The Walking Dead: Michael Rooker Explains Daryl Dixon Scarring Scene

One of the central storylines of Season Three of The Walking Dead was the reunion between brothers Merle and Daryl Dixon. There were several emotional and powerful scenes that took place between actors Michael Rooker (Merle) and Norman Reedus (Daryl). One of the most memorable scenes was when Merle ripped Daryl’s shirt and spotted scarring on Daryl’s back.At the Wizard World New York Experience Comic-Con, Michael Rooker gave some background info on what was going on in Merle’s head during that scene. Michael Rooker explained, “At the time when I saw the scarring on Daryl’s back in the woods…the scarring is the same scarring on my back, because I was abused before my little brother was abused.”Rooker continued, “So in Merle’s mind, when Merle splits, he’s thinking…you know in my mind, I felt Merle left because the abuse got so bad that he was either going to kill the guy or he just had to walk. So it wasn’t even in his mind that he was going to switch from the one brother to the younger brother. So when I find out that he abused my younger brother as well, you know if he had been there in front of me, I probably would have snapped his neck.”