Has The Walking Dead Finally Figured Out What to Do with Daryl Dixon?

This post contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 7, “Stradivarius.”

For the sake of Walking Dead fans everywhere, lets hope that Daryls new pet this season fares better than his old one. Remember seasons ago, when he rehabilitated a horse, just to see it eaten alive by walkers?

This time around, Daryl has opted for mans best friend—and thats not the only change hes made. As seen briefly last week, and a lot more during Sundays episode, Daryl is now living on his own in a camp in the woods, guarded by his dog. For a while now, Daryl has been floating on the margins of The Walking Deads most important stories, rather than acting as an important player; most of the time, it seems the writers have struggled to figure out what to do with him, barely giving Norman Reedus a few grunts by way of dialogue each episode. Now, at last, it seems theyve at least given him some direction—but will that grow into something more substantial?

At the very least, this episode made clear that The Walking Dead is trying to reconnect viewers with what they once loved about Daryl, re-establishing his core character traits and possibly introducing a new mission. Yes, hes still a loner, and yes, Carol is still one of the few people who can get through to him. (This week, she even gave him a haircut, in a moment thats sure to melt the hearts of any surviving Caryl shippers out there.) Daryl is still impatient, but also protective, as we saw during his heated exchange with the shows new rebellious and foolish teen, Henry. We should all hope that Daryls quest to figure out what happened to Rick—years after his disappearance after the explosion on the bridge—doesnt last too much longer, given Andrew Lincolns departure from the series for a movie trilogy, but hey—at least Daryl has a goal now. Its good to have goals!

But there is some cause for concern. Once again, Daryl has been split off from the main group, leaving him without any other characters to bounce off of. Its a move the writers have used on him several times—like when he and Merle struck off from the main group, or when the Saviors captured him. Usually, these gambits are short-lived and quickly reversed—but if Daryl can cross paths with the group fairly often, as he did in Sundays episode, perhaps this arrangement is actually for the best. After all, Daryl has made it clear multiple times that he has trouble functioning in a community—and anything is better than watching him sleep outside like a sullen outcast, as we did when the group first arrived in Alexandria.

Ahead of Lincolns exit from the series, it had been suggested that Reedus and his crossbow-wielding character would take center stage in The Walking Dead—but so far, that does not appear to be the case. Instead, its Michonne whos stepped up the most—a far more understandable decision, given her characters central position in more recent seasons. Its been Michonne who has developed, more than anyone, perhaps, into a capable leader—and with Rick and Maggie gone, its Michonne who appears to be struggling with what it means to be a leader who simultaneously must attend to her own battle scars. This week also introduced Jesus in a similar position over at Hilltop, trying to cope with the loss of Maggie. Its not yet been explicitly stated what happened to her, but the characters departure seems to have something to do with whatever divided the communities during that time jump. And whatever it was, it seems Maggie took Hershel and left without telling Michonne. Going forward, this continues to be the biggest mystery at the center of Season 9s latter half—well, that, and what the hell the Whisperers want.

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