What happened to Morgan in The Walking Dead?

Morgan Jones, who Lennie James portrays in The Walking Dead, has been involved in the fandom since the pilot episode that premiered on October 31, 2010. He is one character who has come and gone repeatedly but has always been important. After all, he saved Rick Grimes in the premiere episode.

If you remember back to the first episode of The Walking Dead, Morgan and his son Duane (Adrian Kali Turner) saved our hero Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). As he walked about the neighborhood aimlessly with no idea of what the world has come to, Morgan takes him in and cares for him.

The father-son duo are the first people Rick encounters after waking from his coma. They explain what has happened since the outbreak and care for Rick and his wounds.

They teach him how to put down the undead with headshots, and Rick, his law enforcement training kicking in, asks ” “We’re sure they’re dead? I have to ask.” Morgan assures him they are dead but explains that something in the brain is recharged, but they are indeed dead.

Even though Morgan understood what was happening with the undead, he couldn’t bring himself to kill the reanimated version of his wife. This would eventually prove a huge mistake.

The Walking Dead Morgan Jones

When Rick and the Jones head their separate ways, the plan is to meet up in Atlanta. Rick honors his promise to radio them each evening, but he never hears from them. When he finds out that the undead overruns Atlanta, he does try to warn Morgan to stay away from the city.

In season 3, Rick, Michonne (Danai Gurira), and Carl (Chandler Riggs) are on a supply run when they encounter a man who shoots at them from a rooftop. This will be revealed as Morgan, but his mental state has been severely affected by what he has encountered. He shares the story of being unable to kill his wife, which leads to Duane’s death, telling Rick that the weak have inherited the earth. He declines their invitation to join them at the prison as he knows much death will follow.

The next time Morgan appears is in season 5 when he is seen on the railroad tracks that lead to Terminus. He eventually makes his way to Father Gabriel’s church, where he finds the note Abraham wrote on the map about the world needing Rick Grimes. This informs Morgan his friend is still alive.

Later this season, he is met at his campfire by a Wolves member. He eventually comes upon two men trapped in a van, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Aaron (Ross Marquand), and saves them. They invite him to Alexandria when he learns that Rick is there.

Morgan gets a special episode in season 6 titled “Here’s Not Here.” This episode deeply delves into what made Morgan into the character we see. A man named Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) introduces him to the book The Art of Peace and teaches him about the art of Aikido defense, which states, “completely avoid killing, even the most evil person.”

This alters Morgan significantly, and he learns his “all life is precious” mantra. But, it comes back to haunt him when he doesn’t kill the Wolves he met, and they end up infiltrating Alexandria.

Morgan becomes a productive member of Alexandria until the end of season 8. After the Savior’s war, Morgan heads to Jadis’ Heaps and remains there alone. He then decides to leave Virginia even after his friends try to convince him to stay.

During season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead, we see that Morgan has crossed over to this series, and his first meeting is with a man named John Dorie (Garrett Dillahunt).

Fear the Walking Dead  premiered its eighth and final season in May 2023 and Morgan is alive and well. He met a woman named Grace (Karen David) who he dearly loves and adopted a daughter Mo (Zoey Merchant). One episode “King County” sees Morgan return to Georgia to put his wife and son, from season 1 of The Walking Dead to rest. You can read more about that episode here. 

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