The penultimate episode of The Walking Dead saw Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming) in a precarious situation.
Shot by Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) after her group infiltrated the Commonwealth, the episode ended with Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) carrying the child in desperate need of medical assistance and trying to escape the undead surrounding them.
During the scene, Judith was seen muttering a single word, “Dad.”
While this doesn’t bode well for those surrounding Judith, thinking Rick is actually dead and Judith is seeing him as she dies, viewers know that Rick is still alive.
Even though Rick was wounded significantly in Episode 5 of The Walking Dead’s ninth season, he was eventually saved by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and hasn’t been seen since the TV show — although Michonne (Danai Gurira) knows the truth and is currently looking for him.
But with Judith’s fate teetering on the precipice in Episode 24, does this mean that Rick could make an appearance in the final episode ever of The Walking Dead?
Will Rick Grimes show up in Episode 24 of The Walking Dead?
Already in Episode 23, Judith opened the episode by talking about her family, mentioning her father, Rick. At the close of the episode, there was that single utterance of the word “Dad,” so it seems very likely that Rick will, at least, get a mention in the finale installment of The Walking Dead.
With Michonne currently looking for him, it seems possible that the pair could show up at the end of the episode.
Although, what seems more likely is that a montage of memories and flashbacks could occur while Judith is injured and unconscious rather than Rick swooping in to save the day. And, as pointed out by Fansided, it would make sense to include some sort of reference to Rick and Michonne when the TV show concludes.
This definitely happened when Rick was injured before Jadis saved him, so it seems likely this could happen again.
Some of those takes were actually new interactions with Rick, and old characters were called in to film the scenes.
An Instagram pic may suggest an actual appearance by Rick in the final episode
Back in February of this year, an image shared by an Instagram account indicated that Andrew Lincoln might very well have appeared on set during the filming of Season 11, adding further weight to his character making some sort of an appearance.
The image showed both Norman and Andrew posing for a picture together with another person.
“Being in the Restaurant business helps me meet some incredible people,” kingsuh1018 wrote in the caption. “Thank you Mr. Reedus and Lincoln for coming by and trying our sushi. Such nice and humble guys!!!”
Of course, this image was taken in Atlanta and during the time when Season 11 of The Walking Dead was being filmed, so the possibility is very real that Andrew may have turned up briefly to film a few scenes for the final episode ever.
Of course, AMC has not released any official news backing this up so viewers will just have to hold out until Sunday night to find out for sure.
The Walking Dead airs every Sunday night at 9/8c on AMC.