The Walking Dead Fans React to Season 10 Trailer’s Dramatic Romance Shakeups

The Walking Dead Season 10 trailer hints at complicated romantic entanglements, including the apparent disruption of multiple fan-favorite couplings.

The trailer showed Michonne (Danai Gurira) — one half of Richonne with lover Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who has been believed dead for six years — share a kiss with King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), who split from wife Carol (Melissa McBride) in Season 9 following the murder of their son, Kingdom prince Henry (Matt Lintz).

Carol, who was last shown returning to Alexandria following the shuttering of the Kingdom, is seen here cozying up with longtime best friend Daryl (Norman Reedus) and the pair are as familiar and as comfortable as ever.

“No more fighting. Just get on the bike and go,” a weary Daryl suggests. Later, the former Kingdom queen lets slip a smile when riding double on the back of Daryl’s bike, undoubtedly fueling some fan hopes the “Caryl” romance will finally blossom now that “Carzekiel” is on pause — at least for now.

“I think they really have a beautiful relationship and it was a wonderful fairytale for Carol. The magic of the Kingdom, the liveliness of the Kingdom… I don’t think that they’re finished,” McBride said previously on Talking Dead.

“She got to keep the ring. He said that he’ll continue to love her. And I think it was what she needed at the time, certainly. I don’t think it’s finished.”

And what about Michonne’s kiss with Ezekiel? In the comic books — where Carol was never romantically paired with the king — Michonne and Ezekiel were romantic partners, a relationship that ended in tragedy when the pair failed to reconcile before Ezekiel was gruesomely murdered by Alpha and the Whisperers.

Also complicating things on the “Caryl” front? Daryl’s potential budding romance with Connie (Lauren Ridloff), who helped establish a sort of family unit with Daryl, Dog and former Whisperer Lydia (Cassady McClincy) in Season 9.

The pairing between Daryl and Connie, currently platonic, has been officially dubbed “Donnie” — and the fan-favorite ship is one that may now be part of a love triangle between Daryl, Carol and Connie.

“I think he has a lot of respect for her, he admires her, for sure,” Reedus said of Ridloff’s Connie at PaleyFest in March.

Whoever ultimately ends Daryl’s no-love streak, Reedus expects it to be a romantic partner who lasts for life.

“He’s like a flamingo or a penguin, I think if he’s gonna find it he’s gonna stick with it,” Reedus previously told The IMDb Show.

“There’s a lot of nookie going on in our show, and I’m not in any of it. I did kind of convince everybody that I was kind of a virgin and kind of a loner early on in the seasons, and I think they kind of ran with it for a while. I feel like Daryl doesn’t really have game.”

The Walking Dead Season 10 premieres Sunday, October 6 on AMC.

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