Home

Home is the tenth episode of Season 3 of The Walking Dead and the second episode of the second half of the season. It aired February 17, 2013 at 9/8c on AMC.

Plot Synopsis
From The Prison catwalk, Rick spots a woman in a wedding dress standing by the graves. When he approaches, she disappears and reappears outside the fence. He rushes through the gate and sees that it's Lori. She cradles his face.

Michonne watches from the distance in confusion as Rick stands outside the fence, alone, gesturing to the air.

In Woodbury, The Governor asks Andrea to take over. "I'm not fit to lead these people," he says. "But you are."

Meanwhile, Daryl and Merle bicker in the forest. Daryl pines for life back at The Prison, but Merle predicts that The Governor has slaughtered everyone there.

Glenn makes an executive decision to fortify The Prison against The Governor, despite Hershel's suggestion that they flee. Glenn enlists Carl to help investigate where Tyreese and his group found their way inside.

The Governor visits Milton in his lab while Milton is relaxing. He asks if he can still count on Milton's allegiance. Milton reassures The Governor, who then asks him to keep tabs on Andrea.

Later, Andrea asks Milton for The Governor's whereabouts. Milton dodges her questions, but raises her suspicions.

Back at The Prison, Glenn and Carl inform the group that the boiler room is overrun with walkers again. Hershel again advises a retreat, but Glenn ignores him and says he and Maggie will go to the far side of The Prison to look for the breach.

Glenn finds Maggie alone in her cell. He insists they talk about her encounter with The Governor. He asks her why she is acting depressed, and she responds by explaining the abuse she endured for him. He then asks if she was raped. "No," she snaps, shoving him away. "Do you feel better?"

On the catwalk, Carol and Axel reinforce a fence. Axel tells Carol he was initially sent to prison for holding up a gas station with a toy gun. He bonds with Carol as she shows him how to use a real one.

Meanwhile, Merle and Daryl encounter a family of survivors under attack by walkers. Daryl immediately goes to their rescue, killing walkers with his crossbow. Merle half-heartedly assists.

When all the walkers are dead, Merle aims his gun at the father and begins rooting through their car, where the mother and a baby are both bawling. Daryl points his crossbow at Merle and instructs the family to drive away, then stalks off, leaving Merle alone.

Merle follows Daryl into the forest and chastises him for risking his life to help strangers. They grapple and Daryl's shirt rips, revealing childhood scars from their father's beatings. "I didn't know," Merle says apologetically. Daryl stalks away, telling Merle that he's going back where he belongs. Merle complains that he can't follow him to The Prison.

"I may be the one that's walkin' away," Daryl says, "but you're the one that's leavin'."

Outside of The Prison, Hershel tries to stop Glenn from going off on his own. "This rage of yours," Hershel says, "it's gonna get you killed." Glenn ignores him and drives off.

Hershel calls to a disoriented Rick from The Prison fence. "We need you now more than ever," Hershel says. Rick confesses that he's been seeing Lori. "I know it's not really her, but there's got to be a reason," he says, walking back into the forest.

In the courtyard, Carol and Axel chat. Suddenly, a bullet strikes Axel in the head, killing him instantly. The Governor, stationed at the treeline, lowers his rifle.

Rick's group runs for cover as The Governor and his men attack. Rick is hiding outside of The Prison under a bridge, Hershel is ducking underneath the brush near the gates, Carol is using Axel's body to shield her from bullets, and Beth and Carl are hiding behind a wall. Maggie then bursts out of her cell into the courtyard carrying guns. The sides are more evened out as gunfire erupts on both sides. One of the Woodbury soldiers, situated in a guard tower, is killed by Maggie.

Gunfire ceases and silence drops when suddenly a bread truck comes crashing through The Prison's gate and stops in the yard. The Governor smiles as the back door opens and walkers stream out of the car, with the fully-armored driver fleeing The Prison's yard. The Governor drives off as the survivors struggle with the dead. On the way out, The Governor's car passes Glenn's as he returns back to The Prison.

Outside of the fence, Rick is struggling for his life as he's surrounded by walkers, one of which is about to bite him. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt pierces its forehead, signifying Merle and Daryl's arrival. Together, they kill the remaining walkers outside the fence.

Glenn arrives and gets Hershel back to the main group, behind their second wall of fence.

Momentarily safe, Rick stares darkly into The Prison's yard, now swarming with walkers.

Co-Stars

 * Travis Love as Shupert.
 * Andy Glen as the Mexican Boy.
 * Karenlie Riddering as the Mexican Woman.
 * Al Vicente as the Mexican Man.
 * Alyssa Ashley Nichols (aka Indigo) - Mother (Deleted Scene)
 * Victor Waddell - Julian (Deleted Scene)

Uncredited

 * Adelaide and Eliza Cornwell as Judith Grimes.
 * Scott Carnwath as Walker
 * Demetrice Jackson as Walker.
 * Lindley Mayer as Walker.
 * Erik J. Olson as Prison Walker.
 * Ryan D. Olson as Prison Walker.
 * Don Teems as Walker

Deaths

 * Axel
 * One unnamed Woodbury soldier

Trivia

 * Last appearance of Axel.
 * With Axel's death, all of the prisoners have been killed.
 * Axel shared the same fate as his Comic Series counterpart, as he was also abruptly shot in the head by The Governor with a scoped Steyr AUG A1, like Axel was shot in the head with a rifle.
 * The truckload of zombies delivered to The Prison was called a "walker bomb" by Chris Hardwick on Talking Dead, as well as on The Walking Dead's official Facebook page.
 * When Daryl saved the woman from the car and used the trunk door to kill the walker, in one scene his hands are covered in blood while in the following scene they are clean again.
 * When Merle rips Daryl's shirt, Daryl has two demon tattoos on his right shoulder, but no tattoos on his left shoulder. When Daryl stands and walks away from Merle, the tattoos are on his left shoulder and his right shoulder is bare. Glen Mazzara explained: "We had to flip the negative of Daryl at one point when editing his scene with Merle. That's how his tattoo moved."
 * The episode title refers to Daryl's return to The Prison, which had become the group's new home. It may also refer to Andrea's choice of where to go, deciding between whether to make Woodbury or The Prison her home.
 * This was the first episode Carl, Beth, and Carol attempted to kill a human (the gunman in the watchtower.) However, Maggie was the one to kill him.
 * The filming of the prison assault and the Yellow Jacket bridge scenes were complicated by Hurricane Isaac, in August 2012.