After breaking every record in the book and becoming a national craze, “The Walking Dead” has finally ended its third season with many a surprise in store, and an immense sense of urgency and carnage in the land of the dead. With the season finale finally airing in the US, we bring you the ten most shocking moments of “The Walking Dead” season three and look back fondly on a season filled with shocks, twists, and deaths. The countdown to season four begins and we anxiously await October 2013 for the return of Robert Kirkman’s epic. Spoilers Abound!
10. Carl Kills in Cold Blood
Episode: Welcome to the Tombs
After a whole year of watching his dad make decisions that he was just not happy with, Carl is now older and much wiser. Not to mention he’s anxious to show that he can do much more now than stay in the house and mess around in the prison. He’s not a kid anymore, and he wants things to do. During the raid on the prison, Carl, Hershel, and Beth are confronted with a fleeing soldier who is attempting to escape, and as he lowers his weapon, Carl opens fire killing him dead. This action has made Rick and Hershel very uneasy, as Carl has seemingly murdered him in cold blood and without provocation. Could Shane have had much more of a long lasting influence on Carl Gimes than we thought? Or is this merely a young son questioning his father’s ideas and showing him that he can make decisions, too? Will Carl become the self-appointed decider for the Grimes group in the prison? With Lori gone, it’ll be a struggle to convince Carl to give up his guns. We can only hope for the best.
9. The Death of T-Dog
Episode: Killer Within
Rick ultimately reaped what he sewed in “Killer Within.” After murdering Thomas and leaving his friend to die in the yard of walkers, he and the group never counted on him breaking free. “Killer Withn” witnesses the group in the midst of chaos as the prison has been turned inside out and walkers have seeped through inexplicably. In the middle of stopping the walkers, the valiant T-Dog is bitten, and can do no more but sacrifice himself for the good of the team. While raiding the tombs, T-Dog allows Carol to flee as he struggles with three walkers that continue to tear in to him as he urges her to run. T-Dog was a truly under appreciated enforcer for the group who proved he could be a hero just like everyone else. He helped raid the prison, he helped clear the tombs, he helped keep the prisoners in line, he was loyal to Rick, and he helped out Daryl when Daryl decided to show mercy on him in the highway herd incident. He had a good soul and a great sense of survival instinct. And he will be missed.
8. Shit Happens
Episode: Sick
In the middle of “Sick,” it becomes apparent that Rick and his group will have to contend with the prisoners left behind in the zombie apocalypse. But even in spite of the end of the world, the foursome of prisoners are unwilling to let Rick and his group stay in the prison. Especially Alpha prisoner Thomas, who insists that he become the ruler of the prison since he was there first. Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog are very anxious to keep their territory and have shed blood to get inside. In an effort to show some compromise, Rick agrees to give Thomas and his group a different wing of the prison and help clear out some walkers. In the midst of a sweep, Thomas has others ideas, allowing a group of walkers to overrun the group, and then taking a swipe at Rick during the carnage. When that fails, he tosses a walker at Rick which Daryl dispenses of. In a shocking reprisal, Rick mutters “Shit Happens” and dispenses of what would have surely been a difficult aspect in his life with a ruthless swipe of his machete. This is no longer the Rick in season one tying murderers to pipes to keep the peace.
7. Glenn and Maggie Interrogated
Episode: When the Dead Come Knocking
With Glenn and Maggie’s confrontation with their old Pal Merle, Merle gets the upper hand and brings Glenn and Maggie back to Woodbury. Anxious to discover where Glenn has been all this time, Merle is given the task of interrogating the couple. Merle not only wants to find their shelter, but he wants to find Daryl. Through this, Merle uses this opportunity to unleash his anger on Glenn, torturing him, beating him, and dropping a walker in to the room. Glenn manages to miraculously kill the walker, thus saving himself. Maggie fares worse as the Governor personally interrogates her and sexually degrades and assaults her, providing a brief introduction of what kind of bodily harm he will inflict if she doesn’t comply. It’s a very long and excruciating experience for the couple that tests their own commitment to each other, and displays how far they’re willing to go to protect their group and one another. If Glenn ever needed a confirmation on how much Maggie loves him and what she’ll do to ensure his safety, this experience showed him once and for all.
6. Michonne and the Governor Fight to the Death
Episode: Made to Suffer
Though everyone in Woodbury, including Andrea, fell under the spell of the Governor, drowning in a sea of lemonade and barbecues, Michonne was never sold on him. She knew from day one that Woodbury is not a safe haven, but a prison. The Governor is not a savior, but a cult leader. And surely enough, he’d eventually cash in on everyone’s loyalty with blood that would come around to Michonne. Despite Andrea’s insistence, Michonne investigates the shadows of Woodbury to learn the psychotic seams of the Governor and decides to reveal him once and for all, destroying his zombified daughter, and ruining his illusion. The Governor responds by viciously attacking her, and the two fight to the death, which ends on the Governor losing an eye, Michonne learning she can no longer trust her once loyal ally Andrea, and the Governor’s complete descent in to madness as the monster he always was.
5. Lori’s Death
Episode: Killer Within
Lori hasn’t been the best person in the world to Rick and Carl. Aside from engaging in an affair with Rick’s friend Shane, lying to Carl, choosing sides once Rick returned, and getting pregnant, Rick and she never quite resolved their issues, and Lori is left with only her upcoming child–which may or may not be Rick’s own–to perhaps gain her a new sense of want and purpose among her group. During the raid on the prison from the walkers, Lori goes in to labor, and she is forced to hide with Carl and Maggie in the tombs. Giving birth to her new child, Lori is forced to have a fatal C Section, which Maggie initiates, taking the life of Lori Grimes, but keeping the brand new child within her. Lori displays a keen selflessness once and for all, with her three final words “Good Night, Love.” To add insult to injury, Carl is tasked with executing Lori before she turns and rises as a walker. Rest in peace, Lori Grimes.
4. Enter Tyreese
Episode: Made to Suffer
Tyreese’s entrance has been long overdue, and fans have been wondering if we’d ever really see his appearance since the writers basically eliminated his purpose by introducing similar character T-Dog to the mix, while extending the role of Rick’s ex-deputy, Shane. In the midst of their war, Tyreese and his group struggle to evade walkers at all corners in the woods, and stumble upon the prison. Armed with his trademark hammer, and a will to survive, Tyreese and his group flee in to the prison, hoping to find shelter and safety. By the mere luck of the draw, Carl Grimes finds them and displays mercy by guiding them through the tombs and in to the prison for safety, helping them find a moment of peace in the carnage of the biters and walkers. With Tyreese’s role now a guarantee in the show, we hope the character is treated with as much respect and regard as Daryl Dixon.
3. All Opposed? Say Die
Episode: Welcome to the Tombs
The Governor has finally realized that not only does he not have an army behind him, but they’re unwilling to fight to the death as he is. Spending days convincing the town of Woodbury that Rick and his group are terrorists, all the while recruiting folks to help him in his siege, the Governor and his men raid the prison, and wreak carnage, only for Rick and his group to retaliate with endless diversions, causing them to run for the hills, and flee, despite the Governor’s demands to stay and fight. Once on the road, the group has all agreed the battle isn’t worth it, and the Governor responds by violently slaughtering every single person opposing his demands. Gunning every single person down in cold blood, before the eyes of his two loyal henchmen, the Governor has shown his true colors, and is no longer taking any lip or dissension from anyone who works under his rule. By mere chance, a survivor avoids his violent punishment, thus allowing many from Woodbury to avoid the wrath of the Governor, including new allies Tyreese and his sister.
2. The Return of an Old Friend
Episode: Clear
Confined in their house with limited supplies, and constantly living on baited breath to avoid walkers, I don’t think many fans expected Morgan and his son Duane would last very long. By miracle, they stumble upon Rick Grimes in the series premiere, and manage to save him, avoiding a gruesome fate for the man. Nursing him back to health, Rick repays their kindness with more fuel to continue on, as well as locations to where he’ll be so they can eventually meet up. Rick inevitably lost contact, and the Jones’ never made contact again. In “Clear,” Rick, Michonne, and Carl get more than they bargained for when they enter in to a small town protected by a series of elaborate booby traps, and are attacked by an armed and armored stranger. After Carl shoots the attacker down, Rick discovers him to be Morgan, his old friend and savior. Morgan’s fate has been as grim as predicted. His refusal to leave and put down his undead wife resulted in the gruesome death of his son Duane at the hands of his wife. Filled with regret, spite, anger, and loathing at his own stubbornness that prevented him fleeing the Atlanta suburbs, Morgan is now the self-appointed “Clearer.” Insane, and delirious, he is committed to clearing the Earth of the living and dead until he can clear his conscious of his mistake that took the life of his only son.
1. The Death of Merle Dixon
Episode: This Sorrowful Life
Merle Dixon has had a long hard road ahead of him. Originally beginning as an utter complication for the new survivor Rick Grimes, and the group from Atlanta, he found a dark path that led him to murder, destruction, and deception. After accidentally being left on the roof in Atlanta with zombies struggling to grab at him, Merle left behind a detached hand and signs that he fought he way out of the city. During season two, we gained in insight in to his relationship with Merle Dixon, and inevitably he returned in season three, armed with new friends, a new purpose, and a bone to pick with the folks who left him to rot in Atlanta. Garnering a tool over his stump of a hand, Merle has focused much of his time in season three punishing the folks from the Atlanta camp he felt made him suffer, and then struggling to find his brother Daryl.
After Daryl is caught and Merle is deemed a traitor, Merle and Daryl finally re-connect to learn that Daryl has moved on and found a reason to live while Merle is ultimately stuck in a perpetual rut where he still hasn’t found a reason to live, even when he could offer his services to help Rick and his group keep the Governor back. Deciding to give on last offer of redemption to his little brother, Merle stages an elaborate suicide mission, sicking a herd on the Governor’s men, and picking off as many soldiers as possible. When the mission fails, the Governor doles out a vicious retaliation on Merle, handing him the worst punishment imaginable. Daryl’s worst nightmare is confirmed when searching for his brother, he discovers Merle has lost the battle and is now just another walker. Daryl can do nothing more than destroy the corpse that was once his big brother Merle, and realize that he’s all alone, much like Carol. He must find a new purpose to continue the fight. Merle redeemed himself and gave his brother a fighting chance, in the end. That’s about all he could muster up, and it’s a gesture that will be felt for seasons.