Be careful, because the story that follows may give away what happens at the end of season 5 of The Walking Dead. In the series’ final episode, which aired on Sunday, viewers will find out the answer to a question that has been on their minds for years: will Rick Grimes show up again? Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira said that they would work together again on the Rick and Michonne spin-off that will start on AMC in 2023. The news was shared at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
In the Season 9 episode “What Comes After,” Rick was taken away in a helicopter. The new series will show what happened to him after that. At first, there was going to be a movie trilogy based on Rick, but that plan has been scrapped in favor of the new series. It will also explain what happened to Michonne, who was last seen in the tenth season episode “What We Become,” in which she was heading north to find Rick.
Read on to find out if Michonne and Rick will show up in “Rest in Peace,” the finale of “The Walking Dead.” Spoilers ahead.
In 2018, exactly four years after Rick’s last appearance on The Walking Dead, a “catch-up” episode aired. It showed us what had happened to Rick and Michonne since the last time we saw them on the show. In the five-minute epilogue, Rick and Michonne are shown to be far away from each other in both space and time. During this time, they are all writing letters to their loved ones back in their old towns.
I think of the dead all the time. And the living who I lost,
Rick’s letter reads in voiceover. A collection of flashing memories of the dead appears in front of him: Carl. Lori. Shane. Dale. T-Dog. Hershel. Glenn. Rick thinks about those who are still alive. Daryl. Carol. Maggie.
I tried to get to you and your brother again and again. It’s too far for the radio now, I know that,
Michonne writes to her daughter, Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming), and the son Rick does not yet know he has: Rick “RJ” Grimes Jr. (Antony Azor).
But I still got you, and you got me. We’re connected. We’re still connected to everybody we ever loved.
I think about them all every day,
says Rick.
Their faces. What I learned from them. How they made me who I am. So much more than all this made me who I am.
Michonne tells their children,
We’ll always be together, even when we’re apart. We, together, are the strongest thing. We’re love, and love is endless.
Rick and Michonne’s stories start to run into each other and get mixed up:
So we, those gone…
…All of our lives…
…Those away…
…Become one life.
We are endless,
Michonne says.
We’re together,
Rick finishes, memories of Michonne flooding his mind.
Pieces of a whole that just keep going for what we gave each other. One unstoppable life. You showed me that. You gave me that.
But Rick and Michonne are not seeing each other right now. They are living in a completely different time and place.
Fans hadn’t seen Rick in a long time, and the last time they did, he had short, messy hair and a long, gray beard. Rick’s hair is now longer, and his beard is shorter. He still wears jeans and is covered in dirt. He is also not wearing any shoes. Rick wears a brown and orange worker’s jacket with the three-circle Civic Republic symbol embroidered. Michonne wears Rick’s ring as a pendant on a necklace around her neck as part of a traditional warrior’s outfit, which also includes a leather harness and a tabard.
She is seen holding a mobile device with the words “Believe a little bit longer” written in Japanese script below the lowercase letter “rick” and drawings of herself and Judith on the back of the device. Michonne found Rick’s bag and cowboy boots on Bloodsworth Island in Maryland. Now, Michonne has Rick’s bag and boots. Both of these things show that Rick is still alive, even though he was thought to have died when the bridge blew up six years ago.
I know you’re back there. I know your brother is back there. Just as sure as I know he’s out there. Somewhere,
Michonne narrates.
Not just as a part of us. He’s alive out there.
Rick is said to be relaxing on a muddy riverbank in the nearby wilderness. He only has a few things, like a kill stick, a can of food with a three-circle logo, and a cell phone. His old boots, a bag, and another pair of old boots are all next to the can of food.
It looks like Rick works at a Civic Republic Cull Facility, which can be seen on The Walking Dead: World Beyond. These are large-scale decontamination centers used to get rid of a lot of walkers at once.
At a different time, Michonne is seen on Bloodsworth Island organizing Rick’s things that she found on a boat with the number “672” that washed up there. Rick put that same phone inside a trash bag of the same color that was in his backpack at a different time.
I will find him,
Michonne says.
Because I know he’s trying to find us.
Rick makes his way to the riverbank, where he steps over walker parts that have been cut off. He then crumples up the handwritten note, puts it in a glass bottle, and throws the bottle into the water. He took off because he heard the whirring sound of the helicopter’s blades. Rick throws his bag over his shoulder and onto a nearby boat. The number that comes out is 672. Dozens of bodies of people who are no longer alive have been found floating in the water.
You can hear the pilot of the helicopter yelling instructions to his passengers:
Consignee Grimes! You have been located and are instructed to surrender. Remain in place with your hands up.
Somewhere else, Michonne is seen wearing something on her head that looks like a light armor helmet. A warrior riding a horse and carrying a katana goes into a canyon where there are a lot of zombies.
Remember what I said. It’s what he said. Hold it to your heart. It’s true. Forever,
Michonne says of the secret saying she shared with Rick and Judith:
WE’RE THE ONES WHO LIVE.
It turns out that Rick is in the waters near a post-apocalyptic version of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is the capital of the Civic Republic. Rick was standing with his hands in the air and watching as a CRM helicopter landed in front of him. This was the same kind of helicopter that had taken him away from Virginia.
Rick Grimes smiles as he realizes that they are messing with the wrong people.
The first episode of The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne will air on AMC and AMC+ in 2023. Rick and Michonne’s return to the world of “The Walking Dead” will be the main focus of the show.
