I Just Figured Out Why The Walking Dead Even Put Rick Grimes Into a Coma

The Walking Dead famously begins with the main character of the series, Rick Grimes, waking up in the hospital after being in a coma for some time. The world was normal when Rick went into a coma, but when he came out of it, he found that the world had been thrown into a post-apocalyptic nightmare. A zombie outbreak happened while he was unconscious, and the world was forever altered as a result. Rick missed the moment human society collapsed, and now, I think I’ve finally figured out why.

Before we get into the speculation about why Rick Grimes was in a coma from a narrative standpoint, let’s first talk about how he fell into a coma in the first place. As many Walking Dead fans are well aware, Rick Grimes was a police officer before the zombie apocalypse. But, it’s not like Rick was a big-city cop who had to deal with high levels of violent crime. Rick was a small-town Sheriff’s Deputy who rarely had to use his pistol. But, one day, a mad man engaged the police in a firefight, which resulted in Rick getting shot. Due to the severity of his injuries, Rick fell into a coma, and wouldn’t wake up again until the world had already ended.

That’s the story of how Rick Grimes fell into a coma, and what he had waiting for him when he finally woke up. But, what does it all mean? Sure, the literal specifics of the situation are as straightforward as they come, as the nature of how Rick fell into a coma was never left open to speculation or interpretation. But the deeper meaning behind why Rick was in a coma during the zombie outbreak is certainly open to interpretation, which is why it’s such a fascinating aspect of the entire Walking Dead series - and why we’re still talking about it today.

Why Rick Grimes was In a Coma - The Walking Dead Theory, Explained

Rick was in a Coma Because of What He Represents in The Walking Dead

Rick Grimes’ introduction to the zombie apocalypse was sudden and unexpected, and while it could be argued that that was true for everyone, there’s one important detail that cannot be understated: Rick missed the collapse of human society. Rick went to sleep when society was totally normal, and it had already devolved into chaos when he woke up. That is crucial for Rick’s Walking Dead story arc, as he didn’t have to watch as people turned on each other while faced with the unimaginable horrors of the walking dead. This freed Rick from developing a certain level of callous hopelessness in regard to humanity, and allowed him to maintain hope that humanity could bounce back.

Of course, Rick quickly learned what it would take for him to survive in this world, despite the fact that he didn’t have to watch it collapse upon the initial outbreak. However, Rick jumping from civilized society to a post-apocalyptic wasteland in basically the blink of an eye gave him a clear ‘before and after’ picture of the world, which helped him hold onto the ways of the past in order to help build a better future. Sure, Rick made some mistakes along the way, but the narrative purpose of Rick as a character really becomes clear in The Walking Dead’s final chapter, when Rick stands against Pamela Milton and brings true, lasting peace to the Commonwealth.

Rick doesn’t have to accept that the world will look different after the zombie apocalypse, because he remembers more clearly than anyone else how it was before. Just imagine what it would do to your psyche if you watched your community go from pleasant, law-abiding people to utter and complete savages in real-time. That would be enough to make anyone think that humanity crossed a line that there’s no coming back from. But, Rick was spared that trauma, and that’s how he was able to maintain hope and become the leader humanity needed him to be - all thanks to his coma.

Rick Grimes’ Death Also Holds Major Significance in The Walking Dead

Rick was Never Meant to See What Becomes of the Future of Humanity

Rick Grimes’ coma isn’t the only aspect of his character that holds significance in The Walking Dead, as the same can be said for his death. Rick was killed by Sebastian Milton (Pamela Milton’s son) after Rick effectively removed his mother from power. Rick did so peacefully, and basically just ensured Pamela didn’t become a dictator, but Sebastian saw that as something Rick needed to die for. So, Sebastian snuck into Rick’s room and shot him while he was lying in bed, killing the main protagonist of The Walking Dead. While Rick’s death was tragic, it needed to happen for the same reason Rick was in a coma.

Rick was able to be the hero humanity needed him to be because he was able to hold onto the past the way no one else was capable of - and that’s exactly why he also needed to die. The next chapter of humanity needed to be forged and experienced by those willing to let go of the past and create a better future. Rick was able to bring the best of what the pre-apocalyptic past had to offer through the zombie apocalypse, which is how a new society was able to form in the first place. But, after that, humanity needed to let go of the past in order to shape a better future, and Rick’s death represents that perfectly.

Rick needed to hold onto the past just long enough for it to help guide humanity out of its zombie-induced dark age and into an age of peace and civility, but after that, the past needed to be replaced by the future. Rick’s coma and death represent that metamorphosis, and the way I see it, they also represent Rick’s narrative purpose in The Walking Dead. Sure, they were literal things that happened, all to serve a story that we’ve all been obsessed with since the very first issue, but I think there’s deeper meaning to it all, and I also think I’ve figured out what that deeper meaning is.

Of course, this is all speculation that serves to assign deeper meaning to literal events that happen in the story, implying that those events are metaphoric, and actually speak to the themes of the series as a whole. But, even still, I really think I’ve got something here, and that I just figured out the real meaning of Rick Grimes’ coma in The Walking Dead.