Meridian is a location that appears in Season 11 of AMC's The Walking Dead. It was the home of Maggie and her people known as the Wardens before it was attacked and taken over by Reapers.
Pre-Apocalypse[]
Location Unknown[]
Nothing is known about this location prior to or as the outbreak began.
Post-Apocalypse[]
Season 11[]
"Acheron: Part I"[]
In a meeting with Aaron, Gabriel, Rosita, and the Wardens, Maggie explains what happened to Meridian and how the Reapers slaughtered everyone and took their home. She says that the village is full of food, water, and livestock that Alexandria can use to rebuild, but that they will need to fight the Reapers. She leads a group of Wardens and Alexandrians to the location of their former village, with Negan's help navigating through the D.C. area, including the subway tunnels.
"Rendition"[]
After being captured by Leah Shaw and her people, Daryl is brought to Meridian, along with Dog. Daryl is tortured through extensive waterboarding by Paul Wells and Brandon Carver about his connection and knowledge about Maggie's group, but refuses to disclose any information. He is taken to the makeshift cells inside of Meridian, where he finds that Frost has been captured, as well. When Frost attempts to talk with him, Daryl pretends to not know or have any familiarity with him or Maggie, claiming that he was only with them temporarily after they traded food with him. Frost plays along, and disregards Daryl before he is taken away for further torture. Leah arrives and questions who Daryl is loyal to. He responds that he has no affiliation with the group they're after, and that he can be let go and never seen again.
As Daryl remains in the cells, the Reapers react to the news of Michael Turner's death when Bossie brings his body back with him after their failed assault on Maggie, Alden, and Negan. Pope, infuriated by the loss, commands his people to hunt Maggie and the others down and kill them. Leah returns to the cells once more, distraught over having lost Michael, who she says was like a younger brother to her. Daryl lies and says that the group outnumber the reapers more than two to one.
Leah later meets with Pope, relaying Daryl's information to him and suggesting they let him join their group. Pope scoffs at the idea, suggesting Leah is only pining after a former love interest. Leah insists that Daryl is valuable asset, and that he can be trusted. Pope considers her words, and assures her that he'll soon find out for himself.
Daryl is later taken to an empty shack in Meridian by Carver, Wells, and Bossie to "meet" Pope, where he's taunted for his silence and his past connection with Leah, who soon enters the building as well. She dismisses them and begins to talk with Daryl, untying him and asking him to "follow her lead" when he meets Pope, only for the door to be locked on them from the outside. Gasoline is poured in the doorway, and the shack is set on fire. Daryl and Leah manage to escape together through a window, and see Pope and the rest of the Reapers observing their escape. Pope proclaims Daryl has passed his test, now "forged by fire, ordained by God". Leah, despite having her life put at risk, walks over to her group and joins them all in welcoming Daryl as their newest member.
"On the Inside"[]
At Meridian, Daryl is further tested by Pope to prove his alleged loyalty to the Reapers, and is forced to torture Frost for information about where Maggie is. As he pulls off Frost's fingernails, Frost breaks and reveals the address of the the safehouse, prompting Pope to send Daryl, Leah, and several other Reapers out to investigate it.
The Reapers return to Meridian. Carver tells Pope that Maggie's group got away. Pope reveals that he continued to interrogate Frost after they left and got all the information he needed. They see Frost tied to a post: he is now a walker. Pope confers privately with Carver as they head inside. Daryl worries if Frost told him that he's not actually loyal to them.
"Promises Broken"[]
The search patrol tells Pope that they found no sign of Maggie's group. Pope admonishes Ancheta and Washington for failing to find their enemy, which Daryl has led him to believe is dozens strong. Leah reprimands Pope for yelling at his soldiers and takes the blame for them. Pope tells Leah to do another sweep with Daryl.
"For Blood"[]
Maggie, Negan, Gabriel and Elijah lead their herd to Meridian where they are quickly spotted by the Reapers. Daryl suggests that he leads the herd a couple of miles away, but Pope sends Paul Wells instead. As Wells leads the walkers into the nearby woods, more walkers suddenly approach from the other direction. As Wells fights off the walkers, Negan and Maggie suddenly attack and stab him before leaving Wells to be devoured by the herd. When Wells fails to respond or return, Pope reveals that sending him out was a test to see whether or not Maggie was leading the attack.
That night, Maggie's group leads the herd back to Meridian, but they run into a minefield set between the gates and the road. Although the minefield destroys many walkers, the vast majority of the herd is able to push through and Daryl notices the disguised Maggie and Gabriel splitting off from the rest of the herd while Negan and Elijah continue to lead the walkers. Despite getting injured by shrapnel from some of the mines, Negan and Elijah are able to push through to the gate. Pretending to have been sent to help patrol the perimeter, Daryl kills Powell and breaks open the food storage shed. With Powell's death getting rid of the only guard on that portion of the wall, Maggie and Gabriel are able to break through a part of the wall and into the part of Meridian where the useless food is dumped. Maggie sends Gabriel into a building to retrieve a sniper rifle while she heads off on her own.
As the herd approaches the wall, Pope has Ancheta ready the hwacha which will be able to eliminate most of the walkers, leaving the Reapers able to eliminate the rest. While alone together, Daryl reveals his true allegiance with them to Leah and attempts to convince her to help him before they are interrupted by the arrival of Pope and Ancheta. Before the hwacha can be fired, Maggie hotwires a truck parked in the garage and rams it through the gate, allowing her friends and the herd in. Deaver attacks a fleeing Maggie, but Gabriel kills him with his sniper rifle and forces a couple of other Reapers to retreat. As the Reapers fight off the walkers, Pope orders the hwacha fired into the courtyard regardless of the fact that his people are still down there. With Pope refusing to listen to reason or call the Reapers back before firing, Leah joins Daryl in attacking, killing Pope herself while Daryl kills Ancheta and cuts the fuse to the hwacha.
However, after Pope's death, Leah blames his murder on Daryl to the rest of the Reapers, having killed Pope to protect her family since Pope was more worried with winning then his people. As Daryl flees and joins Maggie, Negan and Elijah in fighting the walkers and Reapers in the courtyard below, Leah has the hwacha prepared once again and orders her people to pull back. Once the courtyard is cleared of the Reapers, Leah has the hwacha fired at the herd and Maggie's group in an attempt to kill them all.
"No Other Way"[]
The herd is destroyed by the Reapers' hwacha and Fisher is accidentally killed as well, but Maggie, Gabriel, Daryl, Negan and Elijah all survive it. The group engages in a cat-and-mouse game with the Reapers through a nearby building, resulting in a confrontation between Maggie, Elijah, Negan and Brandon Carver, the man who had murdered Elijah's sister Josephine. After a brutal fight, Negan manages to subdue Brandon, but Daryl stops Maggie from killing Brandon in revenge, deciding instead to trade him to Leah for the surviving Reapers leaving Meridian and its food supply to them.
Contacting Leah, Daryl sets up a trade, although the wounded Elijah insists to Maggie that the Wardens exact their revenge upon the Reapers even if it costs him his life. Using Jenson as a sniper, Leah at first has the upper hand until Gabriel kills Jenson and takes his sniper rifle for himself. During the standoff, the wounded Elijah tries to attack the remorseless Brandon in revenge for Josephine's murder, but he is nearly killed before Gabriel wounds Brandon in the leg. With no other choice, Leah agrees to Daryl's deal and she orders Washington and Boone to disarm themselves and leave. However, Elijah weakly reminds Maggie of her promise to avenge their losses and Maggie uses a gun that Daryl had taken from Austin to kill Boone and Washington and to wound Leah whom Daryl allows to escape. Out of bullets, Maggie uses one of Elijah's kamas to kill Brandon, avenging Josephine and all of the rest of the Wardens murdered by the Reapers during their takeover of Meridian.
With Meridian retaken and the Reapers wiped out, the group loads up the town's food supply to take it back to Alexandria, leaving Meridian abandoned.
Inhabitants[]
- Brandon Carver (Second-in-Command)
- Ira Washington
- Boone
- Jenson
- Mancea (Priest)
- Austin
- Fisher
- Pope (Former Leader)
- Deaver
- Ancheta (Engineer)
- Marcus Powell
- Paul Wells
- Frost (Captive)
- Bossie
- Michael Turner
- Nicholls
- Montanio
- Ms. Adams (Teacher)
- Leo
- 3 unnamed Reapers
Formerly[]
- Maggie Rhee (Former Leader)
- Hershel Rhee
- Elijah
- Daryl Dixon
- Kim
- Dog
- Leah Shaw (Former Leader/Second-in-Command)
- Teresa
- Agatha
- Duncan
- Cole
- Maya
- Ainsley
- Gus
- Matty
- Billy
- Jen
- Josephine
- Many unnamed Wardens
Deaths[]
- Ms. Adams
- Leo
- Teresa (Alive)
- Josephine (Alive and Zombified)
- Bossie
- Frost (Alive)
- Marcus Powell
- Ancheta
- Deaver
- Pope
- Fisher
- Austin
- Mancea
- Jenson
- Boone
- Ira Washington
- Brandon Carver
- Many unnamed Wardens
Appearances[]
TV Series[]
Season 11[]
- "Rendition"
- "On the Inside"
- "Promises Broken"
- "For Blood"
- "No Other Way"
- "Lockdown" (Archival Footage)
Trivia[]
- Meridian appears in the archival footage shown at the beginning of "Lockdown" as Judith narrates past events of the show to the audience before the episode's story begins.