After four seasons, how exactly will The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon end and, in doing so, close this version of the walker world?
Keep in mind that the entire universe isn’t going to end, but this is the finale for two of the franchise's biggest characters—Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride). Both were in the first season of The Walking Dead, moved to this spinoff after the first show ended, and are about to wrap up their time in the final season.
Now, Reedus hinted at how season 4 will end in an interview with TV Insider. Both he and McBride were asked, “What does 'home' mean?" after so long. This was Reedus's response:
“I can't tell you that because that's the ending of the show. You know it's been a theme. ‘Why do we keep running? Why do we keep fighting? There's got to be a better way to live.’ Daryl can't sit still, and you know, different ideas of what that means to the two of us, and we kind of find those answers through other people. You know what I mean? You got to watch the ending to figure out what it means.”
Hmm.
My theory brain is starting to tingle, and I’m not sure how much I like this answer.
For a reminder, we know this is the final season, but we also know it's basically the last spinoff of the main show for some time. The Ones Who Live won’t have a season 2 or anything like that. Dead City's status is still very up in the air regarding a potential season 4, but since it hasn’t been renewed, we have no idea.
We also don’t know if a Walking Dead reunion will happen. In reality, it could literally just be Daryl and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) somehow embracing at the end of Daryl Dixon after he finally returns home. We know Daryl runs into someone from the United States who says “Welcome home” to him in a season 4 preview, but other than that, no one else we know is visible.
Reedus basically says in the quote above that the two characters have “different ideas” of what home means. To me, that suggests they'll disagree about whether one will stay in Europe and the other might go home.
Frankly, this could happen. It’s not what I would imagine at first, but there have been instances that could point that way. Daryl doesn’t just want to go back home, but Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) is in America now, and he could run into Rick (who certainly isn't across the world in Europe).
As for Carol, she’s also had a bit of a romance with Antonio (Eduardo Noriega), who went on the run with them and planned to travel the world before their boat was destroyed. That relationship hasn’t lasted long, but it might grow even more in season 4, and it could lead to some separation.
But if we’re being real, I don’t think Carol would do that. I think she still cares for Daryl more than anyone, and there’s really nothing she could do to endanger that bond aside from what she’s done in the mainline show (like her change in season 4 and a few other choices later on).
Then again, that could mean she’s unpredictable, and her version of home might be very different from his. I’m not sure. Whatever the case, season 4 will likely end either amazingly or really, really sadly if these two are separated. Time will only tell. Will we get the ending we always wanted? Daryl and Carol against the world? I'm chomping at the bit for answers.
You can stream the first three seasons of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on AMC+ and Netflix. The series returns in February 2027.
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