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Daryl's Fate Is Uncertain After Taking On Alpha On 'The Walking Dead'

by Caitlin Gallagher
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead Season 10
Jace Downs/AMC

Spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead Season 10. In his search for Connie and Magna, Daryl went head-to-head with Alpha. While Lydia came to his aid, Daryl's not looking good on The Walking Dead at the moment. As one of the last original characters standing, Daryl's death would be a blow to the series, but it would also be one of the more genuinely shocking deaths in Walking Dead history if the long-running series went in that direction with Norman Reedus.

Alpha isn't a fan of anyone from the Hilltop, Alexandria, and Oceanside communities. But Daryl Dixon might now be at the top of her kill list — even above Carol! — since Lydia chose to save Daryl. On Talking Dead, both Alpha actor Samantha Morton and TWD executive producer Denise Huth teased that Lydia's decision not to kill Alpha means the Whisperers will target the Alexandrians even more than before. As a leader of Alexandria and Lydia's closest confidante, Daryl could become Alpha's new focus and the biggest casualty of the Whisperer War.

Alpha murdering Daryl would make her the top Walking Dead villain of all-time and Reedus previously worried about Daryl's fate to Entertainment Weekly. At the beginning of Season 10, Reedus said he wasn't too sure he wanted Daryl to find love with Connie since on The Walking Dead happiness sometimes equates to death. And he'd sure be happy if he found Connie and they began their romance in earnest, leaving him very vulnerable to Alpha's wrath.

Jace Downs/AMC

Yet, Reedus has made it clear he has no intention of leaving The Walking Dead. "I don't want to go anywhere. I'll burn down that whole studio if they got rid of me," Reedus told ET toward the end of Season 9. "I always said I wanted to just walk off into the sunset with a dog, but now so many people are doing that, that I don't know. I don't know how I'd want to die. I don't want to die ever, so I don't want to put it out there. I don't want to give anyone any ideas."

The UK publication Express theorized that since Daryl has stepped into a position of power after Andrew Lincoln's exit, he could take over Rick's storyline from the comics — which would mean his time isn't over with the Whisperers. The preview for the next episode shows that Daryl and Lydia are headed to Hilltop — where, as Rosita helpfully reminded viewers this episode, the closest doctor is now that Siddiq's dead. But Daryl's not going to take a a healing respite (as if). Instead, it appears he'll have to pause looking for Connie and Magna because Alpha attacks the Hilltop with her horde. With him having no time to truly heal from his wounds, he'll be more susceptible to be killed during the war. And if he does get a break from battle, he's sure to continue to run himself ragged looking for Connie. But Daryl is one of the ultimate badasses of The Walking Dead. So, just as Alpha plans to rise again, we haven't seen the last of Daryl Dixon — and it better stay that way.