Throughout the course of The Walking Dead, there have been countless heartbreaking deaths that stayed with the various characters and still stick with them and motivate them in the various spinoffs. Even for the fans, saying goodbye to certain characters stings even to this day, especially when those character deaths continue to cast a shadow on TWD universe.
In the upcoming The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3, which premieres Sunday, Sept. 7 on AMC, Daryl will be feeling the pangs of a death that's personal to him, one that's going to haunt him for probably most of the season. But we're not talking about a death that occurred in the flagship series but one that happened in Daryl Dixon season 2 and play into the new season.
Isabelle's death haunts Daryl Dixon in season 3
As revealed in the latest episode of Behind the Dead on YouTube, Daryl Dixon showrunner David Zabel offered some insight into Daryl's state of mind in season 3. While Daryl will still be in search of home, even after being reunited with Carol, he will also be feeling the emotional aftershocks of Isabelle's death, which occurred halfway through the second season's run.
"For Daryl, this season is still a search for home," Zabel revealed. "And he still harbors a sense of responsibility and guilt that he didn't save Isabelle, and we wanted to explore that."
In Daryl Dixon season 2, Isabelle died following an altercation with Losang, a cult leader who stabbed her in the stomach. Losang was going to kill her nephew Laurent, who she literally ended up giving her life for. Isabelle was able to spend the final moments before her death with Daryl, asking him to keep Laurent safe now that she's gone. It's a truly heartbreaking moment we'll never get over.
Clearly, Daryl won't be getting over Isabelle's loss anytime soon either, which makes total sense. She's been there for him time and time again, especially in the beginning of his journey through Europe. In the first season, Isabelle was the one to swoop in and save him when he was getting himself into some real mess in Paris. She brought him to her abbey and kept him safe.
Daryl has seen a lot of loss during the walker apocalypse, and Isabelle's death might be the most recent one to hit him personally, but it's obviously one that means a great deal to him. To hear that he bears some responsibility, whether its fair to himself enough, and continues to feel guilt about not being able to save Isabelle hurts. That will surely be his driving force in season 3.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see how Isabelle's death will haunt him, even after killing Losang himself at the end of season 2. How will his guilt impact his decision-making in season 3? Will he feel an even greater responsibility to keep everyone he cares about safe? We can't wait to see what's coming up next in Daryl Dixon season 3, which leads into the fourth and final season.