Summary

• Daryl Dixon's trip to France in his spinoff was a mission assigned to him by Maggie to uncover the origins of the zombie outbreak and the evolution of variant zombies.
• France is connected to the outbreak as hinted in The Walking Dead season 1, with the French scientists being the last to go dark. The French laboratory revealed in The Walking Dead: World Beyond confirms their involvement.
• Although Daryl initially ended up in France due to being captured by "bad people," he may unintentionally stumble upon the scientists and doctors searching for a cure, leading to a mission against them while protecting a child. The story promises more depth and complexity.

The answer to why does Daryl go to France was partially solved thanks to The Walking Dead's series finale. When AMC announced The Walking Dead would end with season 11, a spinoff series starring Norman Reedus' Daryl Dixon was revealed simultaneously. The Walking Dead's solo Daryl Dixon spinoff was confirmed as filming in Europe, with France as the focal point. Needless to say, this revelation raised questions over how and why Reedus' lone wolf character would sail across the Atlantic after The Walking Dead's ending. The Walking Dead's series finale goes a long way toward explaining Daryl Dixon heading to France.

"Rest In Peace" ends with happiness reigning over the Commonwealth, Alexandria, and Hilltop. Maggie, now reinstated as Hilltop's leader, decides the growing communities must learn more about the wider situation and sends Daryl on this vital mission of discovery. Although Maggie doesn't mention specific stones she wants Daryl to turn, The Walking Dead implies that Maggie hopes to understand why the undead are changing. The Walking Dead: World Beyond all but confirmed France is where the outbreak began and evolved, so if Maggie wants to learn more, it becomes logical for Daryl to go there.

How France Is Connected To The Walking Dead's Outbreak

In The Walking Dead season 1, Jenner told Rick Grimes about French scientists being the last to go dark when the outbreak began, hinting at the country's relevance. The post-credits scene of The Walking Dead: World Beyond revealed the French laboratory Jenner was communicating with, now abandoned and covered in graffiti reading "the dead were born here." A single scientist returns but is killed by an unidentified man who reveals the French scientists seemingly responsible for the outbreak are all either dead or imprisoned. The gunman also blames the scientists for "making it worse" in a veiled reference to variant zombies.

If Daryl Dixon went to France, therefore, he could find out how the outbreak began, why variant zombies have evolved in The Walking Dead, and may even learn if any progress for a cure has been made. Those answers appear to be exactly what Maggie is hoping to discover by sending Daryl on his scouting mission. Whereas Daryl Dixon's spinoff setting was something of an enigma beforehand, Maggie's request in the final moments of The Walking Dead's series finale bridges the gap between season 11's happy ending, and Daryl traveling to a completely different country.

How Could Daryl Know France Has The Answers?

Daryl's motivation for visiting France in his The Walking Dead spinoff may now be clear, but a question arises over exactly how he discovers France is an important location in the first place. Communication is far from ideal in The Walking Dead's post-apocalypse, and France's role in the outbreak was seemingly unknown even to Dr. Jenner. The Walking Dead: World Beyond may hold the solution.

The fabled French lab post-credits scene confirmed one of the scientific teams responsible for the virus, Primrose team, was in Ohio when the outbreak began. Primrose team never returned, meaning the scientists are feasibly still alive in AMC's The Walking Dead timeline, and if Daryl finds one of them, he may learn that the knowledge Maggie sent him to uncover awaits in France. The only lingering question mark is whether discovering the secrets of the zombie apocalypse should outweigh Daryl's responsibility to Judith as a father figure in The Walking Dead.

What Daryl Is Doing In France In His Spinoff

While it was nice to believe that Daryl Dixon was in France following leads as to the origin of the outbreak, that isn't what Daryl said happened. Instead, on the first episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Daryl said that he "ran into some bad people" and they put him on a boat, which he said didn't go well. Now, this doesn't really say why he was put on a boat, or what happened to everyone else on the boat. There was a clue that he was captured and was being taken to France as a prisoner, along with other prisoners, but Daryl escaped and made a mess of things.

This doesn't mean that Daryl is not there to find out more information about the original outbreak, although he doesn't know that is his goal. As The Walking Dead: World Beyond post-credit scene showed, there were doctors looking for a cure, but they accidentally released the fast variants. Most were imprisoned, but that does not mean they are still not looking for a cure. Daryl and others might have been captured to experiment on, and his escape could lead him on a mission against these scientists and doctors. His main goal is the protect a child, but there should be a lot more to this Walking Dead story in the end.