AMC making a Walking Dead spinoff with Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) likely means that its new character, Leah (Lynn Collins), is dead. Introduced in the latest episode, Leah helped give Daryl his first-ever love story on the show. The Walking Dead season 10 episode 17, titled “Find Me”, was a Daryl-centric story that featured flashbacks that shed some light on what he was up to during the six-year time skip after Rick’s departure.
Apparently, Daryl’s search for Rick caused him to cross paths with another character living in isolation. They eventually became romantically involved, but Daryl was hesitant to commit. He tried to find her at her cabin, but she was gone, while her canine companion Dog has been traveling with him ever since.
While it’s possible Leah just left, the issue with that is Dog himself. It wouldn’t make sense for her to leave him behind and it could be, just as Daryl has feared, that Leah died. A Walking Dead spinoff about Daryl and Carol reinforces this notion, because it indicates Daryl’s future is on the road with Carol, not with Leah, the character he decided he wanted to be with. A few teases in past episodes have pointed toward Daryl and Carol leaving Alexandria and going on their own adventure, and despite the way they left things in episode 17, it still seems that’s the plan for the spinoff. Daryl running off with Carol would naturally mean he has nothing left to hold him back in Alexandria – including Leah.
Reedus has confirmed there’s more story to tell with Leah, but that’s far from proof she’s still alive [via EW]. Daryl could eventually find traces of her, and following a thorough search, he could find she met a grisly fate. As for what could have happened, the explanation doesn’t have to be complicated in the zombie apocalypse. She easily could have been attacked by a zombie somewhere or her body just may have never been discovered. The show sending Daryl down this road only to find out Leah is dead would draw some tragic comparisons to The Walking Dead season 2, which offered a similar arc for the character. After spending most of his time trying to save Carol’s missing daughter, Daryl came to the shocking and painful realization Sophia had turned into a zombie long ago.
The Walking Dead doing the same thing with Leah would amount to his new season 10 arc being just one more sad chapter in Daryl’s story. But even if Leah isn’t dead, the chances of the two reuniting and remaining together still aren’t good. With a spinoff coming for both his character and Carol, it’s hard to imagine Leah having a future in his life.