Walking Dead Season 9: Unanswered Questions After Episode 14, "Scars"

This week's episode of The Walking Dead, "Scars", delivered some long-awaited answers to some of season 9's biggest mysteries, but still left plenty of question unanswered. With each passing installment, The Walking Dead season 9's inter-community fair has gradually come together and last week's offering finally saw preparations for the event come to a head, as newcomers The Highwaymen were recruited to provide security for attendees. Daryl's group also fought off a Whisperer attack, but found themselves unsure where to go next after eventually deciding to take Lydia in as one of their own.

"Scars" shifted the focus back on to Alexandria and its de facto leader, Michonne, and through a series of flashbacks, revealed why the community had become so isolated and distrusting of strangers, while also explaining the origin of the X-shaped scars seen earlier this season. Back in the present timeline, Judith demonstrated wisdom far beyond her tender years and all the action began to converge upon the Kingdom ahead of the big fair.

However, with only two episodes remaining of The Walking Dead season 9, "Scars" also left a number of plot threads dangling ahead of the sure-to-be dramatic season 9 finale. Here are the most vital unanswered questions from episode 14.

This Page: Walking Dead Questions About Daryl and Michonne
Page 2: Walking Dead Questions About The Whisperers
Page 3: Walking Dead Questions About The Rest Of Season 9

Does Jocelyn's Appearance Rule Out Another Big Reunion For Michonne?

Walking Dead Season 9 Time Jump Michonne Danai Gurira

In an unexpected twist, The Walking Dead revealed the source of Michonne's ruthlessness and the unknown tragedy that befell Alexandria during the time skip. Shortly following Rick's apparent death, Michonne was coincidentally reunited with an old childhood friend, Jocelyn, who had been living Peter Pan-style alongside a group of ragged children. While Jocelyn's group were initially welcomed into Alexandria with open arms, it quickly became clear that Michonne's former pal had taken a turn for the insane, and was stealing kids to turn into hardened post-apocalyptic warriors.

This storyline isn't taken from the TWD comic books but, interestingly, Michonne does have another emotional reunion with a loved one in the source material. Upon first visiting the massive Commonwealth community, Michonne discovers that her daughter Elodie is alive and the two share a heartfelt reintroduction.

Curiously, the Jocelyn twist may now suggest that Michonne's reunion in the Commonwealth won't happen on screen. It's very rare in The Walking Dead for characters to bump into people they knew pre-outbreak, and the chances of that happening to Michonne twice in relatively quick succession are slim. Surely if the AMC series did plan to introduce Michonne's child at some point, they would've held off on the Jocelyn story for fear of repeating the same trick twice.

Will Daryl And Michonne Ever Get Closure On Rick?

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes with Daryl and Michonne in The Walking Dead

One of the most fascinating scenes in this week's series of flashbacks saw Daryl and a heavily pregnant Michonne combing the riverbanks near Alexandria for signs of Rick Grimes, whose body was never found because, unbeknownst to them, Jadis spirited him away via helicopter. The duo seems determined to get closure on Rick's fate but, somewhat surprisingly, it's Daryl who shows the most reluctance to move on. Not only does the scene confirm that Daryl lives alone in the woods because he's still searching for his friend, but he also claims that, no matter how much time passes, he'll never give up on Rick.

But how do these attitudes compare to the present day? Since Daryl still dwells among the trees, it appears that his quest to solve Rick's disappearance goes on, even if progress has come to a complete halt. With that said, recent events regarding the Whisperers and Henry do seem to have refocused Daryl, and could ultimately prove to be the distraction he needs to finally move on from Rick.

Michonne's situation is quite different. Since The Walking Dead's time jump, Michonne has done little to indicate that she still harbors hope of finding Judith and R.J.'s father. Understandably, the demands of juggling single parent duties with leading Alexandria don't leave much time for chasing Rick-shaped shadows down by the river.

Perhaps the most interesting question is how this flashback will connect to the forthcoming trilogy of Rick-centric movies AMC have planned. While it's important that The Walking Dead as a TV series moves on from its former lead character, Rick's story would feel distinctly incomplete if Michonne and Daryl didn't at least discover what happened to him, especially after this week's flashback.

Page 2 of 3: Walking Dead Questions About The Whisperers

Samantha Morton as Alpha and Whisperers in The Walking Dead

What Do The Whisperers Have Planned?

The closing shot of "Scars" found the Whisperers silently watching the gates of the Kingdom as the settlement prepares to welcome their allies for the community fair. Clearly, Alpha's people have something in mind for the big event, and it's not likely to be a homemade cake stall.

Beta's team may have failed to recapture Lydia but, as the youngster said herself, Alpha isn't going to just let her daughter's abduction slide and, in the leader's mind at least, a message needs to be sent. It can be assumed that the Whisperers followed Hilltop's delegation to the Kingdom, thereby discovering the network of communities they're up against. Will Alpha opt for an all out assault on the fair when everyone's guard is down, or will she adopt a more stealthy approach?

If The Walking Dead follows its comic book source material, Alpha will very much take the latter option, hiding in plain sight among the fair's attendees and scouting out her enemies in secret, before putting a brutal and bloody exclamation point on her visit that leaves the allied communities in no doubt as to what the Whisperers will and will not tolerate.

Is Lydia Finally A Trusted Protagonist?

Walking Dead Lydia Prison Cell Cassady McClincy

One of the biggest questions throughout the second half of The Walking Dead season 9 concerns Lydia's loyalty. Is she simply a troubled teen hoping for a better life away from her mother? Or is she still loyal to the Whisperers and waiting for the perfect opportunity to sell out her new friends?

In last week's episode, Lydia took a huge step towards gaining the audience's trust when she finally earned the seal of approval from the most skeptical of characters, Daryl Dixon. But "Scars" saw the young girl once again drawing suspicion, this time from Michonne, who gently suggested to Lydia that, if she truly cared about Henry, she'd run away to keep him out of Alpha's sights.

However, after Michonne received a stern lesson from Alexandria's resident life coach, Judith, she softened her stance and the closing scene saw Michonne offering Daryl's group, Lydia included, a lift to the Kingdom's community fair as somewhat of a peace offering. Although nothing is said explicitly, this action seems to symbolize Michonne accepting Lydia as one of the gang and, with that, the youngster has won over The Walking Dead's two most distrusting minds - although the first meeting with her new mother-in-law will surely be eventful.

Gaining Michonne's trust is no easy task and it's perhaps now time for Lydia to be considered a genuine protagonist, as is the case with her comic book counterpart.

Page 3 of 3: Walking Dead Questions About The Rest Of Season 9

Have Community Bridges Been Rebuilt?

The Walking Dead's flashbacks revealed that Michonne shut Alexandria off from the other communities after being betrayed by her old friend Jocelyn, and subsequently having to slice through a group of young children to save Judith, but in the present, those wounds were finally beginning to heal. Michonne had apparently always assumed that Judith's sunny demeanor and openness towards strangers was due to her ignorance of previous hardships. Alas, Michonne learned this week that Judith was actually aware of both Negan executing Glenn and Abraham and of Michonne ruthlessly slaughtering Jocelyn's grade-school death squad.

This sudden revelation helped Michonne to see that Alexandria's violent past needn't mean abandoning allies from different communities such as Hilltop and the Kingdom, but what does this realization mean for future relationships?

As established previously, Ezekiel plans to propose the signing of an inter-community charter during the fair and, with her new mindset, Michonne might just be tempted to sign. With a visit from the Whisperers very much on the cards however, will Michonne's new stance be strengthened or tested? Will a full-scale conflict against Alpha's clan harden Michonne's new resolve to protect her friends, or will she revert back to prioritizing Alexandria above all else?

Is Henry's Scar A Reference To Carl's Missing Eye?

The Walking Dead comic Carl goes after Lydia

There not much comparison between having a three-inch scar on your knee and getting your eye blown clean out of its socket, yet that seemed to be the case in this week's episode of The Walking Dead. Following his battle against the Whisperers, Henry was left with a leg wound stitched up by the good doctors of Alexandria and, in his teenage vanity, the young boy was worried it would leave an ugly-looking scar. Meanwhile, his love interest Lydia claimed to be fond of the mark.

This scene feels distinctly similar to a moment in The Walking Dead comic books between Lydia and Carl Grimes, whom Henry has replaced on TV. Prior to meeting Lydia, Carl wears an eyepatch to hide his gunshot wound and missing eyeball but after the pair grow close, Lydia teaches him to accept how he looks and to not be shamed into covering it up. She then seals the deal by sticking her tongue right down Carl's vacant eye hole.

Though the two scenes have vastly different impacts, it did seem that the exchange between Lydia and Henry was intended to mirror this famous comic moment that greatly enhanced the bond between Carl and Alpha's daughter. Having said that, it's interesting to wonder whether or not, if Carl Grimes was still alive on TV, AMC would've gone ahead with the socket-licking scene, or whether the network would've shied away from such a censor-baiting visual.

More than any other episode in The Walking Dead season 9, "Scars" provided answers to the bulk of the show's mysteries. There are still some elements of the time jump period left to clear up, the circumstances surrounding the fall of the Sanctuary for example, and it also isn't obvious whether Michonne and Maggie fell out due to the Jocelyn incident or if there were other layers to that particular clash of wills.

Those questions may be saved for future flashbacks but, at the present moment, The Walking Dead has more pressing matters to attend to now that the community fair has finally arrived.