the Governor, but for Daryl’s sake, they tolerate it.
In the season three episode, “This Sorrowful Life,” he redeems himself. He was supposed to give up Michonne to the Governor so he would leave the prison alone, a deal Rick arranged. But instead, he let Michonne go and went to the meeting point to kill the Governer. Instead, the Governer got the upper hand and killed Merle with a shot to the chest, sealing his fate of becoming a walker.
Daryl would be the one to find his brother’s reanimated corpse. When the walker version of Merle attacks, Daryl stabs him multiple times out of rage and tearfully breaks down at losing his last remaining family member.
Some interesting trivia regarding Merle:
- He is the first amputee of the series.
- He was the second main character to become a walker after Shane.
- Rooker lost 28 pounds to prepare for his season 3 return.
- The first episode the Dixon brothers were featured together in was “Made to Suffer.”
Check out these cool behind-the-scenes photos of Rooker’s transformation into Walker Merle.
Next. The Walking Dead: Looking back at Conquer. dark
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