While many viewers were hoping for Rick and Michonne to reunite with Rick's daughter Judith or connect once again with Maggie or Daryl, it was instead revealed that Rick was on the run from the Civic Republic Military (CPM), and Michonne was still searching for him. Rick and Michonne reconnected in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live miniseries in 2024, and the spinoff series revealed what she was up to after leaving the flagship series.
What Happens In Michonne's Final Walking Dead Episode
"What We Became" Was One Of The Most Eventful Michonne Episodes In The Walking Dead
Before she returned in the series finale, Michonne's final episode of The Walking Dead came in season 10, episode 13, "What We Became".
Having sailed with Virgil to the island where his family is, they arrive to find the naval base abandoned. Very quickly, Michonne begins to suspect something isn't right, and her suspicions are soon confirmed when she learns Virgil's family is dead. The weapons she was promised are also nowhere in sight. Realizing she's been lied to, things take a strange turn when Michonne begins hearing other voices in the compound. When she goes looking for their source, Virgil traps her, locking Michonne in a room overnight.
Virgil served breakfast to Michonne, only to tell her he'd drugged it with a hallucinogenic. She experiences a psychedelic vision in which she's first visited by Siddiq and then imagines her life if she had never saved Andrea or met Rick, instead joining up with Negan and the Saviors where she's seen wielding Lucille.
Once Michonne awakes, she attacks Virgil and gets his keys. As she's freeing everyone, Virgil runs off and burns their boat. Though incredibly angry, Michonne shows Virgil mercy but demands he returns her belongings. As Michonne collects her things, she sees Rick's cowboy boots, the pair he's been wearing since season 1.
Michonne radios Judith Grimes, revealing to her that the "brave man" might be alive, and she's off to find him. She leaves the island with the others, and when Michonne arrives at the mainland, she once again takes two walkers as her chained guards.
Looking almost identical to when she first appeared on The Walking Dead, Michonne heads north towards the last destination listed in the ship's manifest: "New Jersey Shipyard." On her way, she comes across a frightened pair desperate to catch up with their group, and Michonne agrees to help them. As they left, it was revealed the group was a huge procession of hundreds of people.
After Season 10 Michonne Heads To New Jersey
...her mission was obvious — she is trying to find Rick.
Michonne wasn't killed off in The Walking Dead, but she never fully returned to the show between season 10 and the series finale. Where exactly she's going at the very end of "What We Become" was unclear at the time, but her mission was obvious — she is trying to find Rick.
This is, of course, assuming Michonne doesn't run into any trouble with the new group, but because this is The Walking Dead, trouble with a new group seems all but guaranteed. It had been six years since Rick was taken away in the helicopter, so there's no telling exactly when it was in those six years that he was on the ship. Also, if he managed to come this close to Alexandria, why didn't Rick just go home?
The group that took Rick away was identified in an episode of Fear The Walking Dead as the Civic Republic Military The CRM is described as a mysterious organization with a mission that's somehow connected to the future of all humanity.
Michonne Appeared In The Walking Dead Finale
Michonne And Rick Both Returned For A Cameo In Season 11
This scene was puzzling, because when the CRM showed up on Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond, they were shown to have no qualms about killing deserters or those who flee. It seems the CRM needs Rick for something, and that is why they kept him alive. However, the next scene showed Michonne on horseback with her sword, decapitating Walkers, still looking for Rick. It seems she already left the large group she encountered in her last appearance, and her search for Rick Grimes continued.
Michonne Returns In The Walking Dead Spinoff
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Showed Where Michonne Goes
The miniseries backtracked for the audience to give more context to Rick's time with the CRM and to explore just how Michonne finds Rick. The bulk of the miniseries, however, focuses on Michonne trying to get Rick out of their clutches while they want him to become an officer in their ranks, and Rick tries to stay in order to make sure the CRM does not go after his family. It's as much of a miniseries about espionage as it is about a zombie apocalypse.
Ultimately, however, it is that epic love story AMC promised as it brings Rick and Michonne back together in the end.
What Danai Gurira Has Done Outside Of The Walking Dead
Gurira Is An Accomplished Actress And Playwright
While Danai Gurira might be known for her work on The Walking Dead, she’s an accomplished actor and playwright outside of her work on the series. When she is not playing Michonne, she has written plays that have been performed off-Broadway in New York. According to Gurira’s 2014 appearance on The Tavis Smiley Show, she started writing as a way to hone her strengths as an actress, but also to write strong female roles that she is able to identify with.
Gurira has won an Obie Award and been nominated for a Tony for her theater work.
Gurira also made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Okoye in Black Panther in 2018. She has since reprised the role in multiple movies and voiced the character in MCU animated properties like What If…? She is also set to reprise the role for another Disney+ series.
