Themes: Regret

Regret is a recurring theme in The Walking Dead. It is a feeling when a person or party feel distressed about a previous choice, action, or thought, and wishes they would have acted differently.

Occurrences

Comic Series

• Lori regrets sleeping with Shane while Rick was in the hospital. _{(Issue 6)}
• Rick regrets bringing Hershel and his family to the prison, due to Thomas murdering Rachel and Susie. _{(Issue 17)}
• Otis regrets yelling at Patricia and asks for forgiveness, saying that life is too short to be mad at people. _{(Issue 25)}
• Lilly regrets shooting Lori after finding out that she had a baby. _{(Issue 48)}
• Rick regrets not being able to save anyone during the prison assault by the Governor. _{(Comic Series)}
• Abraham regrets not being able to save his wife, son, and daughter. _{(Comic Series)}
• Carl regrets killing Ben. _{(Comic Series)}
• Tobin regrets his previous decisions that resulted in many people's deaths. _{(Comic Series)}
• Gabriel Stokes regrets leaving his followers outside to the walkers. _{(Issue 63)}
• Negan regrets killing Glenn Rhee and even apologizes to Glenn's wife, Maggie Greene, for taking her husband away from her. _{(Issue 174)}
• Dwight regrets being hung up on Sherry. _{(Issue 180)}
• Dwight regrets threatening to overthrow Rick. _{(Issue 182)}
• Rick regrets killing Dwight and wonders if he made the right decision to not overthrow Pamela Milton. _{(Issue 186)}
• Pamela regrets leading an army against Rick and his allies. _{(Issue 191)}
• Carl regrets immediately shooting his reanimated father. _{(Issue 192)}
• Sebastian Milton seemingly regrets murdering Rick Grimes, although Carl believes he only regrets that he was caught and is being punished. _{(Issue 192)}

TV Series

• T-Dog regrets leaving Merle behind. _{(Tell It to the Frogs)}
• Andrea regrets not being at home for Amy's childhood. _(Vatos)
• The Governor regrets not being able to save his daughter and not be able to bring her back. _{(Season 3)}
• Daryl regrets having left the prison with Merle and heads back. _(Home)
• Rick regrets what happened to Morgan after learning what had happened to him since their last encounter. _(Clear)
• Morgan regrets not being able to shoot his zombified wife until she had attacked his son, Duane. _(Clear)
• The Governor regrets massacring his fellow Woodbury residents after a failed prison raid. _{(Live Bait)}
• Rick regrets not being able to protect the Prison from the Governor's attack. _(After)
• Tara expresses her regret for being involved in The Governor's assault. _(Inmates)
• Daryl regrets not helping Michonne search for The Governor. _(Still)
• Gabriel regrets not helping out his congregation during their time of need and he is responsible for why they died. _(Conquer)
• Carol regrets killing Owen. _{(No Way Out, Not Tomorrow Yet, The Same Boat, Twice as Far)}
• Daryl regrets assaulting Negan when the latter goaded Rosita of Abraham Ford's execution as Glenn Rhee is executed as punishment for his transgression. _{(The Day Will Come When You Won't Be)}
• Rick regrets not being able to save Glenn Rhee from being executed as he saved him at the beginning of the apocalypse. _{(Say Yes)}
• Dwight often displays regret for killing Denise Cloyd, particularly as it was an accident. _{(The First Day of the Rest of Your Life, Season 8)}
• Rick to some extent regrets killing Gracie's father. _{(The Damned)}
• Negan tells Gabriel that his biggest regret is cheating on his wife before the apocalypse and then not being able to put her down after she turned. _{(The Big Scary U)}
• Before dying, Carl admits regretting killing Jody during the prison attack. _(Honor)
• Rick regrets killing Shane, apologizing to him during a hallucination as he bleeds out. _{( What Comes After)}
• Negan displays signs of remorse for killing Glenn and Abraham years after their deaths, throwing up after stumbling upon the spot and remembering what he did. _(Adaptation)
• Carol expresses remorse for how far her revenge against the Whisperers took her and the amount of harm that she caused in the process. _{(Out of the Ashes)}
• Negan expresses remorse for killing Glenn to Maggie, after finally understanding what she went through after nearly being executed himself in a similar situation to his execution of Glenn. _{(Rest in Peace)}

Fear the Walking Dead

• Travis expresses regret for his believed inability to protect his son. _{(Date of Death)}
• Ofelia expresses regret for leaving Alicia without a word at the Rosarito Beach Hotel and tries to justify her actions though Alicia remains angry at her. _{(The Unveiling)}
• Immediately after fatally shooting Nick Clark, Charlie seems to show some remorse for her actions. _{(Good Out Here)} As the Vultures battle Alicia, Strand and Luciana, Charlie encounters Luciana and expresses remorse for killing Nick. _{(The Wrong Side of Where You Are Now)} She later contemplates suicide out of guilt, but is stopped by Alicia. _{(Close Your Eyes)}
• Dwight displays regret for his past actions and for trying to kill John Dorie and June after mistakenly believing that they had harmed Sherry. _{(Humbug's Gulch)}
• Sarah expresses remorse to Logan for stealing Clayton's truck and abandoning him to die, something that still haunts her every day. She warns Logan that if he doesn't help them, he will have similar regrets. Later, when Logan arrives to offer his help to Morgan's group, he states that he has some things he needs to make up for as well with a glance at Sarah, suggesting that she was right and he does feel remorse for his actions. _{(Is Anybody Out There?)}
• Douglas expresses remorse and shame for the way he and his group had to live by becoming bandits. _(Mother)
• Dakota repeatedly insists that she has no remorse for the murder of John Dorie. _{(Mother, USS Pennsylvania)} However, when John's father and wife offer her forgiveness for her actions, she asks if they really mean, suggesting that she does in fact feel some remorse for her actions. _{(The Beginning)}
• Theodore Maddox is implied to have remorse murdering his mother, looking sad seeing her photo and even talking it when he escaped prison. _(Mother)

World Beyond

• Silas regrets accidentally injuring Elton while beating a walker to death with his bare hands. _{(The Wrong End of a Telescope)}
• Huck shows signs of remorse for killing Tony Delmado and for trying to kill Percy, insisting that she'd done everything that she could to break up the group without hurting anyone. _{(In This Life)}
• After her daughter's death, Elizabeth Kublek expresses regret for her monstrous actions and uncertainty over whether it was all worth it or not. _{(The Last Light)}

Daryl Dixon

• Anna Valery apologizes to Daryl Dixon for any collateral damage she may have caused during her betrayal of Quinn. _{(Vouloir, C'est Pouvoir)}
• Stéphane Codron apologizes to Laurent Carriere for all of the bad things he put the boy through and asks for the boy's forgiveness, after which Laurent forgives Codron and expresses hope that Codron can forgive himself. _{(Vouloir, C'est Pouvoir)}

Telltale Series

• Lee regrets his actions that caused him to go to jail. _{(A New Day)}
• Lee regrets having to kill his brother. _{(A New Day)}
• Lee's group regrets coming to the farm after being attacked by bandits. _{(Starved For Help)}
• Kenny regrets having to kill Larry with no one to back him up. (Determinant) _{(Starved For Help)}
• Lilly regrets accidentally killing Doug. (Determinant) _{(Long Road Ahead)}
• Ben regrets making a deal with the Save-Lots Bandits. _{(Long Road Ahead)}
• Ben regrets getting Katjaa, Duck, and Doug/Carley killed. _{(Around Every Corner)}
• Kenny regrets being so angry towards Ben. (Determinant) _{(No Time Left)}
• The Stranger regrets hurting his family. _{(No Time Left)}
• Lee can regret many of the decisions he has made, including his part in the theft of the supplies found in the station wagon. (Determinant) _{(No Time Left)}
• Vince can regret what he did to "Tiny" Carlos who hurt his brother that caused him to go to jail. (Determinant) _{(Vince's Story)}
• Wyatt regrets leaving Eddie behind in the fog. (Determinant) _{(Wyatt's Story)}
• Russell regrets letting Nate kill the elderly couple at Gil's Pitstop. _{(Russell's Story)}
• Bonnie regrets accidentally killing Dee. (Determinant) _{(Bonnie's Story)}
• Joyce regrets trusting Lee at the cost of Brie's life. _{(Shel's Story)}
• Boyd regrets following Vernon's plan to steal the boat from Lee's group. _{(Shel's Story)}
• The remaining Pitstop survivors regret setting Roberto free. (Determinant) _{(Shel's Story)}
• Michelle is regretful for accidentally killing Omid. _{(All That Remains)}
• Clementine regrets trusting the Stranger and being partially responsible for Lee's death. _{(All That Remains)}
• Nick regrets his harsh attitude towards Clementine when she arrived at the cabin. _{(All That Remains)}
• Rebecca regrets not telling Alvin that she loves him. _{(In Harm's Way, Amid The Ruins)}
• Jane regrets not letting her sister go earlier. _{(Amid The Ruins)}
• Kenny and Clementine can both regret their actions in causing Sarita's death, and not acting faster. _{(No Going Back)}
• Kenny can say he regrets the way in which Alvin died; either at the lodge or at Howe's. _{(No Going Back)}
• Bonnie and Clementine (Determinant) can regret their actions on the frozen lake, resulting in Luke's death. _{(No Going Back)}
• Clementine regrets killing Kenny. (Determinant) _{(No Going Back)}
• Clementine regrets telling A.J. to kill Lilly. (Determinant) _{(Take Us Back)}
• Clementine regrets doubting A.J.'s abilities. (Determinant) _{(Take Us Back)}

Dead Reckoning

• Gary Taylor regrets having to shoot Paul. _{(Dead Reckoning)}
• Shane regrets not helping Leon when he is attacked by Patty Taylor. _{(Dead Reckoning)}
• Shane regrets having to shoot his former lover. _{(Dead Reckoning)}

Novel Series

• Philip Blake regrets raping April Chalmers and attempts to apologize the next day, wanting to mend the relationship. _{(Rise of the Governor)}
• Brian Blake regrets not being able to protect Penny after she is shot dead. _{(Rise of the Governor)}
• Nick Parsons drops to his knees after shooting and fatally wounding his friend and killing an innocent girl. _{(Rise of the Governor)}