The Walking Dead Remixes Michonne and Carl’s Comic Stories

Warning: this story contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 20, “What’s Been Lost.” It’s the Commonwealth of Ohio v. Eugene Porter on The Walking Dead. Last week’s “Variant” ended with the arrest of a fugitive Eugene (Josh McDermitt), who turned himself in and confessed to causing the unintentional death of Sebastian Milton (Teo Rapp-Olsson). After twice saving girlfriend Max (Margot Bingham) — first by pushing her out of the way of a walker’s bite and then by accepting the sole blame for Sebastian’s demise — Eugene is to be made an example by Sebastian’s mother, Commonwealth Governor Pamela Milton (Laila Robins).

To restore order and appear impartial in the eyes of the Commonwealth’s citizens, Governor Milton coerces lawyer Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) into prosecuting her friend Eugene’s death penalty case. But as the rest of their friends are rounded up and disappeared from the Commonwealth, Yumiko publicly asserts her intention to honor the pursuit of justice — by defending Eugene, declaring him “wrongly and unjustly accused by Pamela Milton and the Commonwealth.”

The Walking Dead Comics vs. Show

In the comics — spoiler alert! — there is no trial for the death of Sebastian Milton. That’s because the governor’s son lives and spends the rest of his life behind bars for murdering Rick Grimes. 

Some 20 years after Rick’s death, it’s Carl Grimes who faces the Commonwealth court. After he kills walkers belonging to a sideshow attraction operated by a grown-up Hershel Rhee — the spoiled son of Glenn and Madam President Maggie Rhee — Carl is arrested for the destruction of private property.

Carl travels to Commonwealth One for an informal hearing in the high court of Judge Hawthorne: Rick and Carl’s old friend, Michonne. Carl defends himself, explaining he killed Hershel’s walkers because the survivors of The Trials have forgotten the dangers posed by “the walking dead.” Judge Michonne Hawthorne puts forth a motion to outlaw the owning and displaying of walkers for profit — and settles the matter in Carl’s favor. 

What Happened to Michonne in Season 11?

Because Michonne (Danai Gurira) has been away searching for the missing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) since Season 10 of The Walking Dead, the show has given Michonne’s comic storyline to Yumiko. In the comics, Michonne is an attorney who reunites with a long-lost loved one at the Commonwealth; the show reunited Yumiko with her brother Tomi (Ian Anthony Dale) before putting the lawyer in the middle of a high-profile trial.

Eleanor Matsuura on Yumiko’s Story

“Over the course of [Season 10] I started to learn, kind of as theaudience did, really, I just learned all these really great detailsabout my backstory,” Matsuura previously told ComicBook. “And I had a conversation withAngela [Kang, showrunner] about it, and she planted the idea really early on that I mighthave a brother somewhere, and maybe I came to America looking for him,but obviously never found him until now.”

“What was wild to me was that I realized this season, that actuallythey’ve been planning this storyline for a really long time,” Matsuuracontinued. “And that’s kind of wild to me that that’s been in the works forso long, because obviously it’s Michonne’s storyline from the comics.That’s kind of the storyline that I inherited, and they must have had anidea of it a long while before they kind of let me in on it.”

Follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for TWD Universe coverage all season long. New episodes of The Walking Dead‘s final season premiere Sundays on AMC and AMC+.