I’m pretty satisfied with everything that went down in the Oct. 26 episode of The Walking Dead: RIP, Bob, and good riddance, Gareth. But the episode left us with a mystery: who is in the woods with Daryl? Entertainment Weekly’s Dalton Ross has been predicting Aaron may be the next character to jump from page to screen since August. And he theorized again after “Four Walls and a Roof” that Aaron is a possibility for the character that is accompanying Daryl. I'm not sold on the likelihood that Aaron would join the TV version of The Walking Dead just yet, but who is this Aaron? Warning: Comic spoilers abound.
In the comics, Aaron is a recruiter for the Alexandria Safe-Zone, so he actively looks for decent people to join him. (Which makes me so pumped for the day that Rick and crew do actually run into him.) I agree with Ross’s own shutdown of his idea due to the fact that it seems like the Washington DC storyline would need to happen before we see Aaron. And showrunner Scott Gimple won’t commit to whether or not we’ll even see Alexandria this season, telling Ross in EW, "I don’t think anyone who reads the comics will be surprised that we eventually get there, but whether it’s this season or not? It’s possible. I suppose."
(I really need to stop reading these ambiguous quotes from the actors and showrunners of The Walking Dead. They are master manipulators.)
Anyway, back to Aaron. In the comics, he watches groups from afar to see how they interact and if he thinks they are good, he approaches them with no weapons about joining the Safe-Zone. If they hurt him, his boyfriend — Eric, another recruiter — attacks them. In the comics, he approaches Rick and group on their way to Washington.
I think that’s one of the biggest reasons I don’t think we are seeing Aaron just yet. Alexandria, Va. is super close to Washington DC, and not-so-close to wherever in Georgia they currently are. Recruiting is a risky business, but it seems unnecessarily risky for Aaron to have traveled so far. So, if they follow the comics even a little bit, I don’t think we’ll see Aaron until Rick and crew join Abraham and crew and head to DC.
But when that day comes, it could be an awesome refreshing new start for The Walking Dead. I haven’t really connected with many of the “new” characters that have been added to the core group, and Aaron seems like he could be a lovable character, as well as a phenomenal ally to Rick. No offense to the recently deceased, but I was never engaged in Bob's story and I didn’t expect him to live that long. Sasha and Tyreese have grown on me (although Tyreese’s intensity is a bit too much, but I like that he was able to forgive Carol). Tara seems like a good person, but she is pretty annoying and I blame her for taking Glenn and Maggie away to DC. And I just haven’t been given enough of Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita to know how I feel about them. Although, I would say Abraham wins in — well, winning me over. Especially with his farewell note to Rick.
As for who is in the woods with Daryl, I don’t know if a new character would be who he was hiding. It wouldn’t have the same oomph as revealing Beth, Morgan, or even a beaten-up Carol. The next episode looks like we'll finally see where Beth is, so we probably won't have an answer until the very end of the episode — if we're lucky.
Images: Gene Page/AMC; ghostlygrimes, paladeckis (2)/Tumblr
