Warning: Spoilers for The Walking Dead season 11, episode 24
Daryl’s “we ain’t the walking dead” line in The Walking Dead series finale is a thought-provoking callback to one of Rick Grimes’ most memorable moments. In a season 5 episode, Rick famously spoke the phrase, “we tell ourselves…that we are the walking dead” during a speech made to the rest of his group. It, as well as several other key scenes from the show’s 11-season run, was referenced in the final episode.
The moment that convinced the Commonwealth soldiers to stand down and allow the people to enter through the gates came when Daryl delivered a rousing speech to Pamela Milton. Daryl argued that they would “lose everything” even if they didn’t open the gates and risk the zombies getting inside. After pointing out that they “only have one enemy,” Norman Reedus’ character reminded her that they aren’t the “the walking dead.” The idea is that as human beings, they should be fighting the zombies – not each other. His words didn’t reach Pamela, but it did turn the tide and pave the way for the Commonwealth to be saved from the zombie horde.
The Deeper Meaning Of Daryl's "We Ain't The Walking Dead" Line
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Daryl’s “we ain’t the walking dead” line in The Walking Dead series finale reflects the viewpoints of not just Daryl, but the cast of characters as a whole. Over the years, living in the zombie apocalypse has pushed quite a few of them to their limit, forcing them to make morally questionable choices. Many have committed violent acts they wouldn’t be proud of now. But in recent seasons, the Alexandrians have worked hard to get to a place where they can be better people and make decisions they can live with. Clearly, Daryl believes they’ve outgrown their brutal nature and must focus on banding together and saving each other.
Daryl's "We Ain't The Walking Dead" Line Refutes Rick Grimes' Statement
The context of the original line explains what Rick really meant when he first said the words in The Walking Dead season 5’s “Them.” To illustrate a point about the lives they have to live in the apocalypse, Rick told them that his grandfather, a soldier in World War II, pretended that he was dead in order to get through the horrors of the war (and succeeded). As Rick explained, “we do what we need to live, and then we get to live.” Rick believed that they needed to adopt the same sort of outlook that his grandfather had if they were going to survive the apocalypse.
Daryl immediately took issue with Rick’s remark, saying, “we ain’t them.” He disagreed with Rick’s opinion then, and doesn’t support it now, either. Daryl’s “we ain’t the walking dead” line stands as a direct contradiction of the ways followed by Rick Grimes’ group in the show’s earlier seasons. Furthermore, it represents the evolutions of the characters and the state of the world that they’ve built for themselves in The Walking Dead.