The Walking Dead series finale includes heartbreaking deaths as well as hope: 'We are the ones who live' (2023)

This post contains spoilers for the Sunday series finale of The Walking Dead.

After 12 years, 11 seasons, 177 episodes,living Deadon AMC has come to an end, even if the zombie apocalypse continues.

And what a heartbreaking, blood-soaked ending.

When the penultimate episode ended with Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming) being shot by Governor Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) and popular characters fighting to save her, it was clear the 90-minute finale was going to hurt.

The episode began with Daryl (Norman Reedus) storming into the hospital asking for help, only to be met by Commonwealth soldiers who knock him unconscious. Meanwhile, the lost horde arrives. Fortunately, Judith wakes up long enough to find enough strength to close and lock the doors before returning to pass out on the floor next to Daryl.

And then come the first two victims of the night: Jules (Alex Sgambati) falls into the crush and musician Luke (Dan Fogler) is bitten. His friends manage to get him to the hospital and surround him as he bleeds out, but not before making sure they find the harmonica in his jacket pocket. He makes them promise that they will play. "Always."

Eventually, Daryl, Carol (Melissa McBride), Judith on a gurney, and the rest of the group leave the hospital, meeting Yumiko's doctor brother Tomi (Ian Anthony Dale), who begins working with Judith. And it looks like Little Ass Kicker lives to kick more ass.

Meanwhile, Rosita (Christian Serratos), Eugene (Josh McDermitt) and Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) find Coco and the other kidnapped babies, but are forced to take refuge in an ambulance amid the seemingly endless crush. They get out and fight the walkers before climbing up a pipe and through an open window a few floors up.

Gabriel, with a baby tied up, makes it to safety, as does Eugene and the baby in his care. As Rosita begins to climb, the hikers pull her down and she finally falls. The truth isTWDIn a fake way, it looks like she's desperate for a bit until she shows up and kills strays left and right. She gets into the ambulance and jumps into the pipe and out the window.

The next time we see her, Rosita is looking at a sleeping Coco. Eugene walks over and asks if she's looking forward to summer, but Rosita remains silent as he continues to rant about the benefits of babies learning to swim. He finally asks again: “I can't wait for summer. She gives him a look. "Rosita, when did you fall?"

She shakes her head and shows him a bite on the back. Your fate is sealed. She is immersed in her last moments with Coco. "You'll be fine," she tells Eugene herself. He replies, "I love you very much."

"I love you too," he says, letting a tear fall.

But there is another person whose fate must be clarified: Pamela Milton.

Mercer (Michael James Shaw) offers to help the ex-Alexandrians escape as he and the Commonwealth citizens at his side face an inevitable struggle. "People are dying and I can't sit still," he says. "This is not your fight. They are not your people."

Ezekiel (Khary Payton) disagrees. "Yes they are. And so are you," he explains. Aaron (Ross Marquand) chimes in: "We have to do more than just save ourselves." The rest of the crew quickly agree that they will stay and fight.

As everyone surrounds Pamela, she declares Mercer a traitor. But he won't accept it. "No, it is, Governor. Hundreds of citizens have been disappeared, the dead brought to our doors. Child shot at Pamela's house. Gated community as you approach treasury.

Gabriel marches towards the door: "We open the door and let these people in and I will kill anyone who tries to stop me." And Pamela tells her lieutenants to "shoot him."

But when Daryl insists, "We all deserve better... They have an enemy: we're not the walking dead," Pamela's army changes mood.

Mercer holds Pamela up while Gabriel opens the gates, letting the commoners in and letting the walkers out. Pamela sees the zombie Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) outside the gates and walks up to him, ready to let him kill her. But the suicide was more merciful than Pamela deserved, and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) shoots the zombie Hornsby, freeing her from it.

"You have to help them, Governor, all the people who are still out there!" Judith screams. "It's not too late. It's never too late!"

Everyone who lives quickly devises a plan to blow up the prosperous Commonwealth neighborhood, including Pamela's house, blowing up Living Color's "Cult of Personality." They pour gasoline down the sewers and plant explosives, burning up a good part of the Commonwealth in one of the biggest explosions of all time.

"We kept you alive after everything you did because we did all the things," Carol tells Pamela.

At the beginning of the episode, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) apologizes to Maggie for killing Glenn (Stephen Yeun) and gives a speech about how sorry he is and how she should live. "I finally understood what you must have felt," he says. "I'm sorry for what I took from you, what I took from your son."

Later, Maggie responds (and Cohan delivers a great monologue): "I've been thinking about what you said. I want to thank you. I can stop wondering if you'll ever say those words and if I can ever forgive you. Because now I know: I can't. Glenn was a beautiful person. I will never love anyone like that again. I remember that smile, his kindness, and how he made me feel. But when I look at you, all I see is this bat falling on his head, blood running down his face. I hear him calling me and I hear you taunting me as he dies So I can't forgive you even though I'm so thankful you saved my son Even though I know you're trying I'm trying too Because I don't want to hate you anymore I don't want to hurt myself like this never again. And I don't want my son to see if someone has that kind of control over me. If you and Annie want to stay, you deserve their place... Because all I have are my memories and not how I want to be remembered. Glenn."

The celebrations soon follow. Favorite characters gather for a meal just like Carl Grimes dreamed of just before his death. They all hug and laugh and eat and drink.

Lydia (Cassady McClincy) and Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari) meet again, and Magna (Nadia Hilker) and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) share a kiss, reviving their relationship. And Daryl looks out the window downstairs, catching Negan's attention. They nod and Negan walks away. Forever. (Or for now. As we know, somehow, he and Maggie will meet in New York CityThe Walking Dead: Tote Stadt, coming to AMC in April).

But Rosita is sitting alone at the dining room table, and Gabriel notices, and soon everyone knows what's coming. She enjoys beautiful and peaceful farewell moments with Maggie, Carol, Daryl, Coco and Gabriel praying for her in a true circle that draws near her. "Welcome to your arms of mercy," she begins.

Eventually, Eugene sits down next to her. "He wouldn't be the man I am today if he hadn't met you," he says. She turns to him and smiles, "I'm glad it ended up being you," she says, referring to the fact that he has to stop her from turning into a zombie once she's dead.

A year later, Eugene places flowers next to a plaque dedicated to Rosita and other loved ones who have died. He and Max (Margot Bingham) have a baby, named Rosie, and everyone smiles when Ezekiel and Mercer are sworn in as Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively. Judith receives a compass and a letter from Negan. Maggie wants to talk about the future.

And Daryl is ready for a new adventure. He and Carol sit on a bench for a final talk. "I want you to come with me," he says in a moment where fiction meets reality. (McBride originally wanted to star in his spin-off with Reedus.) "I'm proud of you. It's me. You took Hornsby's work and made it your own... You did better. And you will continue to do better."

"I can get a little sad," she says. "You're my best friend."

Judite and RJ join them and hug Daryl as he gets ready to get on his motorcycle. "I'll find you both," he tells Judith, meaning Rick and Michonne. "I'll take her home."

Judith, the smartest girl in the world, tells him, "Daryl, you deserve a happy ending too."

Daryl and Carol exchange "I love you" and he leaves.

But that is not the end. Boom: It's Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira)! In alternate stories, they alternate statements such as "I think about the dead all the time. And the living I've lost. I think about them every day" and "I kept trying to get close to you and your brother... but I still have you." you and you have me." We will always be together, even when we are apart. We are love and love is infinite.

"We are infinite."

And then we see it: Michonne looks like a true warrior still on a mission, Rick is disheveled and barefoot (and wearing a CRM jacket), forced to turn himself in to a helicopter. "They were located and ordered to surrender," says a voice from the helicopter. "It's like he told you, there is no escape for the living."

But Michonne says in an off-kilter comment: "Remember what I said. It's what he said: 'We are the ones who live.'"

The last scene shows Judith and RJ looking out over the field. “We have to start over,” she says. "We live."

living DeadThe spin-offs will air on AMC and AMC+ in 2023.

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