The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon’s Biggest Death Yet Is a Huge Mistake

This article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 episode 4.

Even though the clue is in the name, it’s easy to forget that death can come for anyone at any time in the world of The Walking Dead. It’s no different for its ever-expanding roster of spinoffs, with the Norman Reedus-led Daryl Dixon also being stalked by the grim reaper’s shadow. Season 2 episode 4 “Le Paradis Pour Toi” is no exception, and while the latest death has killed off sparks of a budding romance, it might’ve opened the door for a much-requested pairing to rise from the ashes. 

There were two major deaths and an even bigger reunion in episode 4, as Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) finally found Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) during an emotional but silent scene. Meanwhile, the villainous Genet (Anne Charrier) suffered a horrible fate by being turned into one of her own Amper zombies, while Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) tragically died in the arms of Daryl. Isabelle at least proved to be something of a useful plot device, managing to tell Carol where she could find Daryl for the show’s long-awaited reunion. Considering Isabelle was Daryl’s love interest, another doomed TWD couple is confined to the history books. 

Angry critics have called out The Walking Dead franchise czar Scott Gimple for killing off another interesting character out of nowhere. Just weeks after it broke new ground of actually giving Daryl an on-screen kiss, it seems that shock value can outweigh storytelling on The Walking Dead. Poésy’s portrayal of Isabelle was a beloved part of the series, and having a gun-toting nun was a cool addition to the mythos. With Isabelle out of the picture, some think they know where this is inevitably going. Even if Daryl’s next relationship could be one that fans have been shipping for years, the fact it comes at the cost of Isabelle is a problem. 

The internet is already abuzz with theories that fans will finally see Daryl hook up with Carol. While we imagine Daryl will continue mourning Isabelle for a while, characters in The Walking Dead tend to get into relationships pretty quickly. Carol has at least shown some interest in Daryl in the past, memorably asking if they wanted to fool around in season 3. Also, you don’t tend to travel halfway around the world and battle your way through hordes of the undead for just anyone. But with part of Daryl’s charm having always been his lone wolf persona, to cave to fan pressure and throw him together with Carol would surely feel forced. Fans liked the potential of Daryl and Isabelle because it seemed to grow naturally through sponge baths and longing gazes. Instead, her death felt dragged out, and she was only ‘allowed’ to die after one final meeting with Daryl. 

Daryl Dixon showrunner David Zabel has suggested Daryl and Carol won’t become the next Rick and Michonne, previously telling SFX Magazine (via GamesRadar+) that it would be an “obvious” way to take the pair: “I always felt like that would be a mistake, because it would feel like you were going into the TV book of tricks. To me, there was never a question that [their connection] was something other than what it is, and what it seems to want to be, and why it works so well.” This is particularly frustrating when it comes to Isabelle because, in the same interview, Zabel said he spoke to Reedus about developing a more mature relationship between Isabelle and Daryl instead of falling back on fans shipping him and Carol. 

As for Isabelle, her death falls into a worrying trope that’s plagued far more than The Walking Dead. There are already complaints that Isabelle has been ‘fridged’ to catapult Daryl’s story forward. Being fridged goes all the way back to 1994’s Green Lantern #54, where Alexandra DeWitt was murdered and placed in a refrigerator. Gail Simone coined the term for the 1999 website Women in Refrigerators (WiR), explaining how it refers to female characters who are harmed or killed as a way to motivate a male lead. The Walking Dead has repeatedly done this with Rick Grimes’ (Andrew Lincoln) love interests like Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Jessie Anderson (Alexandra Breckenridge), but now, it’s Daryl’s turn.

This isn’t the first time a woman in Daryl’s life has been fridged, and even though they weren’t romantically linked, the death of Emily Kinney’s Beth during season 5’s hospital arc was criticized by many. The Walking Dead has an unfortunate habit of discarding its female characters in favor of developing its male leads, but with McBride officially coming back for Daryl Dixon season 3, at least Carol is safe for now. Zabel has reassured us that Daryl and Carol won’t be the apocalypse’s new golden couple, but if dumpster fakeouts and Robert Kirkman ending the comic series after commissioning fake covers have taught us anything, it’s that The Walking Dead likes to bend the truth. 

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC, culminating with the finale on November 3.