Sumith Prasad
The first episode of AMC’s post-apocalyptic series ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol,’ the second season of ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon,’ follows Carol Peletier’s efforts to find out what happened to her best friend, Daryl Dixon. She encounters a stranger who risks his life to help her find her loved one without being able to separate lies from the truth. Losang reveals to Daryl and the members of the Union of Hope that several of their allies are under Madame Genet’s custody. The American plans to return to his home country, but it may not happen soon! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Daryl Dixon Saves Fallou and Emile From Madame Genet
‘La Gentillesse des Étrangers,’ which translates to ‘The Kindness of Strangers,’ begins with Laurent confronting Daryl Dixon, who has set out to leave him and France. The little boy deals with a group of walkers with the help of his father figure. Losang calls them back to the monastery in Mont-Saint-Michel to reveal that Madame Genet’s forces have captured Fallou and Emile. While Sylvie immerses herself in distress, the American man proclaims they should retaliate and rescue their allies. The leader of the religious organization reminds him that they are not a movement that relies on violence.
Losang also asks Daryl how long the latter plans to stay with them and learns that his new friend will be in the monastery until he can secure the next ride to the United States. The religious leader is not happy about the American’s influence on Laurent. He reminds the wandering man that he shouldn’t adulterate the little boy’s mind with violence, even by teaching measures of self-defense. The organization expects the boy to remain pure, but Daryl does not understand how his purity can be more important than his life. Meanwhile, Losang’s men devise a plan to rescue Fallou, Emile, and another man who was captured along with the first two.
The Union of Hope learns that Madame Genet is transporting Fallou and Emile, which gives them an opportunity to ambush the militant force and rescue their allies. They put an explosive in place to attack Genet’s soldiers, which fails to explode when the dictator’s vehicle drives through the wire attached to the same. Daryl then takes matters into his own hands and attacks the militant group. He saves Fallou, Emile, and the other man and confronts Genet at the end of his gun, but before he can shoot the dictator, the explosive blasts. She uses the unexpected explosion to disappear from Daryl with her life.
Carol Peletier Meets a Mourning Father
Carol’s efforts to find Daryl take her to the workshop where he worked before ending up in France. She learns that he was transported across the Atlantic. Her drive to the port from where her best friend had left the country leads her to Ash Patel, who had set up a locked refuge within the woods. He also flies an aircraft to distract the walkers from his property and find anything abandoned that can be useful to him. He lets Carol sleep in his barn after she sustains an injury. Even though his generator is not in the best condition, the rest of the refuge is in an exceptional state.
Carol finds the grave of a little boy in Ash’s greenhouse. He tells her that the grave belongs to his son, Avi Patel. After the world had fallen, they sought refuge in the property. One day, Avi ventured into the woods without his father’s supervision, only to die, most likely because of a walker attack. Since the boy loved airplanes, Ash decorated his child’s resting place with a toy aircraft. A month after his son’s death, he came across a real airplane, which he saw as a gift from his loved one. He assembled the same at his property part by part.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol Episode 1 Ending: Is Sophia in France? Why Does Ash Help Carol?
No, Sophia is not in France. Carol lies to Ash about her daughter being in Europe to make him fly her to the place so that she can find Daryl. However, Sophia is indeed her daughter. She died long ago, specifically in the second season of the mothership series ‘The Walking Dead.’ In the sophomore installment, the mother and daughter join a group of survivors led by Rick Grimes to find supplies and clothes from abandoned cars. Meanwhile, a herd of walkers attack them, separating Sophia from Carol and the rest of the group. During their search efforts, the survivors seek refuge on Hershel Greene’s farm.
Hershel has been locking up walkers in his barn, believing they are sick humans who can be cured. Shane Walsh enters the barn and kills nearly all the walkers, only for Sophia to emerge as a walking dead, indicating that a zombie bit her while she was in the woods. Rick then shoots her down to rest her in peace. Carol does not attend the funeral, thinking her daughter has been dead for a long while and the body being put to rest doesn’t belong to her beloved child. To evoke his sympathy as a mourning parent, she lies about Sophia to Ash. She knows her new friend wouldn’t risk his life and join her in finding a “friend.”
Thus, Carol has to target Ash’s weak spot, which is his sentiments for Avi. As a parent herself, she knows that a father will do anything to find his child, and she uses the same to justify her wish. Ash knows he would have done the same if he had been in the stranger’s position. As someone who struggles with the grief of a child’s death, he knows that he can save Carol from the same misery. Furthermore, he likely thinks that saving Sophia can be a way for him to reconnect with his late son. He may have been seeing Avi in Carol’s daughter’s position, alone without her parent like his son when he was about to die, which motivates him to risk his life and help her.
What is Laurent’s Ceremony? Who Questions Losang?
The episode ends with a woman, seemingly a head of the Union of Hope, questioning Losang about a mysterious ceremony involving Laurent. She is Jacinta, possibly the American religious leader’s superior within the organization. He tells her that the ceremony cannot be arranged anytime soon since he believes that Laurent and none of them have been ready for it yet. The secretive nature of the whole affair casts suspicions on Losang and Jacinta’s plans and intentions, especially after the American leader tells Daryl that Laurent’s purity is more important than his life.
Losang’s words indicate that Laurent’s life is possibly in danger in the Nest. The ceremony can be a ritual that demands the sacrifice of the little boy. The religious movement’s leader may know that it is not wise to hurt the little boy when Daryl is among them, which explains why he is adamant about postponing the ceremony. If the American wanderer can protect the child from Madame Genet and countless walkers, he can undoubtedly save Laurent from a group of priests and nuns. Therefore, Losang must be waiting for Daryl to leave, especially considering his question about the latter’s departure.
The Union of Hope sees Laurent as a messiah, a word used to describe Jesus Christ. The organization’s expectation that the boy will save the world can be paralleled with Christ’s efforts to lead the people around him to a new path. To achieve this, he sacrificed himself and was crucified. Similarly, Losang and Jacinta may want to sacrifice Laurent to see him as the second incarnation of God the Son.
Read More: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: Who Came Back to the Commonwealth? Theories
