‘The Walking Dead’ 914 Exposes Daryl and Michonne’s ‘X’ Scar Secrets, Alexandria’s Wounded Past

All will be revealed in The Walking Dead 914, "Scars." When Daryl (Norman Reedus) returns to Alexandria with Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Henry (Matt Lintz), and Lydia (Cassady McClincy) in tow while on the run from the Whisperers, their arrival forces the isolationist community led by Michonne (Danai Gurira) to rehash devastating old wounds while eye-opening secrets from the past are revealed.

"We are going to track the story of what happens when this group continues on this road to Alexandria. We will shed some light on some of the mysteries of the season," showrunner Angela Kang confirmed with EW.

"We're gonna do some digging into why it is that Alexandria became the way it is, and what happened between Michonne, and Daryl, and others," Kang said. "I'll say that I think the performances in the episode are just excellent, there's some really great stuff from our actors that I really can't wait for people to see because it's very moving and interesting."

"Scars" serves as payoff for a months-long mystery first introduced in November's 906, the first episode of the post-Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) era, set six years after Rick's disappearance and presumed death.

The episode revealed Michonne had since given birth to Rick's son, RJ (Antony Azor), and now carried a conspicuous "X" scar. Daryl was later seen with a matching wound.

As Season Nine continued, a larger mystery came into focus: something happened to splinter the formerly united communities, leaving the once-tight bond between Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom deeply fractured.

Worse, Michonne and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) found themselves engaged in an unspecified feud, resulting in the surprise revelation Maggie left Hilltop with son Hershel to join Georgie (Jayne Atkinson) someplace far away, helping the elusive benefactor establish a new community.

Episode 906 hinted Michonne's scar was tied to outsiders when the now-cold and guarded Alexandria leader opposed the arrival of a traveling band of survivors led by Magna (Nadia Hilker), who clashed with Michonne when stood before the Alexandria council.

"What we know is that she has a big X on her back. It wasn't there before, so it's something that has happened during that time jump. She alludes to it in the council room when she takes the chances of the group that's come there," Kang told EW in November.

"She says that she remembers and that she knows that many of them do too," Kang added. "They have obviously, in the six years that have passed, faced some probably human foes that have affected the way that they deal with new people and their level of trust. It's definitely something that we'll learn more about as the year goes on."

More recently, Kang teased the trauma linking Michonne and Daryl is "a deep, emotional story," which appears to be set during Michonne's pregnancy with RJ as revealed by a just-released promotional photo ahead of the episode's premiere.

Where Walking Dead star-turned-director Michael Cudlitz dubbed that trauma "a really f—ed up story," Reedus warned of a dark backstory.

"It is a backstory actually, but you'll find out what happened with that is something that just happened between Michonne and Daryl," Reedus said in a February episode of Talking Dead. "And the rest of the group don't really know what that is yet, but something horrific happened right there and you'll learn later, with the new people coming into the group, that there's certain lines that you don't cross but we crossed them. And just between she and I, that's our little secret, but it's a really dark, dark secret."

The Walking Dead sheds light on that secret in "Scars," premiering Sunday, March 17th at 9/8c on AMC.

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