After more than a decade, the beloved television series The Walking Dead has come to an end. Of course, fans will still have Fear the Walking Dead and several other spin-offs to look forward to in the future. In fact, the finale for The Walking Dead even sets up a rather exciting spin-off series during its ending moments.
Audiences no doubt expected the series to end when Daryl Dixon, played by Norman Reedus, drove into the distance with his motorcycle. After all, with how important his character became over the course of the series, it certainly would’ve been a fitting ending. But it turns out that there’s another sequence soon after with both Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira’s Michonne. The two were previously announced to be the focus of an upcoming 2023 spin-off series. Now the finale for The Walking Dead sets up this spin-off series during its ending in a rather exciting way.
The exciting sequence begins with the light of a match. It appears that both Rick and Michonne are lighting their own individual fires. They’re each separated from one another but writing letters for Judith. They essentially write that they are all one life together. Furthermore, Michonne armors up and leaves on a horse through a herd of walkers. Rick makes his way through the wilderness as he’s approached by a helicopter. “Consignee Grimes, you’ve been located and are instructed to surrender,” a voice from the helicopter declares. “Remain in place with your hands up,” he orders to Rick. Furthermore: “Come on, Rick. It’s like he told you: there’s no escape for the living.” We see that Rick has now come to the outskirts of a massive city.
While this sets up the spin-off for both Rick and Michonne, the finale does its best to tease other spin-offs as well. For example, we see Maggie speak with Daryl and Carol about traveling into the world. Carol wants to stay behind while Daryl agrees to focus on the future and see what’s out there. As such, Maggie is inevitably supposed to end up meeting Negan (who has already left Alexandria to atone for his sins) and Daryl will inevitably end up in Paris. Of course, other characters aren’t so lucky to survive for spin-offs. For example, Rosita is sadly infected and turns into a walker by the end.
On the other hand, Judith and RJ are both shown to be alive and well. Judith even looks at her little brother to say:
“We get to start over. We’re the ones who live.”
It’s certainly a fitting enough ending for The Walking Dead, at least with several spin-off shows on the way still. Hopefully we’ll have more details on those projects in the near future. As such, fans can stay tuned to ScreenGeek for updates as we have them.