In the season 1 finale of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Daryl sets out on a mission to return home and Codron makes a surprising decision. Keep reading for what happens in “Coming Home.”
Daryl’s Fight to the Death
After being put inside of a fighting pit by Genet, Daryl must fight to protect himself from dying and becoming a burner. Dr. LaFleur sends in the first walker that Daryl defeats rather quickly. After that Genet asks if that’s the best he’s got — but that was just the first. Dr. LaFleur sends in four more burners one of which explodes and two of the others go after each leaving two left. Quinn and Daryl are chained to each other with just a pipe and a axe between them to take down the two walkers which they do. Genet orders her men to kill Daryl and Quinn but Fallou shoots down one of them causing panic to erupt so that Daryl and Quinn can escape. As they make their way through the building, Daryl notices Quinn has a burn on his back but he reassures Daryl he can’t feel it. Once they get to a semi-safe location it all starts catching up to Quinn and Daryl attempts to free himself from the chain.
Quinn confides in Daryl, hoping that he would have gotten the chance to do it right the second time around with Isabelle but he only made it worse. Daryl notes that using his child to get her back way probably not the best idea but Quinn didn’t see it like that. Quinn thinks it’s too late but Daryl says it doesn’t have to be. He can buy Daryl some time and help save her and Laurent. Quinn agrees but the only way to separate them is to sever Quinn’s wrist off. Daryl uses Quinn’s belt to tie it up and before he cuts it Quinn asks Daryl to tell Isabelle what he did for her. Daryl nods and and makes a clean cut. Genet’s men hear the commotion and Quinn goes after them giving Daryl enough time to duck out of the way and get out.
The Great Escape
Daryl exits the building as Genet’s men fan out and look for him. Isabelle and Laurent have freed themselves from the cell because of Isabelle’s handy stealing skills. Daryl approaches a soldier on the ground with a blade lodged in his neck, seizing as the blood pours out of his body. He prepares himself for who may be around, only to run into Fallou, Sylvie, and Emile. They inquire about Isabelle and Laurent, wondering if Daryl has seen them but he hasn’t yet. Daryl makes his way to the cell block as Fallou gets a car jumped for them to leave. He finds Isabelle and Laurent who are trapped on the other side of the bars. Quinn’s zombified body approaches, startling them and Isabelle immediately tries to take him down. Another walker emerges which Daryl calls over and kills. He hands his axe to Laurent and tells him he can do it, he can save Isabelle. He’s basically paralyzed with fear but eventually does what Daryl says once he reassures him that God will forgive him.
The car breaks down mid trip so Daryl stops to work on it with Sylvie. They have a heart to heart, Isabelle expresses how much Laurent has changed since he’s met Daryl. Daryl doesn’t think he had anything to do with it, kids grow up. But Isabelle notes he’s never had that kind of influence — growing up with no father was probably better than Quinn. Daryl chimes in to tell her Quinn thought about her before he died and she asks if he asked Daryl to tell her that. Daryl lies and tells her no, he just thought she should know. Isabelle changes the subject to Daryl, she was afraid of him at first. She could tell he was dangerous but he could get them where they need to go. Isabelle also confesses that she lied to him about the picture. She asked Laurent to draw that once they got to the Abbey hoping it would convince Daryl to help them. Daryl says he’s here now and it’s not because of the picture.
Codron’s Switch Up
Codron finds the group with Genet’s men. One of them instructs Codron to kill Laurent first so it’s the last thing Daryl sees. He hands the gun to Codron but Daryl pleads with him, he’ll go with him but Codron points the gun at Laurent. Laurent utters three simple words: “God loves you.” Codron shoots all of Genet’s men and as he points the guns at the others he looks at Daryl and tells him not today — next time. He grabs hold of the compass and realizes they’re headed to the Nest. Codron tells them it’s a day’s walk North but they should burn the truck since it’s easy to track and then he walks away.
The Nest
The group finally makes it to the Nest and they really like it there. Daryl knows that at some point Genet will be coming for them but the hope is she won’t but if she does, they’ll be ready. Daryl helps train some of the men as Isabelle is slowly healing. He knows his time in France is coming to an end because he has to get home, so once his promise is fulfilled he’s leaving. They want him to stay because there’s a lot of people there that need him but he has family back home to consider. Daryl doesn’t clue Isabelle or Laurent in on this so when he’s just about to leave the Nest, Isabelle catches him in his quarters and wonders why he didn’t say anything. She wants him to stay but he’s dead set on getting back home — besides, the Nest isn’t really his vibe. He heads out before Laurent wakes, leaving his Rubik’s cube behind for him. Once Daryl gets near the beach, he stumbles across a graveyard and desperately starts searching for his grandfather’s gravestone, which he finds. He becomes overtaken with emotion but continues on his journey to the beach, the boat will be there any minute. He gets there and fights off a hoard of walkers and just as he’s approaching the shoreline he hears Laurent call out to him.
Freeport, Maine
A man is seen riding Daryl’s bike near the end of the finale. A mustang trails behind it and eventually the man gets off the bike to shoot at the car. He orders the person to get out with their hands up. Carol steps out letting him know she doesn’t want any trouble, she’s just looking for her friend and he’s driving his bike. The man has no clue who Daryl is and starts rummaging through her stuff in the trunk. She hits him across the head and when he wakes she wants to know where he got the bike from. He tells her about a shop a few miles up the road that he traded it for. She tells him if he’s lying, she won’t be back to help him. Carol hops on the bike and drives off.
