The second season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, called The Book of Carol, managed to fit a lot of action into its short six episodes. It begins with parallel journeys as Daryl (Norman Reedus) fights off enemies to protect Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) while Carol (Melissa McBride) tries desperately to get to France and find her best friend. By the fourth episode, the friends finally reunite. Their journey continues together through the final two episodes, culminating in the end of the story, which sets things up for the confirmed Season 3.
The Key Events Leading Up to the Season Finale
Release Date October 1, 2023
Cast Norman Reedus , Clemence Poesy , Louis Puech Scigliuzzi , Laïka Blanc-Francard , Anne Charrier , Romain Levi , Melissa McBride , Joel de la Fuente , Adam Nagaitis , Eriq Ebouaney , Tristan Zanchi , François Delaive , Maxime Lefrançois , Lukerya Ilyashenko , Catherine Arditi , Hugo Dillon
Seasons 2
Showrunner David Zabel
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Carol makes her way to The Nest and, with the help of Codron (Roman Levi), takes down enemies to search for Daryl. She encounters Isabelle (Clémence Poésy), who she senses is someone with whom Daryl was close. She tries her best to make Isabelle comfortable and hide her from harm though it’s clear Isabelle will not make it. When Carol finds Daryl taking out walkers in a hallway, the pair run to one another and fall into a tight and teary embrace. Carol brings Daryl to Isabelle where he says his heartfelt goodbyes and Isabelle pleads with him to make sure Laurent is okay.
As much as Daryl wants answers from Carol, there isn’t much time to play catch up: Daryl must find Laurent. Of course, he takes Carol along with him. But Laurent isn’t in the cave where he was supposed to be waiting with Fallou (Eriq Ebouaney). Daryl uses his tracking skills to follow where they would have gone. This leads to the home of an elderly couple named Theo (Francois-Éric Gendron) and Didi (Marie-Christine Adam). They reveal they did indeed meet with Laurent and Fallou and gave them a vehicle.
Carol and Daryl are welcomed to stay while Daryl looks for another car to fix up for them to continue on their path. However, Marion Genet (Anne Charrier) catches up with them before they can leave. Theo, it turns out, betrayed them, worried about the fallout if he didn’t tell the truth. Coming face-to-face with Genet, Carol kills her in the most horrific fashion, using the very Amper serum Genet had been developing essentially to burn her alive. Now safe to leave, they finally reunite with Laurent. Next, it’s time to find Ash (Manish Dayal) and head back home.
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The Journey to Find Ash
The three travel to meet Ash at his plane, but he’s not there. Laurent seemingly doesn’t want to go to America anyway, believing he brings death to everyone who gets close to him. He doesn’t want the same to happen to Daryl. Eventually, however, he comes around. After word of Genet’s death, Sabine (Tatiana Gousseff) turns to Losang (Joel de la Fuente) for help, and he unites The Nest and Pouvoir together for a common goal: find Laurent and have him lead them to “the promised land.”
Codron arrives at Fallou’s community, seeking asylum and forgiveness. He proves his allegiance when Losang shows up and Codron helps Laurent escape before he can be found. Fallou gives Losang a scathing speech, telling him that if he needs Laurent as proof, he doesn’t have real faith after all. In the fracas of trying to get out, Daryl manages to kill Losang.
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They find Ash at Maison Mère where, while he went looking for fuel for the plane. He was knocked unconscious while running from a herd. Daryl uses his charms and connections and gets the fuel they need from Anna (Lukerya Ilyashenko). Naturally, Ash is confused about why Carol has returned with a grown man and a young boy. When Carol tells Ash the truth about her daughter, he is furious. Most importantly, however, Ash reveals that while he understands the need to bring Laurent with them, the plane can only hold three people.
The Finale’s Big Shoot-Out
With Losang dead, his right-hand woman Jacinta (Nassima Benchicou) is after Laurent, using anyone who might be able to help her track them down. That leads her to Anna, who has the opportunity to save herself by selling out Daryl and the others. Her decision leads them in the right direction but also purposely puts them in danger of getting killed by a hidden herd of walkers. Her true intentions are unknown, but in the end, it costs her life. Jacinta and her army find the plane anyway.
Ash is still angry about Carol’s lie, but he focuses his efforts on fixing the plane to get them back home. Daryl manages to get through to Ash, telling him that he came there to save a kid, and he still can. Carol decides that she is going to stay behind and asks Ash to take Daryl and Laurent back home with him. But Daryl has other plans, and Ash agrees with him that it’s better he stays behind while Carol gets on the plane with Ash and Laurent.
Once they realize Jacinta has located them, it’s time for Ash to get the plane moving. It’s an intense fight for Daryl to try and stop Jacinta’s men and leave enough of a path for Ash to take off. Daryl is desperately trying to catch up with a man on a motorcycle who is gaining on the plane and shooting at it. Daryl takes a shot and hits. Crisis averted.
Just then, Ash encounters a vehicle coming right at him from the other direction. Daryl exhales and aims his gun before taking the crucial shot. But he’s out of ammunition. Just then, another shot rings and shoots the person in the vehicle, causing them to veer off to the side and leaving a clear path for Ash to take off. Who fired the shot? It’s Carol who stayed behind to help. She couldn’t leave her best friend. Now knowing her days are numbered since she was bit while traveling through the tunnel with Anna, and with seemingly no hope left now that Laurent has left the country, Jacinta shoots herself in the head.
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Where Do Daryl and Carol Go From Here?
Daryl is relieved that Laurent is safe, and now it’s time to work his way back home, too, so he can be reunited with him once again, as well as all his other friends and family. Thanks to Fallou, Daryl and Carol meet new friends from Scotland who can reportedly help them get to England. From there, they should be able to get back home to America. Daryl and Codron finally bury the hatchet and share a lovely moment by the fire. He travels with Daryl and Carol while Fallou decides to stay behind. Carol shares her feelings over the loss of Sophia, receiving comfort from Daryl through her tears. “We keep going,” he tells her. “That’s what we do.”
As the journey commences the next morning and they travel through a cave towards their destination, they start to hallucinate and realize there are toxic substances inside. Codron starts attacking Daryl, forgetting that they have become friends now. Carol sees a walker that looks like her, then hallucinates and sees Sophia (Madison Lintz). She comes dangerously close to being bitten. Daryl hallucinates, seeing Isabelle as well as the ghost of his grandfather.
The trippy episode, reminiscent of the episode of The Walking Dead when Michonne (Danai Gurira) is drugged by Virgil (Kevin Carroll) and hallucinates, puts the characters in tremendous danger. Thankfully, it ends with both Daryl and Carol safe and sound, finding gas masks to help them breathe through the remainder of the cave until they can get to the other end. “Let’s go home,” Carol says to Daryl as they continue walking. The Rolling Stones song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” plays out the scene.
Thus, a new journey begins. Fans know that filming for Season 3 has begun in Spain, with most of the filming taking place in Madrid. This means the dynamic duo ends up there at some point, an odd pit-stop on the way to England or, more likely, a rerouting around danger. Not surprisingly, the journey back to The Commonwealth won’t be a simple, straight line. But it’ll likely make for a great Season 3.
Stream The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 1 on Netflix and The Book of Carol on AMC+.
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