The Walking Dead Finale Answered Everyone’s Biggest Question

Updated on August 4, 2025, by Ajay Aravind: Rick Grimes' early Season 9 disappearance shook the fandom and weakened the storyline, which only managed to regain its former impetus in Season 10. Rick's reappearance in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Lived offered a glimpse into his character arc following his abduction by the CRM. The spin-off ended with Rick and Michonne reuniting with their two surviving children, but they never got to interact with characters like Daryl, Maggie, Carol, and several others again. As such, this article was updated with the hope that Rick will finally get to meet his friends in the still-ongoing spinoffs, Daryl Dixon and Dead City.

What Happened to Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead?

Rick Was Taken by the CRM After the Bridge Explosion

In Season 9, Episode 5, "What Comes After," an injured Rick was whisked away by a Civic Republic Military helicopter that Anne called in. At that point, the CRM wasn't a major plot point in The Walking Dead universe and wouldn't become one until the 2020 spinoff series World Beyond. The only thing known about the CRM is that nobody knew anything. Fear the Walking Dead had an entire episode dedicated to explaining the CRM in the most cryptic way possible, and it gave no concrete answers. So, what exactly did The Walking Dead say about the mysterious community?

The final minutes of the series finale, "Rest in Peace," jumped between Rick and Michonne writing letters to their loved ones, urging them to keep pushing forward, even when hope seemed lost. With no shoes, Rick walked alongside the muddy river shore, holding a bag and his cowboy boots. When he heard a helicopter in the distance, he urgently threw his belongings on a boat. A voice coming from a helicopter called out, "Consignee Grimes. You have been located and are instructed to surrender." As Rick angrily surrendered, the voice continued, "Come on, Rick. It's like he told you: there's no escape for the living."

The Walking Dead Finale Confirmed Rick Was at the CRM

The Final Minutes of the TWD Finale Featured Rick Grimes

"Rest in Peace" is still as obscure as Fear the Walking Dead and World Beyond are about the CRM. However, the episode confirms that Rick is in the community, and not by choice. The scene reveals Rick is a "consignee" of the CRM, which explains the CRM's obsession with labeling people "A" and "B." Rick is also using a modified catchpole that Silas utilized in World Beyond when he was working at a decontamination center to clear large amounts of walkers. Rick's possession of the weapon indicates he is working at one of these centers.

​​​​​​Another important detail in the series finale is that Rick has been attempting to flee multiple times. The speaker's exhausted tone and reminder that "he" has warned Rick about what happens to people who escape prove that the hero has always tried to reunite with his family. The rest is revealed in Rick and Michonne's spinoff. But judging from the final moments of "Rest in Peace," it is clear that The Ones Who Live brings the different timelines of Rick and Michonne together. That makes it the true spinoff to watch since it finally answers Walking Dead fans' burning questions.

TWD: The Ones Who Live Showed Rick's New Life

Rick Rose in the Ranks at the CRM After Failing To Escape

The "he" that the soldier was referring to in the finale ended up becoming a main character on The Ones Who Live, acting as Rick's antagonist. The man in question was CRM's leader Major General Beale, whose goal (known as the Echelon Briefing) was to eliminate any potential threats to make CRM the only organization in the world and, thereby, extend humanity's shortened lifespan. Beale wasn't initially the man who took Rick into captivity, but the two frequently crossed paths over the next several years as Rick adjusted to his new life.

Rick's long absence suggested two reasons why he never came home: he either gave up because of the CRM's rigid willpower to stay in secrecy, or he truly began to believe in the CRM's cause. There was a case that he fell into both categories, but not entirely willingly. Rick did try to escape over and over again — one time, he took his own hand as a sacrifice. But after learning that Jadis had hidden intel about Alexandria that she would give up if Rick successfully left, he submitted to the CRM's cause. Rick Grimes wasn't necessarily brainwashed or conditioned by them. However, the trauma of being taken and emotionally abused by a militant power coerced him into believing that he didn't deserve a life beyond the CRM. Rick was always a people-pleaser who gave up everything to lead others -- the CRM was just an extreme version of all the selfless work he did for Alexandria on The Walking Dead.

The CRM was a large and sinister organization, but Beale saw potential in Rick to help achieve the organization's goal. He was one of the few recruits labeled as "A" that the CRM didn't execute for his leadership and influential qualities that posed a risk of resistance. The combination of Rick's servile mindset -- which he acquired through the CRM's mistreatment -- and his inclination to help the world made him the perfect soldier for Beale. However, the dream of uniting the entire world under the CRM's rule was interrupted by Michonne's efforts to find her husband, forcing Rick to choose between his family and the people who kept him prisoner for several years.

How The Ones Who Live Ended Rick Grimes' Epic Story

Rick Finally Got His Happy Ending with Michonne and Their Kids

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live aired six episodes and is complete, with no current plans for Season 2. Fans got much of what they wanted from the series: tense action scenes, surprise plot twists, and revelations about the CRM. Ultimately, the spinoff had everything that made The Walking Dead series great, including the desperate fight for survival against overwhelming odds and characters who compromise to survive versus those who go through emotional conflicts without ever quite giving up hope.

In the final few episodes of the series, Michonne broke through the walls that Rick had been keeping up since they reunited. She was a reminder that his life hadn't ended, and there wasn't any reason that he needed to sacrifice his own happiness for an inherently dangerous cause. Through betrayals and unexpected turns, the couple eventually plotted a course forward because they couldn't accept what the CRM was responsible for and what it was planning to do. Rick and Michonne put a stop to the Echelon Briefing and accomplished the best of both worlds.

The Civic Republic went under massive reconstruction to prevent the military from sparking another coup, which still allowed hundreds of thousands of innocents to live safely in a post-apocalyptic world. Rick and Michonne don't stick around because their place is at home with their children, Judith and RJ, with whom they reunite in The Ones Who Live finale. If the series accomplishes nothing else, it dramatizes the evil that people are capable of when they view a situation as hopeless and the good that people can accomplish when they don't lose hope. That said, fans were ultimately disappointed because they wanted a lot more reunions for Rick Grimes.

Fans Need Rick to Reunite with His Chosen Family

The TWD Spin-Offs Might Make This Happen

Since The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live was designed to be a limited miniseries — and the final episode showed Rick meeting Judith and RJ — fans were confused because the story felt rather incomplete. Without another season, the only possibility for Rick to reunite with his found family and beloved friends happens to be The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, both of which have been renewed for more seasons. As of the Season 2 finale of Daryl Dixon, Carol has finally found Daryl in France, and they're currently on their way to England. Meanwhile, Dead City's second season finale showed Maggie and Negan burying the hatchet, highlighting the former villain's final step towards atonement.

Daryl and Rick share one of the strongest bonds in The Walking Dead, effectively becoming brothers. The same can be said for Carol, who has remained Rick's trusted ally and devoted friend for more than a decade. Daryl and Carol both played critical roles in the last few seasons of the mothership show and have since appeared in the Daryl Dixon spin-off. Now that Daryl Dixon's Laurent — the French child with a possible immunity to the Wildfire Virus — might have already reached the Commonwealth, it opens up several narrative angles to bring Rick back into the picture. This development would also result in Rick's reunion with Carol and Daryl, a demand that fans refuse to back away from.

Rick's main goal has always been to save others; even if he briefly lost his way, Carl managed to help his father realize the value of every single life in a world ruled by the undead. Despite the happy, seemingly final ending in The Ones Who Live, Rick is going to continue fighting for those unable to protect themselves. This fact potentially means he could also appear in Dead City, where he can finally meet Maggie and Negan. Rick needs to see the outcome of Carl's philosophy of forgiveness and learn that Negan has indeed redeemed himself, a fact hammered home by Maggie's refusal to kill him. These aren't the only characters on Rick's reunion checklist, though, so both spin-offs should ideally fuse at some point to give the TWD fandom the ultimate closure they deserve.