Highlights
- The Walking Dead has concluded after twelve years and eleven seasons, but the franchise is far from over with the introduction of several spinoff shows that will explore the stories of already established characters.
- The spinoff series featuring Rick Grimes and Michonne has undergone a title change and is now called The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, in reference to the survivors' mantra throughout the original series.
- The ending of The Walking Dead left Rick Grimes presumed dead, but he was actually rescued by a mysterious group in a helicopter. Michonne set out on a journey to find Rick, believing that he may still be alive, and was joined a group of survivors in her search.
The Walking Dead (TWD) came to an end in 2022 after twelve years and eleven seasons. What started as a comic book series, it gained enough popularity to become a massive franchise that included a main TV show, video games, and even a number of spinoffs.
Before The Walking Dead was even over, it generated its first spinoff show with Fear The Walking Dead in 2015. Now that TWD has concluded, the finale has made way for a number of additional spinoff shows that will follow already established characters as they make their way across the world to learn more and save the many apocalypse survivors.
One of these spinoff shows follows the main protagonist for much of The Walking Dead Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), alongside Michonne (Danai Gurira). With other shows that will follow Daryl (Norman Reedus), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and Negan (Jeffery Dean Morgan), story of The Walking Dead appears to be far from over.
What Is The Walking Dead Rick Grimes and Michonne Series Called?
The Walking Dead's Rick Grimes and Michonne spinoff may be the most anticipated one yet. After not appearing in the show for nearly two full seasons, Rick made the screen one last time at the end of the series finale, setting up for the future of the TWD expanded universe.
The new series underwent a title change after initially being called, The Walking Dead: Rick and Michonne in April 2023. Just a few months later, the creators had a change of heart and decided on the title, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, in honor of the survivors' mantra throughout the series.
The show will explore what happened to the two (former) title characters after the TWD finale. With that, viewers can expect to see who exactly descended in the helicopter that took Rick away, as well as exploring where Michonne might start in her journey to search for Rick. Not to mention they share a child, Rick Jr (RJ) whom Rick never met, nor is he aware of.
Where Was Rick Grimes at the End of The Walking Dead?
Before Rick made his final appearance in the series finale, fans were left wondering what happened to him after the season 9 mid-season finale. A year and a half after losing his son Carl and taking down the army of the Saviors, Rick and company are living peacefully among the communities of Oceanside, Sanctuary, and Alexandria where former Savior leader, Negan, is being held prisoner.
Meanwhile, the surviving Saviors have agreed to peace and help in building up the communities, including building a bridge for across a river for means of safer transportation. However, not everyone has forgiven the Saviors for their many atrocities, and a group of people from Oceanside decide to enact their revenge by killing off former Savior members. Rick tries to mediate the situation, unlike Maggie, who decides to venture to Alexandria to kill the one responsible for her husband Glenn's death: Negan.
Intending on keeping the peace, Rick wants to stop Maggie from killing Negan. Daryl accompanies him to Alexandria, only to divert them away so that Maggie can carry out her duty. The two hash it out before making up as a herd of walkers approaches the communities. They decide to split up to draw the walkers away, but Rick becomes surrounded and falls from his horse, penetrating his chest with a rebar protruding from a cylinder block.
He frees himself and continues to try and divert the walkers. He grows weaker and weaker before encountering the bridge, which has a set of explosives spread across it. Unable to move anymore, Rick waits for the walkers to be on top of the bridge and shoots the dynamite, blowing them up along with himself. The rest of the group witnesses this and assumes Rick is dead. That is until Anne discovers him on the shore and calls upon a helicopter to take him away in exchange for her departure as well.
From there, Rick isn't on-screen until the very last scene of the series in season 11. Here, he's seen writing a letter to his daughter Judith -- presumably some time after being found by Anne -- before putting the letter in a bottle and tossing it into the water. He then packs a bag with an etched drawing of Michonne and Judith. As he stands ashore, he hears a helicopter approaching and panics, throwing the bag onto a nearby boat and surrendering himself to the mystery people inside the helicopter. The camera fades to white as Rick cracks a smile with his hands up.
Where Was Michonne at the End of The Walking Dead?
After Rick's "death" in season 9, the show jumps forward six years. At this point, the group are dealing with another clan of survivors called the Whisperers, who are led by a woman named Alpha and wear the skin of the undead in order to blend in, as well as using the walkers as an army of their own. Thus, their army is perhaps the largest that the show's protagonists have encountered.
Michonne, in response to the new threat, accompanies a man named Virgil to an island where he tells her he has a plethora of weapons she can bring back to the communities to defend themselves with. However, he turns on Michonne and holds her prisoner, to which she quickly escapes and forces Virgil to show her the weapons.
Virgil takes her to a storage room where she finds one of Rick's boots and the bag he had thrown onto the boat that contained the drawing of herself and Judith. She abandons Virgil on the island, taking a boat (the same boat seen in the series finale next to Rick), and walkies to Judith that Rick may still be alive. She's then shown joining a massive group of survivors walking along the roads, and isn't seen again until the series finale.
In the end, Michonne appears to have settled somewhere with the survivors she joined, sporting new armor and carrying with her Rick's bag. She, too, writes a letter to Judith and RJ assuring them she is searching for their father. She ventures out on her own, riding a horse with her katana at the ready into what looks like an immense herd of walkers.
As it cuts back and forth between Rick and Michonne, it transitions to Maggie, Negan, and Daryl setting out on their own, repeating the phrase "we are the ones who live". It then flashes to Judith and RJ looking out onto a crop field, sharing the same message. Thus, The Walking Dead ends, only to serve as a new beginning for these characters who are leaving Georgia in search for survivors and, hopefully, the answers to everything still unclear.