Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier wasted no time in raising some hell upon their arrival in Spain. Within just a few hours, the legendary duo revered on The Walking Dead crossed paths with the terrifying new villains, a young couple in love, and a brand new settlement offering temporary assistance. But upon realizing that the young couple was in danger due to La Ofrenda, and what it meant to El Alcazar, it became clear that our heroes would be sticking around for a lot longer than planned.
Daryl had to go to a dark place to rid himself of the lone soldier who got away from him when he saved Justina and Roberto, tossing him and his fellow El Alcazar soldiers off a cliff and down into a pit filled with hungry walkers. As the town's de facto mayor, Fede, tells Carol about the importance of the Alliance with El Alcazar, it seems that there are already cracks forming in the façade - cracks that got that much deeper when Daryl killed those men.
Where does that leave Daryl, Carol, and their plan to return home? The third episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3, titled "El Sacrificio", has some answers.
Rolling in the Deep
We pick up the next day as Guillermo Torres, the future king of Spain, approaches Fede's house and demands answers. Three of his men have gone missing within the walls of Solaz del Mar and he is not happy. He's also still displeased at Carol questioning their customs at dinner, asking Fede if his town is worthy of the Alliance. Now, the mayor has to prove it, aiding in the search party for the missing men. Torres is odious, making Fede kiss the ring. Theatrics aside, Fede knows Daryl and Carol are involved.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Antonio tells Carol that he liked seeing her "speak out of turn", adding that few have had the guts to speak up to Fede or Guillermo. Daryl begins making preparations for his and Carol's return to America by fixing the boat, but Carol is worried about this environment and thinks they can do more to help the people of Solaz del Mar, including Justina and Roberto.
Daryl heads to fix the boat, taking Roberto with him to help. Roberto knows someone who can help and drives them out to the coast. As they approach an old lighthouse, he reveals to Daryl that a ship's captain lives there. However, when they arrive at the gate, they are cornered by a woman brandishing a weapon. This is Valentina, and she wants to know who Roberto's friend is.
Daryl introduces himself and tells her his plan to sail back home to the US. She laughs at first, but she knows where they might find a new rudder as the old one is too damaged to fix. However, Roberto has a demand: He wants to go to America with them so that he and Justina can be together, free from ever having to face another year of La Ofrenda. Daryl doesn't agree at first, but Valentina backs Roberto, telling Daryl that she won't offer her ethanol or truck for assistance unless he takes them to America.
As Daryl drives himself and Roberto to their new destination, they pass a statue. Roberto tells Daryl that this is the the Camino de Santiago (or the way of Saint James), where pilgrims walk the trail in search of something (perhaps faith or hope) and people come and leave messages for their loved ones. They carry on and arrive at the boatyard shortly afterwards. Although Daryl tells Roberto that he understands the need to run away, he also believes he will regret it in the future. We are then given another fleeting glimpse into Daryl's past via a jumbled flashback.
At the coast, the pair find a rudder just like the one they need. However, all the noise that they make trying to remove it awakens a bunch of walkers (which come to life in some very cool but terrifying ways). Daryl and Roberto fight their way out of the first round, but too many start coming and it's time to retreat. However, Roberto can't retreat and let go of the idea of escaping his town, so he goes back. He's very nearly killed by a trio of walkers who come out of the water, but Daryl saves the day. They lie down on the shore and Daryl gives him a tap of respect for having saved the rudder.
On the way back, Daryl stops the car at the Camino de Santiago and leaves Laurent's Rubik's Cube by it, saying that he hopes he has a new one by now. After that, the two head back to Solaz del Mar as night begins to fall. Daryl asks Roberto if he's ever been to Ohio, telling him to expect a lot of corn.
It's an uplifting moment, as the grumpy lone wolf Daryl has seemingly relented, allowing Roberto and Justina to come with him and Carol back to America. However, they are about to encounter a new problem as they arrive back in Solaz del Mar.
Secrets revealed in Solaz del Mar
Before leaving to fix the boat with Roberto, Daryl told Carol to grab the solar panel on the side of Antonio's house, as they would need it for their journey. Antonio subsequently saw her staring but he didn't say anything, telling her that her bandage needed changing. As he re-dresses her wound, he speaks about his determination to protect Roberto, revealing that he had lost Roberto's mother in an accident. But he stops himself from revealing anymore, tensing up when Carol asked about it.
That same day, Carol begins taking supplies from Antonio's home for the road when she hears screaming. She crosses the yard into a nearby door, grabbing a sword - yes, a sword - on her way over. It turns out that Antonio is actually watching classic movies on a projector and everyone is fine. He tells Carol to come in (assuring her she can bring the sword too!).
Antonio reveals that he built the makeshift theater that they are in. He and Roberto used to go on little missions to art houses to collect old movies during the early days of the apocalypse. Carol asks him why they would take the risk, and he says it's important to keep records of who humanity was before the apocalypse, comparing cinema to paintings, and arguing that others would save Van Gogh and other artists to preserve them through time; why not do the same with movies? Carol smiles and tells him that he sounds like Jerry, a friend of her's from back home (shoutout to The Walking Dead's Jerry!). Antonio then tells her to watch before the sun goes down as the projector is linked to a - you guessed it! - solar panel.
Back in town, Paz gets intimate with Elena, who has finally found a quick moment to escape her husband Guillermo to be with her true love. The pair reminisce on their former life together and how Paz ultimately had to stop looking for her when she was chosen to live a life in El Alcazar. But, for now, they have days to spend in each other's company... and that's all they can hope for at the moment.
Meanwhile, Justina discovers that Fede was actually fixing La Ofrenda every year to ensure that she didn't get chosen. Upon injuring her finger, she went to his cabinets and found that he had been holding onto her ribbons every time that the ceremony came up, meaning that she could have never been chosen. The guilt sets in as she still feels awful about Alba and her mother being separated, so she runs to see Roberto. But as he's out with Daryl, she reveals everything to Carol instead.
Carol tells her that she shouldn't feel guilty over Alba as she knows what it's like to blame yourself for something you can't fix. But that sparks an idea in Justina, who might just feel like she can fix things. She thanks Carol, hugs her and walks off on a mission. As for Carol, when she heads inside she is greeted with a candlelight dinner from Antonio.
The two sit down to a meal and Antonio reveals that he knows Carol has been interested in stealing the solar panel, as well as the food from his storage room - telling her that she can ask for help as she saved his son's life. This prompts a conversation about Roberto, and eventually, Justina. Antonio worries that the guilt Justina feels over surviving six Ofrendas might make her volunteer. In that moment, it dawns on Carol that this is exactly what has happened.
Carol and Antonio head into town to see Justina in a car with Elena which pulls off with a full El Alcazar convoy as they head back to their apparent kingdom. Fede reveals that his niece has offered herself up in place of Alba, leaving Carol and Antonio, as well as Paz, helpless to stop it from happening.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3 is now airing weekly on AMC and streaming on AMC+.