"Coming Home" is the sixth and final episode of the first season of AMC's The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. It is the sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on October 15, 2023. It was written by Jason Richman & Laura Snow and directed by Daniel Percival.
Plot[]
Genet solidifies her base of power; Daryl has a job to do before he can return to America.
Synopsis[]
In a flashback on Omaha Beach during D-Day, a number of soldiers lie dead in the mud, including William Dixon. In the background, William's comrades call for him.
In the present, the walker test subject mutates into an "Amper" variant while Stéphane Codron yells at Daryl that he's going to die today for Stéphane's brother. Daryl dodges the Amper's first charge, sending it into the wall, and knocks its feet out from under it with his axe when it charges the second time, but the Amper gets back up both times. The third time it charges, Daryl impales it with his axe and traps it against a pillar, but he is forced to let go as the Amper's acidic blood burns his hands. Genet is pleased with these events while Isabelle prays for Daryl while she holds Laurent. Laurent reassures his aunt that Daryl will win, having confidence in his friend's skills. The Amper is able to pull itself off the axe and charges Daryl again who grabs a French flag while dodging the Amper's attacks. Using the flag as a makeshift spear, Daryl impales the Amper mid-charge, flips it to the ground and finally finishes it off by planting the flagpole in the Amper variant's head.
Genet is furious at Daryl's victory while a pleased Laurent tells Isabelle that he was right that Daryl could it. Dr. Lafleur reassures Genet that that's not the best that he has, just the first. Men enter and remove the corpse and the axe, placing the flag back where it belongs before a shackled Quinn is led in. The two men are shackled together at the wrist with a chain of a few feet between them and a new axe and a weapon for Quinn are brought in. The two men initially believe that they are being pitted in a battle to the death against each other before the lights go out for a moment and, when they come back on, spotlights illuminate four chained walkers around the fighting pit and Laurent begins desperately praying for Daryl's safety. Genet orders Dr. Lafleur to give the Power of the Living crowd a show and, on his signal, all four walkers are darted with his mutation solution. However, while three successfully mutate into Amper variants, the head of the fourth explodes, just like one of the doctor's previous experiments. In the gallery, Fallou orders Sylvie and Emile to go around while Fallou stays in his current position and Isabelle notices her friends moving through the crowd.
Daryl orders Quinn to follow his lead as one of the Ampers breaks free only, much to the shock of everyone, another Amper to rush in and rip apart its head. Dr. Lafleur nervously reassures an increasingly angry Genet that there are still two left. The final Amper breaks free and charges, but Daryl and Quinn use their chain to clothesline it to the ground and do the exact same thing to the second Amper as it breaks away from the one that it had killed and attacks as well. Daryl chops off the leg of one of the Ampers, but their attempts to take out the other one are deflected by the metal headband that it's still wearing. Daryl's efforts to finish off the downed Amper are interrupted by Quinn's fight with the one that's still standing and the chain that's connecting the two men and giving them a limited reach from each other. The Amper tackles Daryl to the ground and he uses his chain in its mouth to hold it at bay as Quinn tries unsuccessfully to strike its brain with his weapon. The other Amper drags Quinn away, inadvertently pulling both Daryl and the Amper that he was fighting along by the chain. Knocking the Amper off of him, Quinn manages to bash its head in which is unprotected, unlike the other Amper. As the surviving Amper attempts to kill Quinn, Daryl wraps the chain around its neck and, working together, the two men use the chain to decapitate it, winning the fight.
Excited by the victory, the crowd turns from chanting "Pouvoir" to chanting "Dixon," cheering Daryl on. Furious, Genet reminds Dr. Lafleur that the whole point of the fight was to win these people over their cause, and he admits that there's still some work to be done. Holding the zombified head up to the cheering crowd, Daryl tosses it at Genet, landing near the feet of her chair, although Genet quickly moves out of the way of any danger. As men enter the pit to remove the bodies, Genet orders Capo to get this over with. Capo signals one of his men to kill Daryl and Quinn, but Fallou shoots him in the head before the Guerrier can open fire. The crowd panics and flees while Genet, Isabelle and Laurent are escorted out by the Guerriers. Seeing that the fleeing men in the pit had left the door open, Daryl and Quinn grab their weapons and make their escape.
A furious Genet orders Capo to find out how many of the Union of Hope people there are, how they got in, and how they got weapons past the guards. Genet asserts her authority over Capo, warning the man that she's the one giving the orders while he's the one following them. If Capo can't, she'll give the orders to someone who can. After confirming that Daryl killed Stéphane's brother, Genet orders Capo to find and kill Daryl and to take Stéphane with him as he's motivated to kill Daryl. "You want your revenge? Go get it," Genet orders him. Hiding from searching Guerriers, Daryl notices a wound in the back of Quinn's left shoulder which Quinn insists is just a burn from the Amper and he's fine and doesn't even feel it, but Daryl is unconvinced.
Isabelle and Laurent are led back to the cells where Isabelle tries to get answers about what's going to happen to them next, but Genet tells her that all that she knows for sure is that God is not coming for them. Laurent tries to escape, but is recaptured and forced back into the cell. Once they're locked up, Genet scoffs at the idea that Laurent is the Messiah and leaves. Isabelle demands to know what her nephew was thinking as he could've been killed, but Laurent explains that he was thinking about what Daryl would do. Laurent mournfully suggests that Genet is right, and God has abandoned them. Telling Laurent that now is when they need faith the most, Isabelle reveals that she had used her skills as a thief to pickpocket the cell key from a Guerrier while she was struggling with him to help Laurent. After checking that they are alone, Isabelle unlocks the cell and she and Laurent escape.
Running through the halls, a weakening Quinn is forced to stop due to his wound. Daryl refuses to die here, but Quinn asks what it matters when you have to die somewhere. Daryl attempts to break the chain without success and a remorseful Quinn admits that he was terrible to Isabelle and that his attempts to get it right the next time only made things worse. Daryl calls Quinn out on using his own kid to get her back, and Quinn admits that he didn't see it like that. Quinn thinks that it's too late to matter now, but Daryl, recognizing Quinn's genuine remorse and that Quinn doesn't have much time left, suggests that it doesn't have to be, that Quinn could buy him some time and help to save both Isabelle and Laurent. Agreeing, Quinn tells Daryl to cut his hand off at the wrist so as to free them from each other. Daryl promises to tell Isabelle what Quinn did for her and, after making a torniquet with Quinn's belt, cuts off Quinn's hand with his axe. Rounding the corner, the two men encounter three Guerriers who had heard Quinn's cries. As Daryl escapes, Quinn attacks the Guerriers, killing all of them.
Isabelle and Laurent sneak through Maison Mère, avoiding the searching Guerriers. Outside, Daryl recovers his knife and morning star from the backseat of the jeep that had transported him to Maison Mère. Following gurgling sounds, Daryl finds a Guerrier with a slit throat choking to death on his own blood in a nearby garage and, much to his relief, Fallou, Sylvie and Emile hiding inside. Daryl guesses that Isabelle and Laurent are in one of the cellblocks which he knows how to find and asks Fallou, who reveals that his uncle ran a garage, to get one of the trucks running. Using some of the tools in the garage, Emile breaks the shackle off of Daryl's wrist.
Making their way through the tunnels, Daryl, Isabelle and Laurent find each other, with Daryl separated from the others by a locked gate. Daryl instructs Isabelle to get a pipe to break the lock, but a zombified Quinn enters and charges at Isabelle who hits him in the head with the pipe. Recovering from the blow, Quinn attacks Isabelle who struggles to keep him off of her. A zombified Guerrier enters the tunnel, but Daryl draws him over to the gate and stabs him in the head with his axe. Unable to help Isabelle himself, Daryl hands Laurent the axe and tells him to use it to save Isabelle. The frightened boy approaches Isabelle and Quinn while Daryl yells encouragement at him to save Isabelle. When Laurent continues to hesitate, Daryl reassures him that "God'll forgive you." With a yell, Laurent axes Quinn in the head, putting him down and saving Isabelle's life.
Having escaped from Maison Mère, Laurent sits in the back of the group's stolen truck looking at Azlan's pocket watch while Emile tells Sylvie that he and Fallou must go where they are most needed, and he hopes that she will join them one day. Emile and Sylvie kiss while Laurent reassures Fallou that they know where the Nest is. Fallou wishes them good luck and he leaves with Emile who briefly stops to exchange one last smile with Sylvie. Daryl hangs the pocket watch on the rearview mirror and the group - reunited at last - drives off to finish their long journey to the Nest. Daryl tries to reassure a worried Sylvie that Fallou won't let anything happen to Emile, but he doesn't respond to her question if Daryl has ever been in love. Isabelle tells Laurent that she's always protected him, but this time he protected her, and Isabelle is sorry that Laurent had to do that. Laurent tells Isabelle that it wasn't Quinn anymore and he was never Laurent's father. "Sometimes you have to do horrible things, and no matter how bad you feel, if there is no other choice, God will forgive you. Like with my mother." The truck suddenly begins experiencing engine trouble, forcing Daryl to pull over and check it out.
As Daryl works on the truck, Sylvie and Laurent sleep in the back and Isabelle stands outside with him. Isabelle tells Daryl that her father had once tried to teach her how to change a tire, but he gave up after two hours. Daryl reveals that his father used to have Daryl and Merle take apart engines and if they couldn't put them back together, they got no dinner. Daryl admits that it was hard when his father was around which was hardly ever. Daryl's father grew up without a father too and he guesses that history repeats itself if you're not careful. Daryl's grandfather had died in France during World War II, enlisting, leaving his pregnant wife back home, and never came back while his family fell apart back home. Daryl thinks that it hardly seems worth it as his grandfather didn't put up much of a fight for what he believed in, never even making it off of the beach.
Isabelle notes that Laurent has changed greatly since he first met Daryl, but Daryl denies having much to do with it, telling Isabelle that kids grow up. Isabelle states that Laurent has never had a fatherly influence in his life, although she guesses that growing up with no father was better than growing up with Quinn. Daryl reveals that Quinn had thought of Isabelle before he died, and Isabelle reveals that she was afraid of Daryl at first as there's something in his eyes and Isabelle could tell that Daryl's been through stuff. With his scars, Isabelle could tell that Daryl was dangerous and that he could get them where they needed to go. Laughing, Daryl says that he's glad that he could help. As Daryl begins working under the truck, Isabelle confesses that she had lied to him about the picture of Daryl on the beach. Rather than it having been drawn weeks before like Isabelle had claimed, she had Laurent draw it when Daryl first got to the abbey in the hopes that it would help convince Daryl to help them. While Isabelle calls her actions stupid, Daryl suggests that it wasn't as he's here now and it's not because of that picture.
When Isabelle doesn't respond to his request for a big wrench, Daryl emerges from under the truck to find Stéphane holding it and he hits Daryl in the face with the wrench and throws him onto the ground next to the truck where Capo and three other Guerriers gather up Isabelle, Sylvie and Laurent. Daryl pleads with Stéphane to not do this, promising to go with him, but Capo tells Daryl that Genet has ordered for them all to die today, Laurent first. When Isabelle tries to resist, a Guerrier stabs her in the right shoulder and Capo hands Stéphane his gun, telling Stéphane to do it for his brother, letting the death of his friends be the last thing that Daryl sees. Daryl pleads with a visibly conflicted Stéphane to not go through with it as Stéphane takes aim at Laurent and Capo orders him to hurry up. Laurent tells Stéphane that God loves him, and Stéphane suddenly shoots Capo and the three Guerriers dead instead. Stéphane takes aim at Daryl as he, Sylvie and Laurent hover protectively over Isabelle, but lowers his gun after a moment, deciding to let Daryl go and get his revenge the next time. Picking up Azlan's pocket watch, Stéphane recognizes the picture of Mont-Saint-Michel inside and deduces that it's the Nest. Stéphane tells the group that it's not even a day's walk north and he instructs them to burn the truck as it makes them too easy to track. That night, the group watches the truck burn before setting out on the final leg of their journey, Daryl supporting the injured Isabelle.
The next day, the group finds and crosses the tide lands leading to Mont-Saint-Michel and finally reaches the Nest where the inhabitants joyfully greet them. Losang welcomes Laurent to the Nest and orders his people to get Isabelle to the infirmary quickly, reassuring Laurent that the Nest has good doctors, and they will do everything that they can for her. After Laurent reveals that Daryl doesn't speak French, Losang greets Daryl in perfect unaccented English, revealing much to Daryl's surprise that Losang is American too. Losang explains that he's originally from Hoboken, New Jersey and he came to Paris as a student in the 90's, something that Azlan didn't mention. Daryl reveals that Azlan didn't make it and Losang sadly tells Daryl that Azlan will be missed, and he was a good man, devoted and kind. Daryl warns Losang that Genet will be coming for them, and Losang promises that while they will pray that she won't, the Union will be ready if the day ever comes that she does.
Isabelle awakens in the infirmary some time later and finds Daryl teaching a class on using guns while Laurent enjoys playing soccer with other children. Laurent hugs his aunt while Daryl gives her a wave while continuing with his class. As time passes, Losang and Laurent walk with each other discuss philosophy, everyone enjoys dinner together, Isabelle and Sylvie watch Daryl playing with Laurent and Daryl watches Isabelle listening to a lecture by Losang. After finding Isabelle cleaning her wound, Daryl helps her clean it at her request. Daryl admits that the Nest isn't what he had expected, having expected to find a bunch of Amish people running around. Isabelle likes it at the Nest which feels like home to her, and Daryl admits that it kind of grows on you.
Walking with Daryl, Losang admits that he had been skeptical when Père Jean had first sent word of Laurent, but Losang decided to do the pilgrim's Camino to Santiago, so he stopped at the abbey to meet him, and he knew that Père Jean was right. Daryl calls Laurent a good kid, one who Losang says looks up to Daryl and is here because of him, although Daryl deflects that it was thanks to Isabelle really. Losang is grateful to the both of them and sorry to see Daryl go, surprising Daryl. Losang explains that Daryl kept his word and the Union kept theirs: they've found a vessel to help get Daryl home. Fishermen from Dover will give Daryl safe passage to England, and they know of boats that can get him as far as Newfoundland, although Daryl will have to figure out the rest on his own. The boat will be there in two days and Daryl will have to walk to the north coast, so Losang suggests that he set out at dawn unless he's changed his mind.
A conflicted Daryl tells Losang that he's got people waiting for him back home, but Losang points out that Daryl has people who hope that he will stay in France. Watching Isabelle and Laurent through a window, Daryl admits that it's not so easy and Losang acknowledges that they don't know what tomorrow will bring and Daryl needs to go an ocean away with the world being what it is while Losang and his people need Daryl too here and now. While the Power of the Living isn't Daryl's fight, Losang suggests that Isabelle and Laurent are the reason that he's torn, stating that "sometimes, when a person leaves home, he comes to find he belongs someplace else."
At Maison Mère, Stéphane claims to Genet that it was a lack of vigilance on Stéphane and his men's part that allowed Daryl's group to get away, that they were too confident, and the group came out of nowhere and outnumbered the Guerriers in an ambush. Genet gives Stéphane a cigarette that she's just hand rolled and notes that Stéphane has returned completely unharmed. Stéphane claims that Laurent escaped and he went after him, going back too late to help after he heard the gunshots. Stating that Stéphane did his best, Genet reveals that, before the world ended, she worked nights in a museum, night after night just her and the art, thousands of eyes following Genet from room to room. It taught Genet how to tell which eyes tell the truth and which eyes lie. Genet realizes that Stéphane killed her men himself and, after taking a drag on his cigarette, Stéphane explains that they had told him to kill the boy which is a line that he couldn't cross. Genet tells Stéphane that it means that he's not the man that she thought that he was, and the Union offers fairy tales. Every person who joins the Union makes her group weaker which is why they must be snuffed out, because the Power of the Living is building the future, not for themselves but for who comes after them. They have to do the hard, unspeakable things so that those who come after them won't have to. Genet asks where the Nest is, but Stéphane just shrugs. The two Guerriers in the room with them knock Stéphane to the ground and disarm him. Genet warns Stéphane that it's only going to get more painful and the Guerriers drag him away.
At the Nest, Daryl packs up and Isabelle confronts him about leaving without even saying goodbye. Daryl tells her that he made a promise to his friends back home, just like he did to Isabelle. Daryl kept his promise to Isabelle which she appreciates, but Daryl also told her that he had left the Commonwealth to see what was out in the world and Isabelle thinks that he found something, even if it wasn't what Daryl was looking for. Daryl reminds Isabelle that this has always been his intention ever since he first washed ashore in France, and Isabelle asks about Laurent, wondering if Daryl is going to leave without saying goodbye and abandon the boy, comparing it to Daryl's father abandoning him. Daryl insists that it's not the same, but Isabelle thinks that Daryl cares about Laurent and it scares him. Daryl thinks that he's escaping history by doing this, but he's only repeating it by abandoning the boy who has become as good as Daryl's own son over their time together. Daryl tells Isabelle that he respects her for believing what she believes and while the Nest feels like home to her and he truly hopes that it is for both Isabelle and Laurent, Daryl has his own home to get back to. Upset, Isabelle tells Daryl that she's glad that they met, and she wishes him Godspeed on his journey and leaves. Daryl visits the sleeping Laurent and after hesitating for a moment, leaves the boy with the Rubik's Cube that Laurent had given to Daryl when they first met and leaves.
Daryl sets out on his journey north, pausing for a moment to look back at Mont-Saint-Michel, sheltering in abandoned building for the night during a thunderstorm and passing a walker trapped in a tree. Near Omaha Beach, Daryl finds a tattered American flag overlooking an old cemetery for American soldiers who died in France during World War II. Searching through it, Daryl finds the grave of Private William T. Dixon, his grandfather, and cries. In the distance, Daryl spots the beach and the boat offshore that's waiting for him. After pausing to look at his grandfather's grave, Daryl heads for the beach.
Daryl waves at the boat which signals back at him with a light. Drawn by the noise, a herd of lurkers emerge from where they were lying in the grass around the area and Daryl fights his way through them with his morning star and knife to the beach. As Daryl makes his way across the beach, Laurent calls out to him from the top of a nearby structure, having secretly followed Daryl all the way from the Nest. Pausing as the herd closes in on the boy, Daryl looks back and forth between the boat, torn between going home and Laurent.
In Maine, a man rides Daryl's motorcycle as a car catches up to him. The car chases after the rider who stops and shoots out the car's engine, ordering the driver to get out with their hands up once the car has stopped. Carol Peletier emerges from her disabled car, explaining that she's looking for a friend of hers named Daryl Dixon. Despite riding Daryl's motorcycle, the rider claims to have never heard of him. The rider tells Carol that he found it, but Carol asks if the man is sure about that because Carol has come a long way trying to track Daryl down. The rider tells Carol that she has a long walk home once he looks through her stuff and forces her to open the trunk for him. As the man looks in the trunk, Carol pulls a wrench out of sleeve and knocks him out.
The man wakes up tied up in the trunk with Carol pointing his own gun at him. Carol again demands to know where he got the bike, and the rider explains that he traded some stuff for it with some guys who were camped back down the road a few miles. The rider directs Carol to go right when she sees an old gas station and she threatens not to return for him if the rider is lying to her before locking the man in the trunk of her car. As the rider pleads for her to release him, Carol rides off on Daryl's motorcycle in search of her missing friend, driving past a sign for Freeport, Maine.
Other Cast[]
Special Guest Star[]
Co-Stars[]
Uncredited[]
- Julien Duverger as Guerrier
- Cédric Stunt as Guerrier
- Benoit Lavelatte as Guerrier
- Tony Augé as Guerrier
- Unknown as William Dixon
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Deaths[]
- William Dixon (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Jay F. Simmons (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Justin (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Daniel D. Stanman (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Jason Beichman (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Arthur C. Richards (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Jason T. Gold (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Frank O'Connor (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Thillium W. Wethers (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- James Garner (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- Quinn (Alive and Zombified)
- Capo
- Many unnamed Allied soldiers (Flashback, Pre-Apocalypse)
- 8 unnamed Power of the Living Guerriers (1 Alive and Zombified)
Trivia[]
- First appearance of Losang.
- First appearance of Mick.
- Only appearance of William Dixon. (Flashback)
- Last appearance of Quinn.
- Last appearance of Capo.
- The title of the episode, "Coming Home", refers to Isabelle and Laurent arriving at the Nest, something Isabelle notes feels like home.
- It also refers to Daryl wanting to go back home to the Commonwealth.
- This is the only episode title of Daryl Dixon to not be in French.
- This episode was shown in its entirety at New York Comic Con on October 12, 2023, exclusively for fans in attendance.
- The D-Day flashbacks are the earliest time period shown in the entire The Walking Dead franchise.
- Daryl and Quinn fighting and decapitating a zombie that they can't put down due to protective headgear mirror Rick Grimes fighting and decapitating Winslow in "New Best Friends". In both cases, they were forced into a gladiator style fight with a walker whose head has been protected from attack.
- The sign for Freeport, Maine has the population number of 7,879 covered with graffiti reading "DEAD".
- Carol ambushing Mick with a wrench up her sleeve is a callback to her ambushing a group of Saviors led by Jiro with a gun up her sleeve in "East".
- This is the first time in the franchise where a walker is seen attacking another walker.
Episode Highlights[]
TBA
| Season 1 | "L'âme Perdue" • "Alouette" • "Paris Sera Toujours Paris" • "La Dame de Fer" • "Deux Amours" • "Coming Home" |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | |
| Season 3 | TBA |
| Episode Guide: TV Series • Fear • World Beyond • Tales • Dead City • The Ones Who Live • Webisodes | |