Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the finale of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol.

After a slow burn buildup through the first half of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol, things have taken off throughout the last two episodes. It took until the fourth episode for Carol (Melissa McBride) to find Daryl (Norman Reedus), which gave fans everything they wanted, but since then, the series has turned into chaos. Supporting characters have died left and right, with Isabelle (Clémence Poésy), Marion Genet (Anne Charrier), and Losang (Joel de la Fuente) being no more.

The two main villains of Daryl Dixon are dead, but that doesn’t mean everything is now great for Daryl and Carol. There’s still the matter of getting back home to the Commonwealth. Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) has been saved and is now with them, ready to go, but Ash (Manish Dayal) has found out Carol’s lie about Sophia. He could get over that, but even if he does, he has informed them that his small plane can only hold three passengers. This means someone is staying behind. In the season finale, “Au Revoir Les Enfants,” it looks like either Daryl or Carol will have to choose not to go home.

Carol and Daryl Both Want To Be the One Left Behind

The episode begins with Daryl gifting Laurent a guitar. The boy senses that Daryl has chosen himself to be left behind. Dixon confesses that he’s not coming, but says it will only be temporary, and he promises Laurent that he’ll see him again. The two then begin fittingly singing the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” as Daryl’s voice breaks. Is he going to be able to do this? Carol tries again to talk to Ash as he’s fixing up the plane. She tells him that she won’t be coming with them, which means Daryl and Carol are still going to have a choice to make. Ash isn’t so sure he wants to help now, but Carol asks that he doesn’t take his anger out on Daryl and Laurent.

We next see Fallou (Eriq Ebouaney) talking with Codron (Romain Levi) and a woman named Akila (Soraya Hachoumi). The two men enter an old hospital where rotting, long-undead patients still lie tied to their beds. They’ve come looking for medicine, but during their search, they are captured by a group of Genet’s former soldiers. They say that the still-alive Jacinta (Nassima Benchicou) is in charge now, and they want to know where the plane is. Before they can be killed, help arrives in the form of Akila with a bow and arrow. Most of the soldiers are defeated, but a woman escapes. Codron says it’s time to warn Daryl, and that he knows where he is.

Back at the plane, Laurent talks to Carol about Daryl staying behind. The look on her face tells us that she didn’t know and will now have to confront him. Alone with Ash, Daryl talks with the pilot about the loss of his son. He lets Ash know that he can still come to France to save a kid. After Daryl saves him from a walker attack, Ash tells Daryl that he’s glad he’s coming with them. Now Daryl and Carol both know what the other one is thinking.

Laurent Is Headed to America

Driving through the barren streets of Paris, Deminonde club owner Anna (Lukerya Ilyashenko) is stopped in the street by Jacinta’s forces. It’s Jacinta herself who walks up to her and wants to know where Daryl is. Anna’s driver is shot, and her friend will be killed next if she doesn’t help them find the plane. Anna won’t blink, bravely saying she won’t help unless she gets something too. She wants to be allowed to go back home, so if she helps Jacinta find Laurent, then the plane and the pilots are hers.

Daryl tells Carol she won’t let Daryl stay behind by himself. Ash speaks up, saying that Daryl knows Paris and he’ll need Carol’s help on the plane. Before they can discuss it further, Fallou and Codron show up to warn them that Jacinta is coming. They have to go now. Jacinta’s army, accompanied by Anna, who is forced to lead the way, shows up at the racetrack. Anna purposely takes them the wrong way, right into a horde of attacking walkers. Many of the soldiers fall, and brave until the end, Anna is taken down without even uttering a scream. Jacinta didn’t win the fight, though, as it’s revealed that she’s been bitten on the arm.

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Her soldiers hear the plane starting up and rush to the runway. Our heroes are shot at, with Fallou and Codron holding them off, as Ash, Laurent, and Carol get inside the plane. Carol gives Daryl a look, and he merely responds with “I know” before helping the others block the path. Ash races the plane down the runway as a trailing motorcycle follows. The soldier on it shoots at them, but he is taken out. Before they can celebrate, however, another vehicle enters the path. Someone who isn’t Daryl shoots at it, knocking them off course as the plane lifts in the air. The camera pans over to reveal that Carol is no longer on board. Instead, she is the one who cleared the path. She is staying behind. For Jacinta, she can only watch the plane go. Her plan for Laurent is over. With that knowledge, she shoots herself in the head.

Daryl and Carol Say Goodbye to Their Painful Pasts
Image via AMC

The plan now is for Fallou and Codron to help Daryl and Carol get to England with the help of some Scottish friends named Fiona (Sarah McCardie) and Angus (Matt Swift). From there they can find a way to get to America. The group sits around a campfire, getting to know each other. After Fallou tells an emotional story, he and Akila share a kiss alone. She’s not going to England with them, so this is her goodbye for the next day. By themselves at the campfire, Codron wants to know how Daryl killed his brother, but Daryl reveals that he wasn’t the one who did it. Codron learns that his hate for Daryl was all born from a lie. Daryl then leaves the fire to make sure Carol is okay after she wanders away. She begins to cry because she can’t remember what Sophia looked like anymore. She still mourns for Lizzie and Henry too, but Daryl tells her that it’s not her fault and that they’ll keep going.

The next day, the group ends up at the Chunnel, which will take them to England on a nine-hour walk. Fallou can’t go with them, deciding to stay behind with Akila. He hugs everyone goodbye before everyone else heads into the dark tunnel. Not far in, they come across a British military checkpoint, but everyone is dead. Angus finds a generator, and with the lights turned on, it reveals that the soldiers killed each other for some reason. There are lots of gas masks lying around, which tells Daryl that they need to keep moving. A hundred yards on, they come across bioluminescent plants, with walkers covered in it too. Everyone in the group starts to stumble around high from the effects. They’re able to fight off the approaching horde, but then Carol sees a vision of Sophia, which she follows into a side tunnel. Codron sees his own brother in a walker and is nearly killed before Daryl helps him. Confused, Codron attacks Daryl for killing his brother. He’s coherent enough to not kill Daryl, but then follows a vision of his brother into the darkness. Fiona and Angus then attack Daryl before putting on gas masks. They want the gas masks all to themselves and there aren’t enough to pass around.

Carol follows the vision of Sophia deeper into the tunnels where she even sees her own self as a walker. She speaks to it, and Sophia runs to her mother for a hug. Carol asks to come with her, but Sophia won’t let her. She walks away, looking back, which seems to give Carol some peace. Meanwhile, Daryl has his own vision of Isabelle coming to him to say goodbye. She tells him that he can’t die here. This gets Daryl moving, and he kills Angus and Fiona, then takes their masks. Carol comes out of the side tunnel and Daryl gives her a mask. “Let’s go home,” Carol tells him. The two best friends then begin walking through the Chunnel, just the two of them, while those familiar Rolling Stones lyrics play in the background.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol is available to watch on AMC+ and Sunday on AMC.

Daryl Dixon finds a clever way to keep Daryl and Carol together in the Season 2 finale.ProsDaryl and Carol being kept away from the Commonwealth was a smart move.Going to England and beyond will lead to more original stories.Carol saying goodbye to Sophia was a highly emotional moment. ConsAnother villain was introduced just to immediately die.Separating Daryl from Laurent was a disappointing turn.

Daryl’s journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home.Release Date October 1, 2023 Cast Norman Reedus , Clemence Poesy , Louis Puech Scigliuzzi , Laïka Blanc-Francard , Anne Charrier , Romain Levi , Melissa McBride , Joel de la Fuente , Adam Nagaitis , Eriq Ebouaney , Tristan Zanchi , François Delaive , Maxime Lefrançois , Lukerya Ilyashenko , Catherine Arditi , Hugo Dillon Seasons 2 Showrunner David Zabel Story By Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard Network AMC Franchise(s) The Walking Dead Expand

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