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Warning: spoilers ahead for Daryl Dixon season 1.
Summary
- Daryl Dixon takes the franchise in a new direction by relocating the action from the US to France, with his journey to Europe becoming a central mystery.
- Daryl Dixon season 1 tells the story of how Daryl found himself in France in non-chronological order, filling in small details before revealing the events that led him to a beach near Marseille.
- Daryl’s journey to France begins in Maine, where he gets captured by a villainous group led by Genet, who uses a boat as a lab to experiment with zombie variants. Daryl eventually escapes, leading Genet to prioritize recapturing him due to the knowledge and threat he poses to her operation and claim as leader of France.
Completely removing itself from AMC’s wider The Walking Dead franchise, Daryl Dixon takes place primarily in France, but how Norman Reedus’ titular protagonist traveled from the United States to Europe is a long and winding mystery. While The Walking Dead is hardly new to the spinoff game, Daryl Dixon represents the franchise’s biggest paradigm shift yet, relocating the zombie horror action from U.S. shores to France. Without the benefit of commercial flights, explaining this journey after The Walking Dead‘s zombie virus ravaged civilization was always going to be a complex matter, and while Daryl Dixon does address the question fully, it does so across the entirety of its debut season.
Adding to the mystery, Daryl Dixon season 1 recounts the tale of how Daryl reached France in non-chronological order. Episodes 1-4 fill in small details, before Daryl Dixon episode 5, “Deux Amours,” traces right back to the start, incorporating flashbacks to when Daryl was still on home soil. Finally, the sequence of events that led Monsieur Dixon to a beach near Marseille is now clear.
Daryl Dixon Was Captured By Genet’s Group While In Maine
In The Walking Dead season 11’s ending, Maggie sent Daryl away to discover more about the post-apocalyptic world, and that epic trip takes him all the way to the distant realm of Maine. Requiring bike fuel, Daryl accepts a deal from a stranger – gather zombies in exchange for gasoline. That a skeptical, cynical, lone wolf like Daryl would trust this man’s proposal suggests operations like this have become common in The Walking Dead‘s world since the main TV show ended. Unfortunately for Daryl, this trade racket is actually run by Pouvoir des Vivants – a villainous group based in France and led by Genet.
The zombies Daryl and his American friends round up are to be shipped off and used in Genet’s zombie variant experiments. Nevertheless, the deal Daryl makes to work in exchange for gasoline is completely genuine. Had Daryl simply gathered the zombies as requested and taken his reward, he would have soon been enjoying Halloween treats in the Commonwealth, and the entire Daryl Dixon spinoff story could have been averted.
Alas, Daryl breaks the rules by punching a fellow worker after realizing the man was responsible for murdering a young boy who was also part of their group. Both men are punished, with Genet’s soldiers taking them prisoner, moving them to her offshore lab, and shoving them in a cell to be used for zombie food. This is evidently the fate that befalls anyone who breaks the rules while working for gasoline. Daryl loses his precious crossbow during the capture.
What Genet’s Boat Is Used For In Daryl Dixon
Daryl Dixon avoids explaining the exact mechanics of what Genet is doing on the sea-faring vessel Daryl and his fellow prisoner get taken to, but episode 5’s flashback leaves no doubt that Pouvoir des Vivants is using the boat as a lab to delve deeper into the arcane science of zombie variants. Not only does Daryl encounter a fast Climber zombie during his escape, but the apparatus aboard the ship is almost identical to the equipment spotted at Genet’s castle in Daryl Dixon episode 3. In both scenes, a zombie head in a jar of fluid is hooked up to some unknown machinery. Likewise, the same unidentified scientist appears in both locations.
One aspect of these experiments apparently involves controlling how much flesh a zombie consumes. Two cages of undead are glimpsed during Daryl Dixon episode 5’s flashbacks – likely the same zombies Daryl and his cohorts were rounding up back in Maine. One cage is marked “feed,” while the other reads “fast.” Genet’s prisoners are used for the former group, with an unlucky captive thrown into the rotting crowd at regular intervals.
Daryl’s Escape & Route To France Explained
Thanks to a successful “play dead” ruse and some classic Daryl Dixon head-bashing, Daryl and his fellow captive successfully break free, causing enough havoc among the ship’s guards to reach a lifeboat. This small vessel is the same boat Daryl can be seen floating upon in Daryl Dixon‘s very first scene, face-down with a barely-conscious protagonist spread on top. Given how Daryl’s friend accidentally drops the boat into the water rather than lowering it gently, and how Daryl then flings himself overboard to avoid an oncoming variant, it’s possible that Daryl simply drags himself onto the upturned raft and stays that way for the entire trip.
Daryl Dixon never reveals exactly where Genet’s floating laboratory is located. Given that Daryl gets captured in Maine and Genet is based in Paris, the most likely guess is somewhere in the Atlantic between the United States and France. Daryl eventually washes south, then east, landing in the region of Marseille. This indicates that he must float past Portugal, Spain and Gibraltar, then across the Balearic Sea, before landing in southern France.
Why Genet Wants To Recapture Daryl Dixon in His Walking Dead Spinoff
Taking over France is a full-time job, and this raises questions over why Genet expends such great effort toward recapturing Daryl Dixon. Losing a prisoner is one thing, but Genet makes apprehending this rogue American a top priority, despite his initial crime being incredibly minor. Genet’s science project can help to explain her seemingly disproportionate interest in a single prisoner. Daryl has seen the lab-boat, the experiments, the scientist involved, and knows the sinister truth behind why American survivors on the East Coast are being invited to hunt zombies in exchange for fuel. Genet simply cannot afford for Daryl to be roaming around freely.
The other reason concerns Daryl’s messy escape. During the course of his jailbreak, Daryl all but decimates Genet’s operation aboard the boat, letting her zombies out of their cages, killing multiple guards, spoiling her test subjects, and accidentally causing one or two small fires. As alluded to through Daryl Dixon‘s various nods to Charles de Gaulle, Genet perceives herself as the de facto ruler of France, and seeks to unite the country’s survivors behind her flag. During her speech in Daryl Dixon episode 5, Genet draws a clear line between friends and enemies, so she likely views Daryl going unpunished as a show of weakness that would weaken her claim as leader.
Daryl Dixon continues Sunday on AMC.
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