The Walking Dead Star on Danai Gurira’s Sad Farewell and Lauren Cohan’s “Amazing” Return

It’s a “little bit sad” bidding farewell to Michonne (Danai Gurira), but The Walking Dead soon gets back the long away Maggie (Lauren Cohan) as part of an “amazing” return, says Judith Grimes star Cailey Fleming. Gurira announced Season 10 would be her last at San Diego Comic-Con in July, months before it was confirmed Cohan — who stepped away to shoot the short-lived Whiskey Cavalier — is headed back to TWD in the back half of the season before she rejoins as a series regular in Season 11, announced by AMC at New York Comic Con in October.

“I’s like a farewell to Michonne, and it’s a farewell to Danai, and it’s kind of sad to see Danai leave the show,” Fleming said when addressing Gurira’s exit during a live stream on TWD‘s Instagram. “She’s been on for so long and I got to bond with her a lot last year [in Season 9], and I’m really grateful for that, and I’m really grateful for the relationship that I get to build with her. I think it’s really amazing, and I love getting to work with her.”

Like the mommy daughter bond between Judith and Michonne — who were seen fighting side-by-side against a walker invasion in “Silence the Whisperers” before capturing a snooping survivor (Kevin Carroll) in “The World Before” — Gurira is “such a huge inspiration” for the 12-year-old actress.

“She works so hard, and she puts so much effort into the show, and she goes 110% out of everything that she does. And so it’s a little bit sad to see her go, but I know whatever she does she’s gonna be amazing at it, and I know she’s gonna follow her dreams,” Fleming said. “She’s gonna do her own thing, you know? She’s gonna be amazing and I’m super happy for her.”

Gurira is expected to have exited The Walking Dead by the time Cohan returns. Maggie, who has been away assisting Georgie (Jayne Atkinson) with a new community, is believed to play a small but pivotal role when she reappears ahead of Season 11.

“For Maggie’s return, I am so excited about it! I’m so excited for you guys to see it. It’s gonna be amazing,” Fleming said. “That’s all I’ll say.”

Showrunner Angela Kang previously told ComicBook.com Cohan receives a “nice, big arc” in Season 11, adding it’s one we might see begin in Season 10. Kang echoed those comments on an October episode of Talking Dead, saying, “I don’t want to spoil too much about it, but we’re really excited about that Lauren’s coming back. We’ve been saying for a while that we have more stories to tell with her, and so, I’ll just say she comes in and there’s a lot of stuff going on. And there’s some stuff of significance that she does.”

TWD Season 10 returns with new episodes Feb. 23 on AMC. For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.