Walking Dead fans are bracing for another end of an era in the coming months. The beloved TWD Universe spinoff The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is set to conclude after its fourth season (which is expected to arrive on screens around September time). Starring Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride as their legendary TWD characters Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier, the series has taken the pair to France and Spain, expanding the horizons of the franchise as it did so.
Fans are understandably conflicted about the series coming to an end after just four seasons, but they are excited to see how it all ends. The TWD Universe still has space in its future for characters like Daryl and Carol to return, but audiences are still expecting some kind of major send-off for the pair's final season. And that would obviously include concluding some of the show's long-running arcs. That might just involve one of the show's fan-favorite characters.
Walking Dead fans convinced Manish Dayal will return in Daryl Dixon's final season
Could we see a familiar face return in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4? Actor Manish Dayal, who portrayed Ash in the second season of the series, recently took to Instagram to share a throwback photo dump of his time on the show, captioning it "even the apocalypse gets a photo dump". The main photo features him in the role of Ash from one of the season's earlier episodes, while the rest provide a behind-the-scenes look at his time on the show, featuring him alongside the likes of Melissa McBride, Norman Reedus, and veteran Walking Dead director Greg Nicotero.
Check out the post below:
Needless to say, the throwback to his time on the TWD spinoff has fans speculating that he will return in the show's upcoming fourth and final season. While some are surprised to learn that he has appeared in the legendary Walking Dead franchise, others are fully aware of his role, with one adding a comment saying "Hope we get to see Ash again", and the other outright asking "Are you coming back for season 4?" with eye emojis.
Although there has been no official confirmation that Dayal will be back for Daryl Dixon's final season, it's a pretty fair assumption to make. After all, he is currently involved in one of the show's biggest loose ends - a loose end that needs tied up in order for the spinoff to finish up in a satisfying fashion.
Ash was a fixture of the show's second season, which was subtitled The Book of Carol, as he helped Carol make her way to France, flying her from the US in his plane across Europe until they eventually arrived there and Carol reunited with Daryl. As fans who watched the first season will know, Daryl was tasked with looking after the young boy, Laurent, who was in danger from multiple threats due to the fact that he had become a symbol of hope. The four of them eventually made it back to the plane, but Daryl and Carol provided cover from the gunfire they were taking, allowing Laurent and Ash to make it into the sky safely.
While Daryl and Carol remained behind in France (and eventually travelled to Spain through the Chunnel and the Atlantic Ocean after a brief stop in London), the show hasn't provided an update on the status of Laurent and Ash. We know that they were travelling to the Commonwealth - one of the settlements that our beloved survivors on The Walking Dead now run, but the show hasn't officially confirmed that they made it there safely. And, with that, it will likely do that in the final season.
We know that Daryl and Carol are still in Spain, with the pair now looking for a new way home. The presumption is that the final season will conclude with them making it back to the US and returning to either Alexandria and the Commonwealth. If all goes to plan, Ash and Laurent could be waiting there for them - meaning that Manish Dayal and Louis Puech Scigliuzzi should, in theory, make cameo appearances. At least that's what we're all hoping!
Speaking of holding out hopes for returns, fans are also hoping that Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira will reprise their respective roles as Rick Grimes and Michonne in the series finale of the spinoff. The Rick and Michonne series, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, finally saw the duo return to Alexandria and reunite with their family after years apart. Now, were all hoping to see Daryl and Carol reunite with them. Lincoln has teased a return to the franchise, so the series finale of Daryl Dixon would be a good time to make that happen.
Taking all of that into account, fans are starting to convince themselves that Danish Mayal may indeed return in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4. And honestly, they have good reason to believe because, throwback photo dump aside, the show needs to fulfil one of its biggest cliffhangers, offering fans a return from both Ash and Laurent to show us all that they made it to the US safely. Laurent's survival is the very thing that kickstarted this show's storyline while Ash's involvement allowed Carol to reunite with her best friend; it would be fitting if the series ended by confirming that both of them were indeed alive and well.