On the latest episode of The Walking Dead, Rick made a painful confession to Michonne about his daughter, Judith. Apparently, it was hard for them both.
On the last episode of The Walking Dead, Rick made a shocking confession. In trying to explain why he is submitting to Negan, Rick told Michonne that he knew Judith wasn’t his daughter. Instead, her father is actually his former best friend, Shane.
According to Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne, it was just as hard to hear as it was for Rick to admit.
A Beautiful Leader
The Walking Dead | Photo Credit AMC
“It’s heartbreaking and it’s astounding and it’s painful and it’s really a painful mixed bag,” says Gurira, “because on the one hand she loves him and sees more of the beauty in him, but he has been holding this inside, and that he made the decision that he did, and that this is what makes him a beautiful leader.”
Because he sacrifices and he gets out of the way of his own feelings to do what’s right for others. That’s what’s beautiful about him to her. That’s why she trusts him and that’s why she’s been loyal to him, and part of why she fell in love with him.”
“Because he sacrifices and he gets out of the way of his own feelings to do what’s right for others. That’s what’s beautiful about him to her. That’s why she trusts him and that’s why she’s been loyal to him, and part of why she fell in love with him.”
Letting It Go
The Walking Dead | Photo Credit AMC
The good news is that Rick’s revelation and analogy worked. “To hear him share that, it does change her entire demeanor about everything,” says Gurira. “She’s got a certain degree of rage and frustration towards him before he reveals that information, but when he puts it that way and you realize, firstly, the burden that he carries. She says to him, “It’s not your fault every time something bad happens,” because he carries that on him like a leader does.
“She really sees much more clearly into how specifically what happened to our friends has really hit his soul when he shares that, and he’s agreeing to sacrifice so much of who he is for the sake of others. At that moment, she can’t argue him on that. There’s nothing to argue back about that. It’s just really about trying her darnedest to support him. That’s what she says, she says she’s going to try, but it really goes against everything that they’ve been. Everything that they know.”
Michonne still seems like she’s harboring a lot of rage, though. It’s especially evident when she finds the pile of burned mattresses at the episode’s end. Time will tell whether she can maintain the same level of control as Rick.
