The Walking Dead Universe has seen many highs and many lows throughout its 15-year tenure. We all remember the good old days of Rick Grimes' early adventures as a lone sheriff wandering through the streets of Atlanta but we also remember the controversial season 6 finale, which made us wait months to find out who Negan killed off during his violent introduction. It's a rollercoaster being a TWD fan, that's for sure.
The same can be said all these years later, as the franchise continues to live on through its various spinoffs. But these spinoffs are particularly important due to the fact that they continue on the stories of some of the original characters, therefore continuing on the original story in a new and exciting way.
Now, the adventures are still continuing in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3, which features Norman Reedus' Daryl and Melissa McBride's Carol Peletier as they attempt to return back to Alexandria and / or the Commonwealth. However, it turns out that there is an unexpected twist this season, and fans aren't happy.
TWD fans critical of Carol's major new romance in Daryl Dixon season 3
The full-length trailer for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3 was released at San Diego Comic-Con and it very quickly generated a lot of buzz. It has already become the fifth-most-watched video on The Walking Dead's official YouTube channel, generating 3.6 million views on that platform alone. So, yeah, people are still talking about the TWD Universe almost three years after the conclusion of the original series.
The upcoming season of the show will see Daryl and Carol make their way to Spain (via London, it seems) as they continue their journey across Europe in the hopes of getting back home to the US. While there, however, it seems that Carol will find herself embracing a new, unexpected romance with a character named Antonio. The trailer features a brief glimpse of the new character (who is portrayed by Eduardo Noriega) looking into Carol's eyes longingly. And, well, fans aren't exactly happy about that - particularly because a large portion of the TWD fandom has been hoping for Daryl and Carol to get together for years.
Upon viewing the trailer, the "Caryl" shippers took to social media to vent their frustration over Carol's new love interest. One said "Carol needs DARYL, not Antonio", while another told Daryl to "PLEASE FIGHT FOR YOUR GIRL". One even said that they will no longer watch the TWD Universe shows "if they pair either of the characters up with anyone other than each other again". So, yeah, they weren't happy about being surprised by Carol's major new romance.
Daryl and Carol have shared a deep bond for the vast majority of the TWD Universe's run, starting all the way back at the beginning when the former helped protect Carol from her abusive husband Ed. Since then, they have become one of the franchise's best double acts, always helping each other out of life-threatening situations and being whatever the other one needed them to be in the moment. And because of the depth of this bond, fans have always wondered if it might evolve into a romance at some point.
They have had other romances throughout the original show's run (Carol's most significant being a long-term partnership with Ezekiel and Daryl's being a complicated romance with Leah), but fans have held out hope that they would realize that the love they always shared for each other would evolve into a romantic love. The series finale of The Walking Dead seemed to keep that door open when it had Daryl emotionally declare his love for Carol before departing on his new journey, but the first season of his own spinoff saw him start a relationship with Sister Isabelle.
It's also worth pointing out that all of the main characters on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (outside of Daryl and Carol) have either been killed off or written out. That includes Isabelle who, after being one of the show's most pivotal characters in its first season, was killed off midway through its second in a surprise twist. And taking that into account, things aren't looking good for Antonio.
Those of us who watched The Walking Dead in its early days were warned not to get emotionally attached to any character on the show as the post-apocalyptic world could take them from viewers at any given moment. The seasons many have changed, and most of the TWD shows may have ended, but this lesson still applies to the spinoffs. So, regardless of whether Carol and Antonio enjoy a short-term romance or a long-term one, the only characters guaranteed to make it right to the end are Daryl and Carol.
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