The Walking Dead had a big mystery for its first two seasons, but one of the biggest questions was answered 14 years ago today in a pivotal episode that changed everything about the zombie series. The first season had the zombie mystery at the forefront, and Rick Grimes and a few others actually met people studying the spread of the disease before those scientists died. One of them, Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich), told Rick something important, but he kept it to himself. However, in the second season finale, Rick finally told the survivors and changed everything about the zombie apocalypse.
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On March 18, 2012, The Walking Dead episode “Beside the Dying Fire” was released, and Rick revealed to everyone that when they died, they would become walkers no matter what.
The Zombie Apocalypse Became Unstoppable 14 Years Ago
Before this episode, the survivors lived with the belief that they needed to be bitten by a walker, or otherwise infected by one, to turn into one. However, it turns out this was not the truth for the world of The Walking Dead. This season ended with tragedy for Rick and Carl, as they had to fight and kill Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal). Rick and Shane were best friends before the zombie apocalypse, but Shane had fallen in love with Rick’s wife and didn’t want to step back when Rick turned out to have survived.
By the time things came to a head, Shane was going to kill Rick, but Rick saw it coming, and he had to kill Shane in self-defense. Shockingly, for the first time in the series, someone who died by something other than a zombie attack rose as a walker themselves. When Shane rose as a walker, Carl had to kill the man who served as his surrogate father during the early parts of the apocalypse to save his real dad, Rick.
This led to the final moments of the Season 2 finale. People doubted Rick’s leadership, and he exploded at them. Rick explained this was no longer a democratic society, and people would follow him without question, or they could leave and try to survive on their own. He then admitted that he had to kill Shane in self-defense and then said that Shane rose as a walker before Carl put him down for good. The survivors didn’t understand, and that is when Rick told everyone that Dr. Jenner told him the virus lived in everyone, and everyone would rise as a walker when they died. No one was immune, and this revelation changed the show forever.
The Walking Dead Introduced Its Best Character 14 Years Ago
That moment was a huge chance for the show, but The Walking Dead Season 2 finale had two more monumental moments that also changed the course of the show. The first thing was the introduction of a new character, one the survivors had not met yet. Michonne (Danai Gurira) made her first appearance on the series, and her introduction was incredible. This strong woman arrived on the scene, with a sword she used to fight walkers, and two other walkers on chains and leashes that she led behind her.
This was unlike anything the series had ever shown before. The survivors mostly tried to survive, fighting off walkers while hiding when neccesary. Instead, Michonne was a proactive warrior, attacking walkers on her journey and also having two she kept as captives for a reason revealed in the next season. From this point on, The Walking Dead presented actual warriors rather than survivors. Rick became a stronger, proactive leader, Daryl Dixon stepped up as a warrior in his own right, and Carol changed from an abused wife to a stone-cold killer who did what she needed to do to survive. This all started when Michonne arrived on the series.
The second season finale also had a massive shot at the end that excited fans of Robert Kirkman’s comic books. The camera panned up from the survivors’ camp and showed that they were within walking distance of a giant, gated prison. This, as the comic fans knew, was a massive landmark for the series. It was a place that provided protection, if only for a short time, and signaled that the arrival of the Governor was only a short time away. 14 years ago, The Walking Dead presented a new direction for the series with the infection revelation, the arrival of a powerful warrior, and the hint that the prison story arc was coming, making it one of the most important episodes of the entire series.
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