Morgan Jones (TV Series)

"You will be torn apart by teeth or bullets. You and your boy. Your people, but not me. Because I'm not gonna watch that happen again."

- Morgan to Rick Grimes.

Morgan Jones is a survivor of the zombie apocalypse with his son Duane Jones and his wife Jenny Jones in The Walking Dead. He made his first appearance in "Days Gone Bye". While evacuating, Jenny was bitten and succumbed to the infection, causing Morgan and Duane to seek refuge in King County, Georgia where the Grimes Family lived.

"Days Gone Bye"
Fiercely protective, Morgan Jones barricaded himself and his son in a house in Rick's neighborhood. Though his wife, Jenny, died, he decided to let her go outside instead of putting her down.Despite the dire conditions, Morgan still endeavored to create normalcy for Duane; such as correcting his son's grammar, and engaging in mealtime prayers. But both remained haunted by the loss of Jenny, whom returns to the house regularly as a walker. Morgan and his son Duane first encountered Rick Grimes outside his house in King County, Georgia. Duane knocked the unsuspecting survivor in the back of the head with a shovel, as he and his father assumed that he was another walker. When he heard Rick speak, Morgan realized he wasn't and he brought Rick into their hideout.

Upon Rick's awakening, Morgan interrogated Rick upon the cause of his wounds before the two's friendship could thoroughly take place. On learning that Rick had been in a coma, Morgan brought him up to speed on the current events as best as he could, introducing the previously confused Rick to the reality of the epidemic upon the country. He also told Rick that the government was gathering people in the major cities, giving Rick the idea to continue to Atlanta to try and find Lori Grimes and Carl Grimes. Rick then thought of traveling to the King County Sheriff's Department, which Rick still had the keys for, to gather supplies.

Morgan drove him over and Rick provided the pair with weapons and other supplies in exchange for their kindness and help. He rejected Rick's offer to join him on his way to Atlanta, but tells Rick that he will join up with him in a few days; with the excuse that Duane can learn to shoot in the interim. Rick gives him a walkie-talkie, and tells him to radio him in when he approaches Atlanta so they can meet up.

On returning to the house, Morgan tells Duane to read his comic books before heading upstairs. He goes through the photo albums Jenny brought with them, selects a picture of her and sticks it to the window frame. He aims his rifle, and after shooting a couple of zombies to lure his wife out, he trains his gun on his undead wife; yet cannot bring himself to kill her. He attempts several more times, yet each failed in kind. Morgan and Duane's whereabouts are unknown for the rest of the season.

"Wildfire"
Rick later tries to contact Morgan via walkie-talkie and lets him know that he and a group of survivors are leaving and heading to the CDC, in the hopes of finding a cure.

"What Lies Ahead"
At the beginning of the episode, Rick speaks into his walkie-talkie, announcing that he and his group are abandoning Atlanta and that the CDC is gone. Rick begins to mention what Jenner said but decides not to continue, saying that the group is heading to Fort Benning instead. Although he speaks into the walkie-talkie for several minutes, his message is never replied to. This is the last time Rick tries to contact Morgan for the rest of the season.

Season 3
During the time Morgan has been absent from the series, him and Duane lived around King County the whole year. One day while clearing a store, Duane was bitten by his own undead mother, and Morgan is finally forced to shoot her. After Duane's death, Morgan started to lose his sanity, believing he has the mission to clear all the walkers from town, he started to set traps and wrote down name of people he knew that turned and then were put down by his own traps.

"Clear"
When Rick, Carl, and Michonne go on a run into King County, Morgan holds them at gunpoint from a roof. They have a shootout, and while trying to pursue Rick, Carl ultimately shoots Morgan in the chest. Rick pulls off Morgan's shirt, revealing that he had donned body armor. They drag his unconscious-self into his building, avoiding his traps, and lay him down on a bed. For safety measures, his hands are bound by Rick. While Rick is reading the strange writings on the wall, he discovers that Duane had reanimated, and decides to stay and wait for Morgan to wake up. While Michonne and Carl go on a run, Rick waits for him to wake up, but Morgan grabs a knife that was taped to the side of the bed. He attacks Rick, claiming that he is not familiar with anyone anymore. He stabs Rick in the upper-left chest. Rick knocks the weapon away, pointing his gun at Morgan's head, as he pleads Rick to kill him.

Morgan is tied up again and, after patching himself up, Rick finally manages to make him remember that the two know each other. Morgan says that he tried to contact Rick every morning for several weeks, but he never answered the radio, before explaining what happened to Duane. He is offered to join the group at The Prison, but he realizes that Rick is taking a lot of guns, meaning that they are preparing for a war. Morgan claims that Rick, Carl, and his people will die either by bullets or by walkers, and refuses to join them. While clearing out the walkers caught on his traps, Carl approaches Morgan and tells that he is sorry for shooting him earlier. Morgan remarks to Carl, "Don't ever be sorry."

While leaving King County, Rick, Carl and Michonne watch as Morgan prepares to burn the corpses of the walkers he captured, however, his current fate is unknown.

Killed Victims
This list shows the people Morgan has killed:
 * Jenny Jones (Zombified)
 * Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people.

Duane Jones
"Hell yes, you're gonna learn. But we gotta do it carefully, teach you to respect the weapon."

- Morgan to Duane over the responsibility of a firearm.

Morgan, father to Duane, is shown to love and care for his son very much. This is shown as when Duane is upset, Morgan immediately goes to his side to comfort him. Despite the circumstances of the new, post-apocalyptic world, Morgan still tries to raise his son into a morally good man, as stated as he frequently corrects Duane's grammar and proper manners. Duane's death at his undead mother's hands has caused Morgan to lose his grip on sanity, and has made him vengeful to both walkers, and people.

Jenny Jones
Morgan was Jenny's husband and he loved her dearly. At the start of the outbreak, after Jenny succumbed and subsequently reanimated, Morgan could never bring himself to killing her because he had loved her so much. Torn between putting her down to let her finally rest in peace, and having a false idea of her still "alive" in the world, Morgan eventually gets a sniper rifle; with a picture of Jenny on the window, he shoots the walkers on the street. But after taking aim at his dead zombie wife's head for several long moments, he is unable to pull the trigger and eventually breaks down in tears.

Months later, Morgan and Duane are looting a store when Jenny attacks and bites Duane. Only after this is Morgan able to put her down.

Rick Grimes
"You're a good man Rick, I hope you find your wife and son."

- Morgan's parting words to Rick Grimes.

Morgan and Rick have an interesting introduction to each other. After Rick left the hospital, weak and ragged, Morgan mistook him for a walker and Duane knocked him unconscious (with a shovel). Rick woke up, tied to a bed and was questioned. After Morgan learned that Rick wasn't bitten, Morgan offered Rick shelter and food. The next day, Rick took Morgan and Duane to the police station for scavenging the remaining guns and supplies as well as to let them use the facilities to have a hot shower. After Morgan and Duane collected the weapons, Rick gave them a vehicle. Morgan thanked Rick, saying that he is a good man and wished him the best of luck.

Trivia

 * It was confirmed on November 19th, 2012, that Morgan would be returning in Season 3.
 * Morgan has a tattoo of what appears to be his wife on his right shoulder.
 * The scene in which Morgan appears to shoot his wife is shot from the same angle, and is almost identical, to a scene in the episode from Jericho called "Crossroads" where the same actor, portraying Robert Hawkins, is defending the town of Jericho.
 * In the TV series, Morgan encountered Rick, Carl, and Michonne while the three were looking for guns in Rick's hometown whereas in the comics, he encountered Rick, Carl and Abraham Ford.
 * In the TV series, when he is asked by Rick to join him in the prison, he decides to stay in King County and "Clear". However, in the comic, he decides to leave with Rick.
 * It's possible that Morgan wasn't truly alone during time skip of meeting Rick again. Proof to this can be found written on the walls, but these people have died and turned at some point: " ​ ​ Eugene Turned" and "Zack Turned" are written on the walls of Morgan's house.
 * According to the Talking Dead, the producers wanted Morgan to come back in the second season however Lennie James was too busy to be able to reprise his role as Morgan.
 * Morgan saying that "the weak will inherit the Earth" is a biblic reference, where the "meek" shall inherit the Earth instead of the weak.
 * In the comic book series, Morgan was low on supplies, whereas the TV series he is very stocked up.