Warning: spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead's series finale
Daryl Dixon's mysterious spinoff trip to France may be solved thanks to 's series finale. When AMC announced would end with season 11, a spinoff series starring Norman Reedus' Daryl Dixon and Melissa McBride's Carol Peletier was revealed simultaneously. Peletier later dropped out as 's now-solo Daryl Dixon spinoff was confirmed as filming in Europe, with France as the focal point. Needless to say, this revelation raised questions over how and why Reedus' lone wolf character would sail across the Atlantic after 's ending.
's series finale goes a long way toward explaining . "Rest In Peace" ends with happiness reigning over the Commonwealth, Alexandria and Hilltop. Maggie, now reinstated as Hilltop's leader, decides the growing communities must learn more about the wider situation, and sends Daryl on this vital mission of discovery. Although Maggie doesn't mention specific stones she wants Daryl turning, implies that Maggie hopes to understand why the undead are changing. all but confirmed France is where the outbreak began and evolved, so if Maggie wants to learn more, it becomes logical for Daryl to go there.
In season 1, being the last to go dark when the outbreak began, hinting at the country's relevance. The post-credits scene of then revealed the French laboratory Jenner was communicating with, now abandoned and covered in graffiti reading "the dead were born here." A single scientist returns, but is killed by an unidentified man who reveals the French scientists seemingly responsible for the outbreak are all either dead or imprisoned. Helpfully, the gunman also blames the scientists for "[the virus] " in a veiled reference to variant zombies.
If Daryl Dixon went to France, therefore, he could find out how the outbreak began, , and may even learn if any progress for a cure has been made. Those answers appear to be exactly what Maggie is hoping to discover by sending Daryl on his scouting mission. Whereas Daryl Dixon's spinoff setting was something of an enigma beforehand, Maggie's request in the final moments of 's series finale bridges the gap between season 11's happy ending, and Daryl traveling to a completely different country.
Daryl's motivation for visiting France in his spinoff may now be clear, but a question arises over exactly how he discovers France is an important location in the first place. Communication is far from ideal in 's post-apocalypse, and France's role in the outbreak was seemingly unknown even to Dr. Jenner. may hold the solution.
The fabled French lab post-credits scene confirmed one of the scientific teams responsible for the virus, Primrose team, was in Ohio when the outbreak began. Primrose team never returned, meaning the scientists are feasibly still alive in AMC's , and if Daryl finds one of them, he may learn that the knowledge Maggie sent him to uncover awaits in France. The only lingering question mark is whether discovering the secrets of the zombie apocalypse should outweigh Daryl's responsibility to Judith as a father figure in .
