Episode 24 of Season 11 of The Walking Dead had a lot to unpack.
First up, the conflict at the Commonwealth had to be resolved, and this occurred in two parts.
The most present danger was the swarm of walkers that had managed to infiltrate the community. Luckily, an explosion fixed this.
Then, leadership had to be dealt with. Mercer (Michael James Shaw) took Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) into custody, and viewers found out later on that Ezekiel (Khary Payton) was the new leader of the group, with Mercer as his lieutenant governor.
While this seemed to tie everything up neatly by the end, AMC gave us a bonus section featuring Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira).
And now viewers want to know more about that bonus scene.
Rick is on the run from the CRM
While we all knew Rick was taken by the Civic Republic Military (CRM), there has been little news regarding what has happened to him since.
This is set to be explained in a limited series featuring Rick and Michonne that will drop in 2023.
So, it comes as no surprise to see Rick wearing a CRM jacket. And, it should probably not come as a surprise that the character is trying to escape them — likely to get back home to his family.
Rick may have managed to escape the CRM, but it’s not for long, and his capture is shown in the final episode of The Walking Dead.
As pointed out by Entertainment Weekly, a helicopter flies overhead, and Rick quickly ditches his bag containing a journal, shoes, and the phone that Michonne found before she went searching for him.
He throws the bag onto the back of a boat, which explains how they were found by Michonne.
It is made clear in the clip that Rick and Michonne have still not yet met up, and she is still searching for him.
Michonne has some awesome new armor
While it looks like Michonne and Rick are together by a campfire and talking to each other, it turns out not to be the case.
Instead, Michonne is writing in the journal and reading it out loud, giving the impression the two are speaking.
A new outfit reveal was also made for Michonne, and it is quite stunning.
Wearing leather armor, contoured to fit her body, it is tied together using leather thongs. She also has a head covering that has a wire grill to protect her face.
And her horse doesn’t miss out either, featuring matching leather pieces that help protect the animal from the undead as she searches for Rick.
While many viewers were eager to have Rick, at least, feature in the final episode of The Walking Dead, according to the series showrunner, Angela Kang, they felt it was crucial not to overshadow the rest of the story unfolding in the final season. And this was something Lincoln and Gurira also agreed on.
“It was really important to them that they didn’t feel like they overshadowed what the current cast was doing,” Kang told Entertainment Weekly.
This was also something director Greg Nictoero felt was important.
“We didn’t want it to take away from the narrative that had been told for the last season-and-a-half,” Nicotero said.
“Because it wouldn’t make sense to just have Rick show up and save the day. And that would take away from some of the other characters.”
As to how these two finally meet up remains to be seen, and viewers will just have to wait until their spinoff show drops next year in order to find out more.
All seasons of The Walking Dead are now available on AMC and AMC+.