Warning: spoilers ahead for Daryl Dixon season 2.
Judith has bounced from one tragedy to another since the zombie outbreak began, but The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 confirms the youngster has now lost six different parent figures across the course of the show. From a certain point of view, Judith is the main character of The Walking Dead. The first child born within her father's survivor group, Judith is old enough to shoot a gun by the time the main show ends, but young enough to have no idea what the world looked like before the dead started coming back to life.
Judith's role became more prominent as the seasons progressed, especially after Cailey Fleming was cast in the role, and The Walking Dead's ending positioned her as a beacon of hope for the future. Sadly, a parental curse has been placed upon young Judith Grimes. It began as the same par-for-the-course misfortune every character must endure thanks to the outbreak, but rapidly became a long-term pattern of abandonment that makes Judith's journey across The Walking Dead's timeline look decidedly tragic.
After Daryl Dixon Season 2, Judith Has Officially Lost 6 Different Parents
Zombie Survival Rule #97: Don't Babysit Judith
Judith's streak of losing parents began before she actually entered the world, as Rick Grimes stabbed Shane during The Walking Dead season 2. While there was some initial uncertainty over the paternity of Judith, Rick would later confirm Shane as the biological father, acknowledging the timing of the pregnancy made it impossible for he and Lori to have conceived another child. Judith lost her second biological parent, Lori, during her birth. Delivering a child during a zombie apocalypse naturally invites many challenges, and while Judith emerged from the labor alive, Lori did not.
The most heartbreaking detail comes in Daryl Dixon season 2, episode 4, in which Carol confirms, " She [Judith] didn't want me to go ."
Rick stepped up and became Judith's sole parent in The Walking Dead, raising her during the first years of her life. Once love blossomed between Rick and Michonne, the katana-swinging warrior became Judith's surrogate mother, and the youngster would come to know Michonne and Rick as "mom" and "dad." Between seasons 9 and 10, however, Judith lost her second set of parents. Rick suffered a major injury defending his group from a zombie herd, then was taken captive by The Walking Dead's CRM. Michonne departed some years later on a search for Rick after finding a sign of his survival, leaving Judith parent-free once again.
As the two survivors who had known Rick the longest, Judith fell under the care of Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier for The Walking Dead's final two seasons. History, of course, repeated itself, as Judith was once again abandoned by both of her parental figures. Daryl embarked on an exploration trip, only to be captured by Genet's Pouvoir du Vivant and taken to France. Echoing Michonne before her, Carol set off on a rescue mission. The most heartbreaking detail, however, comes in Daryl Dixon season 2, episode 4, "Le Paradis Pour Toi," in which Carol confirms, "She [Judith] didn't want me to go."
Carl's Death Makes Judith's Record Of Losing Parents Even More Tragic
Judith Lost More Than Just Her Six Parents
The final kicker to Judith's terrible record of losing parents in The Walking Dead is that the virus also took her brother, Carl. For the first few years of her life with Rick and Michonne, Judith was doted upon by her adoring older brother - also her sole remaining blood relative in The Walking Dead. Despite being young, it was clear that Judith and Carl had formed a powerful sibling bond. In a devastating turn of events, Carl was bitten by a zombie and died while Alexandria was still at war with Negan's Saviors, leaving Judith with only hazy memories of her beloved sibling.
In The Walking Dead 's comic story, Judith dies during the prison arc.
In a world where her parents drop like flies, Carl could have provided a reassuringly constant presence throughout Judith's life. In Robert Kirkman's original The Walking Dead comic books, Carl survives until the very end and starts a family of his own. Had AMC's TV adaptation followed the source material, Judith could have counted on her brother as she faced an endless streak of absent parents. The fact that she and Carl only shared a few precious years together rubs salt in the wound of Judith's already tragic The Walking Dead tale.
Who Was Looking After Judith Once Carol Left To Find Daryl Dixon?
A Happy Ending For Judith Grimes?
In Daryl Dixon season 2, Carol explains how she ignored Judith's protests and left the Commonwealth on a quest to find Daryl, but fails to specify which of The Walking Dead's survivors replaced her on the parenting conveyor belt. Fortunately, Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Commonwealth all contain many reliable, responsible allies Carol could have entrusted Judith and her younger brother, RJ, with. Gabriel, Aaron, Ezekiel, Eugene and Stephanie, Jerry and Nabila, Maggie, and various others would have happily taken Judith and RJ into their homes.
Whichever surrogate parent took Carol's place would have found their childminding services were no longer required.
Curiously, they may not have needed to. The Walking Dead's timeline is vague, but both Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live take place shortly after the main show's conclusion. The Ones Who Live ends with Rick and Michonne finally returning home and reuniting with their children, bringing the Grimes family - or a version of it, at least - back together once more. Rick and Michonne had not yet made their glorious comebacks by the time Carol left for France - she surely would have mentioned this vital detail in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon otherwise - but whichever surrogate parent took her place would have found their childminding services were no longer required.
