Sumith Prasad
Towards the end of AMC’s post-apocalyptic series ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ season 1, Madame Genet sets out to kill Laurent as she fears that the surviving French population will follow the boy instead of her. Genet, as the leader of Pouvoir Du Vivant, wants the remaining survivors to accept her authority and follow her rules and instructions. She sees Laurent as a threat to her power and authoritarian regime, which makes her send her men to kill him. With Daryl’s help, Laurent stays away from death in the first season but will he be able to stay alive in the sophomore round as well? Let us share our thoughts regarding the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Personification of Hope
Madame Genet sees Laurent as a threat to her authority because the latter’s existence gives the French survivors hope. The whole country sees Laurent as a potential messiah who will lead the populace to a brighter future and survival. He gives them the belief that the misery they are experiencing right now will come to an end soon. As far as Genet is concerned, this hope makes the survivors bow down to Laurent and the Union of Hope, the Christian organization that nurtures Laurent to become a messiah. She fears that the people who are scared of her will seek refuge in the Union, which will affect her power in the country.
Genet garners her authority by making people scared of her. Using a militia, she makes people suffer to make them surrender to her. She knows that she is nothing without an enormous group of people on their knees, willing to follow her rules. Therefore, Genet wants the same people to not leave her and join the Union upon dreaming of a brighter future under the guideship of Laurent. Her efforts to kill the boy, however, fail miserably. Even Codron, one of her trusted generals, gets captivated by Laurent’s aura and decides to not kill him.
The Shields
Laurent is currently protected inside the walls of the Nest, one of the establishments under the Union of Hope. Since Genet doesn’t know the location of the place, she may not be able to locate and kill Laurent right away. Having said that, Codron knows the location and Genet may try her best to find out the same from him. If she succeeds in extracting the location of the refuge from Codron, we can expect her to lead a militia to the place to kill Laurent. In a battle, Genet’s soldiers do have an edge over the Christian missionaries present in the Nest.
Laurent’s survival may depend upon Daryl, who hasn’t yet chosen France over the United States. If he makes that choice, he may shield the boy from any threats, regardless of the potency of the same. Ever since normalcy ended in the world, Daryl has fought several superpowers and overcome them. Such an experience may help him battle Genet as well. If Laurent is under the care of Daryl, Genet may fail to kill the boy. His determination and love for the child may protect the latter from Pouvoir Du Vivant.
If Carol ends up in France and Genet comes across her, the authoritarian figure may use her to make Daryl submit Laurent to her. That seems like the only way Genet can eliminate Daryl from her way to kill the boy. However, if Carol and Daryl manage to team up against Genet, the chances of her overcoming them to kill Laurent are too low. The best-friend duo may even consider taking Laurent to the United States to protect him. Although it will be tough for Daryl to convince the officials of the Union of Hope to part ways with their future messiah, they may nod yes for the boy to survive. If that’s the case, Laurent may grow up along with Judith and Rick Grimes Jr. in the Commonwealth.
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