The Walking Dead: Predicting What’s Next For Daryl

Daryl Dixon is officially a prisoner of war. He belongs to the Saviors.

With Daryl headed back to the Sanctuary with Negan, Dwight, and Simon all at the ready to break him down, we are all left wondering what is next for the baby Dixon brother. What makes predicting Daryl’s future so difficult is the fact that his character does not exist in the comics.

However, Daryl often draws from characters in the comics for his storylines. “I know Daryl has influenced characters that have been written in the comics books since Daryl’s been on the show,” Norman Reedus told ComicBook.com. Looking at the events of the books in parallel to where the AMC series sits currently, there is only one comic book storyline which fits the bill for Daryl’s situation: Carl Grimes.

In the comics, Negan and Carl have an interesting relationship. Negan repeatedly chooses not to kill Carl but manipulates the child of the apocalypse, doing his best to break him down along the way. At one point, Carl hops into the back of a Savior truck and guns down several of Negan’s men upon arriving at the Sanctuary but, still, Negan won’t kill Rick Grimes’ only son.

Given the fact that Negan almost certainly does not want to kill Daryl (at this point, it would look like a sign of weakness to his people if he did), it’s safe to say that Daryl’s future will parallel Carl’s from the comics. Speaking to showrunner Scott Gimple about whether or not the Carl and Negan relationship will explored on television.

“It may be very, very, very brief but we will absolutely see them have a pretty intense moment,” Gimple said. “There’s gonna be a bit of remixing. There might be another character involved that takes some of it.”

All signs are pointing to Daryl filling out the part Carl Grimes did in the books. That said, comic book fans would be upset to have the iconic moment of Negan peeling back Carl’s eyepatch stripped away from them during the adaptation process. It’s entirely possible the story will be split among the two characters.

If Carl were to be kidnapped by Negan, Rick would not sleep or eat until he either got his son back or died. The TV version of Rick is different from the comic book version. Of course, Carl took it upon himself to sneak away with the Saviors, plotting his attack on the group, but Rick realizing his son went missing and Carl’s actions would likely have different repurcussions when dealing with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s take on the character.

Should it turn out to be true, Daryl will be returned to Alexandria unharmed but mentally scarred.

We will see the beginning of Daryl’s story unfold on The Walking Dead this Sunday night as he is locked in a Sanctuary cell. Negan and his band of savages will do their very best to break down the show’s anti-hero.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.