Season nine has been hinting at extreme tension between Michonne and almost everyone else she encounters since Rick left. Keeping the gates of Alexandria locked, she’s not only shutting friends, allies, and enemies out, but keeping her community shut in. It’s been difficult watching the woman who drafted a Community Charter become so cold, but “Scars” finally gave us the answer as to what could drive someone to change so suddenly. Here are five thoughts on one of the darkest episodes in recent The Walking Dead history. Beware: spoilers follow!
1. Daryl
The episode weaves together two storylines; one through flashbacks and one following the present day. At all times, Michonne is looking for something. During all of these searches, Daryl is there with her. As the show opens, they are both out searching for Rick. Although they don’t find him, Michonne does find Rick’s gun buried in the mud. Through their quiet exchange, it’s clear they’re both struggling with the aftermath of Rick’s loss. Cut to the present, and Daryl is outside with Connie, Henry and Dog—and a stranger (Lydia). Michonne decides to let them in, though it’s not an easy decision. Directly following a scene where Michonne had an open, sincere friendship with Daryl, it makes us wonder what exactly happened to make her so uneasy. Fortunately, it’s a mystery that is finally answered this episode.
There’s a lovely scene reuniting “uncle” Daryl with Lil’ Ass-Kicker as they sit by a lake and talk. They speak openly with each other about what should happen with Lydia, with Judith showing that she’s already wise beyond her years, questioning what her dad would do. Nevertheless, Daryl knows Michonne doesn’t want to let people in and understands her reasoning. As soon as they’re patched up, they head out again, trying to keep ahead of the Whisperers until they reach the Kingdom. This prompts Judith to carry on the true Grimes-children tradition of not staying in the house as she grabs Rick’s gun, leaves a sorry note for Michonne, and runs off after uncle Daryl and their friends.
Already distraught after losing Rick and Carl, Michonne is desperate to keep Judith and her new son, RJ, safe at any cost. But this is the second time since Rick’s “death” that she has lost Judith. Tying the two stories together as this episode does gives us better insight into Michonne’s isolationist strategies.
2. Jocelyn
We discover that Daryl’s arrival at the gate mimics the arrival of someone Michonne trusted. Shortly after Rick’s death, a woman named Jocelyn arrives at the camp with children—a woman Michonne used to be friends with at school. Recognising her, Michonne instantly drops her guard and takes the group in immediately to give them treatment and shelter. It turns out that Jocelyn was looking after a large number of children, and most of them are still at their base camp. Michonne and Daryl agree to accompany Jocelyn to find them and bring them to Alexandria. Hidden away in an old building, with posters detailing how to properly skin animals plastered on the walls, are many young children.
Trusting in her old friend and the natural innocence of children, Michonne lets them move into Alexandria. They play games and eat together. There’s a real connection between Michonne and Jocelyn as they share stories from high school, revealing that Michonne has always been a stubborn hard-ass with excellent side-eye. The conversation and laughter between the two actors is very natural—putting the viewer at ease, as well as the Alexandrians. Jocelyn and the children make such an impression that the Alexandrian children begin having regular sleepovers with them. One morning, however, the parents arrive at Jocelyn’s house to discover their children are gone, their supplies have been raided, and a man killed. Small, bloody footprints leading to a manhole cover is a telling sign that they’ve been conned and their children are gone—including Judith.
Looking back, there are tell-tale signs that Jocelyn and her army of children couldn’t be trusted. Most tellingly, Jocelyn reveals that she ended up looking after all of these children because all of the adults in her group would eventually break, unable to bend to the new world. Kids, however, are adaptable and can grow and learn. But just how many adults broke for Jocelyn to end up with such a large group of children? It implies a long history of foul play, earning trust, infiltrating groups, then stealing everything from them—including their children.
Continued below3. Scars
With Judith now missing in both the flashbacks and present day, we join Michonne out on her hunts. In the past, she’s accompanied by Daryl. The pair return to Jocelyn’s base. It’s worth noting that Michonne is heavily pregnant with RJ at this time, undoubtedly making the journey alone difficult. But she’s not ready to lose anyone else, so she persists. I don’t think anyone—the characters or audience—were expecting to find our heroes confronted by an army of heavily armed children primed to strike. One instantly shoots Daryl in the shoulder, knocking him down, while another knocks Michonne unconscious.
When they awake, they are bound and gagged, hanging by their hands from the ceiling. To their horror, they find that two little tots, one named Linus and the other Winnie, are heating a branding iron with Jocelyn overseeing the whole experience. You’ve guessed it—this is where Daryl and Michonne’s X-shaped scars came from. The little children take turns branding the captives with the catchy motto: “Mark our kill. Kill our mark.” The branding is no doubt an exercise in dehumanising their victims, making the kill easier if they’re treated like cattle. Jocelyn reveals that she wants to teach the kids to be strong so they can survive and thrive. Sound familiar? It’s very much like Alpha’s rhetoric, showing she’s not the only one in the world intent on raising little psychos. Perhaps this experience will give Daryl and Michonne a slight upper hand when they come to confront Alpha, already knowing the kind of monster they’re dealing with.
Here comes the heavy part…
Physical scars dealt, we then discover the horrific mental scars Michonne is living with. Daryl and Michonne manage to break free and agree to split up to find Judith and the other Alexandrian children as quickly as possible. Michonne quickly spots the kids being rushed out of the building and into a van, only for her path to be blocked by a couple of young warriors. She’s able to get her katana back and scare the children away, but unfortunately the nightmare’s far from over. Running outside to find Judith, she’s knocked to the ground by Jocelyn who Michonne quickly dispatches. Hopefully killing their cruel, brainwashing manipulator would make the kids stand down, but it sadly appears they are already too far gone. Michonne pleads, reasons, and even screams as much as she can, but with a threat to Judith’s life and receiving a harsh cut to her pregnant stomach as the children begin their attack, she reluctantly engages in a full mother bear rampage, tearfully fighting off the children.
Thankfully the scene cuts back to present day, Michonne slicing down walkers in her search for Judith instead of children. The suggestion alone is more than enough, and we can clearly see the heartbreak Michonne suffers as we cut back to the van where Judith and the other children are hiding, now safe to come out. Daryl bursts into the scene, also wielding bloody knives which suggests he’s had to do some unspeakable things too, and the pair acknowledge the shared scars they’ll need to carry for the rest of their lives with a simple look. It’s horrific and shocking to witness, and no wonder that Michonne is reluctant to let her guard down around anyone.
Bonus Thought: Winnie
The only child to escape unscathed was Winnie, who runs off as Michonne reaches the door of the truck. Having been raised in a way that is similar to the Whisperer’s ideals, and having marked her kill but not killed her mark, it’s not unreasonable to consider that she may reappear in the future amongst Alpha’s group, ready to finish the job.
4. Negan
When Judith first goes missing in the present day, Michonne’s first point of call to look for her is Negan’s cell. Infused with his trademark blend of snark and charm, Negan surprisingly gives Michonne a frank but touching talk: Parenting 101 with Negan. He lets Michonne know that Judith likes visiting with him because he shoots straight with her, telling her stories of her father and brother, especially praising how much of a badass Carl was to sneak into the Sanctuary. He tells Judith information and stories that Michonne has been hiding from her. Michonne wants to prolong her childhood, but in this world, childhood can be dangerous. An even balance is needed between being molly coddled and a full-on child-soldier for survival and growth.
Continued belowBecause of Negan’s openness with Judith, she’s open with him in turn. He knows she misses Daryl, and that she hates not letting people in anymore. She’s as stubborn as her mother, but just as capable—and she’s becoming a young woman, forming her own ideas of how to make Carl’s wish of build a new world come true and will stand up for what she believes in. Those ideas just happen to clash with Michonne’s.
I wish we’d seen more of this Negan during the war with the Saviors. He’s still a straight-talking wiseass, but without the pantomime schtick. While an arrogant Negan was necessary when he was a genuine threat and ruthless leader, it always leaned past threatening and into farce. Playing with the more understated performance and great dialogue Jeffrey Dean Morgan now has to work with could easily have created the right amount of menace necessary for one of the comics’ most popular villains.
5. Keeping Those We Love Safe
Just as Michonne found Judith before, she finds her again amidst a field of walkers, taking care of herself with her tiny katana. The pair agree it’s time for a chat. Heeding Negan’s advice, Michonne is honest with Judith about the events that happened with Jocelyn, believing her daughter had blocked it from her memory. But Judith remembers it all, and she knows Michonne did what had to be done to protect them, acknowledging that her mother isn’t a bad person. She simply kept quiet about it because she knew it made her mother sad. Jocelyn may have been extreme, but she was right about one thing: kids do learn and grow and soak up knowledge in new environments—Judith simply confirms that children are more perceptive than adults give them credit for.
Having been deceived by an old friend and children, it’s easy to understand why Michonne has become so insular. But Judith questions the boundaries of protecting those we care about, asking “When did we stop loving Daryl, Maggie, Carol, the Kingdom?” It’s a moving moment, revealing to Michonne just how high she’s built her own personal wall. Her primary motive is to protect Judith and RJ, no matter the cost—but that doesn’t mean she can’t go on to protect her friends and her post-apocalyptic family. The show ends with Michonne and Judith riding in a horse and cart towards the Kingdom. Judith asks if a cut she received will leave a scar, to which Michonne replies “No, but it’s okay if it does,” suggesting that she’s ready to move on and break the walls down again. We all have scars, and we learn to live with them. They pick up Daryl, Connie, Henry, Lydia, and Dog, and together they head to the Kingdom—arriving just in time to lead the Whisperers to Ezekiel’s settlement.
Danai Gurira absolutely carried “Scars”, with all of the emotion, action, and drama riding upon her performance. The internal struggles she continually battles against—losing Rick, looking for Judith, having to kill kids to save her own, making difficult leadership choices—were all conveyed with simple looks, body language, and expressions. She’ll be dreadfully missed when she departs from the show.
Parenthood, especially motherhood, has played a key role so far during this second half of the season: Alpha and Lydia, Michonne and Judith, even Jocelyn and her child-army. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the final two episodes, with Carol and Henry undoubtedly entering the fray once they’re reunited too. But with the Whisperers being led right to the Kingdom’s door, I doubt we’ll need to wait long to find out what happens when lionesses willing to do whatever it takes to protect their cubs come face-to-face.
