Everything The Walking Dead Fans Forgot About TWD: Daryl Dixon During the Wait for Season 3

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is one of the most popular spin-offs of the long-running franchise. Premiering its first season in September 2023, followed by Season 2 in September 2024, the pattern continues with Season 3 scheduled for release on September 7, 2025. With an extra episode in its run at seven versus the usual six, there's a lot of story to tell for the title character Daryl Dixon and his best friend Carol Peletier, with whom he reunited in Season 2.

Season 2, entitled The Book of Carol, followed two separate storylines until the friends converged in France. It ended with a calm before the storm, indicating the pair would be facing new challenges ahead. For fans gearing up for Season 3, it's important to remember the key happenings from Season 2.

The Nest Falls and It's Time to Head Home

At the end of Season 1, the belief was that Losang was a trusted confidante. The man running a secret community known as The Nest was caring for survivors and keeping them out of harm's way. He went out of his way to welcome Daryl, even help him leave when he initially decided that he wanted to do so. But it was eventually revealed that the Union of Hope operated much like a religious cult. Losang believed that Laurent held the key to a new world. With his followers growing skeptical of his teachings, he was willing to sacrifice the young boy to prove it to his followers. He wanted to try and kill Laurent to prove the boy wouldn't turn.

Naturally, Daryl wasn't going to let that happen. Once he found out what was really going on, Daryl did everything he could to protect the young boy, losing Isabelle in the process. It was just before this pivotal moment that he reunited with Carol and felt a sense of home.

That's because in a concurrent journey, Carol found a way to get to France where she learned Daryl had last traveled to by boat. She searched frantically for her friend, worried he was not okay. This eventually led Carol to him, where the pair met across a hallway and rushed to one another in a tearful embrace. Carol wanted to go home, but Daryl still had work to do. Naturally, she was willing to help.

Laurent had been hiding out with Fallou and the others in his group, Montmartre Rooftop Community. When Losang arrives there, in a surprise move, Codron helps Laurent escape before Losang can get to him. After an epic face-off in the Catacombs of Paris, Daryl smashes Losang over the head with a skull, bringing an end to the tyrannical leader. In the process, he and Codron make peace with one another.

The goal now is to escape back to safety in America. Carol has told Daryl that The Commonwealth is still going, they are still in charge, and he can come back home. But Daryl doesn't want to leave without Laurent, who is now all alone since his aunt Isabelle has died. Carol is fine with that, but there's a problem.

Ash, the young pilot Carol meets in one of the best The Walking Dead moments of 2024, still hasn't forgiven her for the deception. But having had and lost a son himself, he sympathizes. He's willing to take them, but the plane can only hold three people. Someone has to stay behind. Carol is insistent that it's her, but Daryl offers to do so, and Ash agrees that it's the decision that makes the most sense. Daryl orders Ash to take Laurent and Carol with him. But any viewer who knows Carol knows she's unlikely to listen.

Daryl and Carol Have Stayed Behind

Daryl heads out with Fallou and Codron for supplies, but they are attacked by guerriers that are desperate to find the plane. Jacinta, meanwhile, Losang's former right-hand woman, proves to be even more dangerous than Losang. She traps Anna, owner of the Demimonde, and forces her to give up the pilot and the plane's location. Anna pretends that she is leading them to it, but in the end, she betrays Jacinta by leading her and her group into a garage filled with walkers. While Jacinta is bitten and thus meets her eventual end, dying by suicide, she manages to lock Anna inside before she perishes, sealing Anna's fate, too.

During a walk through a cave to find supplies and a route back home, everyone begins to feel the psychoactive effects of fungus caused by bat guano, resulting in severe hallucinations. Among the visions, Carol continues to see Sophia as well as herself as a walker. It marks the first time Carol finally comes to terms with her daughter's death. She is able to say goodbye to her daughter, though it isn't really her daughter.

Thankfully, she is saved in the nick of time by Daryl before she surrenders herself to a walker. They get gas masks to help fend off the effects of the excrement and head towards England together, in hopes of making their way home. Meanwhile, Ash and Laurent have successfully taken off in the plane and are making their way to The Commonwealth, with the presumption that they arrive there safely.

Everything We Know About Season 3

Early on, it was revealed that filming for Season 3 was taking place in Spain, indicating the pair made their way to that country at some point. This marks another major shift in scenery for the franchise, which has explored various parts of the U.S. in The Walking Dead, Mexico in Fear the Walking Dead, Manhattan Island in The Walking Dead: Dead City, and France in the first two seasons of this show. Spain has fallen as well, filled with zombies basking in the sunshine and ambling through the historic towns. Of course, there are also bad humans as well, including one, based on the trailer, who wields a battle axe.

After arriving by shipwreck, Daryl and Carol are taken in by a village. They meet the leader, the new "King" of Spain, who seems a lot like Negan. He creates a safe space for survivors who still enjoy things like festivals and an abundance of food. But beneath the surface, he's anything but a great leader. He runs his community much like a mafia, extorting other communities to get what he wants, and is presumably involved in human trafficking.

The King has viable threats, though, including a group known as the royalist movement and another called the Primitivos, nihilists who turn walkers into weapons in order to fight back. These are all situations Daryl and Carol have dealt with before, and it's not one they will likely abandon and head home without fixing. It's not in their nature to walk away from a challenge.

The trailer showcases plenty of culture, suggesting that Spain will be more than just a backdrop for the season. Some of the filming locations include Barcelona, Seville, Granada, and the ruins of Belchite, which were devastated during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 through 1939. New cast members include Eduardo Noriega (Open Your Eyes), Óscar Jaenada (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), Alexandra Masangkay (Valeria), Stephen Merchant (The Office, Jojo Rabbit), and Greta Fernández (30 Coins).

Story-wise, the season promises the beginning of a new fight, teases a potential love interest for Carol (no, it's not Daryl), explosions, fire, and plenty of walkers. "A friend of mine," Daryl is heard saying in another teaser trailer, "used to say bet on hope." He's referring, of course, to Isabelle, who sadly perished in Season 2 right after the pair had expressed their true romantic feelings for one another.

It seems, then, that while Isabelle is gone, her message to Daryl to have faith and fight for a better future for everyone, especially Laurent, continues to be his driving force. With more than 4,000 miles between Spain and Ohio where The Commonwealth is located, however, that's a heck of a journey that could potentially take more than one season. Thankfully, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has already been renewed for a fourth season.

Fans suspect that by the end, much like in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, Daryl and Carol will finally make it home and reunite with their found family, the only satisfying way to end the series. The most beautiful reunion of them all would be between Daryl and Rick, who haven't seen one another for more than a decade, much of which Daryl assumed Rick was dead. Considering Carol doesn't know Rick is back either, nor that he was confirmed alive, that would make an epic end to the series. For now, Season 3 will explore more of the beloved Daryl and Carol dynamic as the pair navigate a country they don't know with new threats while relying on one another like they never have before.