Daryl Dixon Revisits One of The Walking Dead's Most Tragic Deaths

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2, subtitled "The Book of Carol," finally reunites Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride for yet another post-apocalyptic adventure. The new season premiered on Sunday, showcasing Carol's journey to find Daryl in France. With a journey over an ocean ahead, Carol is in for one of her most harrowing adventures yet. Meanwhile, Daryl struggles with his decision to remain in France as he works hard to make new allies and defeat his enemies on the mainland.

The premiere of Daryl Dixon Season 2 focused mainly on Carol Peletier as she tracks clues leading her to Daryl's last known location. Upon discovering that he somehow made it to France, she goes searching for a way to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, she makes acquaintance with another survivor, Ash Patel (Manish Dayal), who has a small plane that just might be able to make it to Europe. The episode follows Carol as she tries to get closer to Ash in hopes that he will fly her to her destination, but she is confronted by more emotional turmoil than she expected. The episode includes one particularly poignant scene in which Carol relives one of the most traumatic scenes from the original Walking Dead series.

The Walking Dead Revisits Sophia Peletier's Death Scene

Sophia Peletier Dies in The Walking Dead Season 2

The first episode of Daryl Dixon's new season returns to the traumatic event of Sophia Peletier's death in the original Walking Dead. Sophia was Carol's daughter who survived alongside the other members of Rick's group in the first two seasons of the series. At the beginning of Season 2, Sophia went missing after a handful of walkers attacked the group, causing her to go running into the forest. The group spent the next few episodes searching for the missing girl and taking refuge at the nearby Greene family farm. There, they discover that the Greene family patriarch, Hershel, is keeping walkers in his barn under the misguided belief that there is still some humanity in the zombies. However, one of their ranks grew tired of dealing with this misconception and opened the barn to slay the walkers inside. After putting down the walkers, the group is shocked to discover one last zombie inside. A zombified Sophia stumbles out of the barn, revealing that the girl they've spent weeks searching for was dead the entire time.

Sophia's was one of the saddest deaths in The Walking Dead and remains one of the show's most infamous moments--which is why fans immediately recognized what Daryl Dixon's most recent episode was doing when it placed Carol in front of Ash Patel's shed. Looking at the familiarly crafted wooden structure, Carol was taken back in time, watching once more in horror as her zombified daughter stumbles toward her. The episode recreates the iconic Season 2 scene, placing a present-day Carol back on Hershel's farm and using many of the same shots used in the original episode. It is a harrowing and tragic moment for fans of The Walking Dead, who remember just how much pain Carol has been through over the years.

Why Carol is Reliving Sophia's Death

Sophia's Death May Play Into Carol's Season 2 Storyline

It seems odd that Daryl Dixon's season premiere is revisiting Carol's most traumatic moment now, thirteen years after Sophia's death aired. The scene may have been an easy way to give new viewers who haven't seen the original show some insight into Carol's backstory, but it could also mean something more for the future of her arc in the series. Later in the episode, Carol uses her daughter as leverage to convince Ash to help her get to France, claiming that Sophia is still alive and stranded there. However, the episode sets up much more with Sophia's memory than a lie that gets Carol to France. Carol also learns that Ash lost a child as well, setting up a potential bonding moment between them later in the season, especially after he learns the truth about Sophia.

Reliving Sophia's death also tells audiences a lot about Carol's current mental state. It has been a long time since Carol has mentioned Sophia, as the events of the original series often kept her occupied enough to leave such depressing thoughts alone. Now, as Carol returns to The Walking Dead, fans see that she hasn't forgotten her daughter--nor has she ever truly forgiven herself for what has happened. Carol has often struggled with survivor's guilt, especially each time she loses a child close to her (which is unfortunately quite often). Daryl Dixon's latest episode reveals that the wounds from Sophia's death still haven't fully healed, and Carol may yet have work to do in forgiving herself for what happened.

It may also be that Daryl's current situation reminds Carol of when her daughter went missing. By the time audiences catch up with Carol, she's been searching for Daryl for weeks. Although she knows that he at least survived long enough to make it to France, she has no idea if she'll find him when she gets there. Even more terrifying, she is afraid that the hunt for Daryl will turn out the same way as the hunt for Sophia did. Daryl is Carol's closest friend in The Walking Dead and losing him would break her, just as losing Sophia did all those years ago. Though Carol sees Sophia in her visions, she worries for Daryl.

How Sophia's Death Changed Carol

Carol Became One of the Most Skilled Survivors in The Walking Dead

One of the strongest characters in The Walking Dead, it can be easy to forget that Carol was once one of the more helpless members of the group. Sophia's death changed everything for Carol, who went from the "scared little bird" of Rick's group to one of the most capable survivors to ever trek the apocalypse. In the years that followed Sophia's death, Carol vowed to never be helpless again. She learned how to use a gun, picked up various survival skills along the way, and began using her unassuming appearance to take potential enemies off their guard and surprise them when they least expected it. Not only did Carol stop being the group's most helpless member, but she became the most skilled survivor of them all.

Carol alone brought down the cannibalistic community of Terminus, freeing her friends from their captivity inside. She orchestrated the downfall of Alpha, the leader of the Whisperers, and proved paramount in the coup that removed the corrupt Pamela Milton from power in the Commonwealth. Carol became one of the most important characters in The Walking Dead. Unfortunately, it took a tragedy to get her to that point.

Sophia's death changed Carol forever, but she never forgot the trauma of seeing her undead daughter stumble out of Hershel's barn. Now, she crosses an ocean in hopes of bringing back another loved one alive, though she fears that history may be repeating itself.