7 Shocking Ways The Walking Dead Truly Ended (And The Final Reunion No One Saw Coming)

The Walking Dead’s final chapter is not a single episode, but a sprawling saga that concluded the main series in 2022 and then expanded into a universe of spin-offs, culminating in the definitive resolution of its most iconic characters in 2024. For fans who watched the main series finale, "Rest in Peace," on November 20, 2022, the ending provided a satisfying, yet incomplete, sense of closure, resolving the conflict with the Commonwealth and setting the stage for a new era of cooperation.

However, the *true* end of the original narrative—the one that finally answered the decade-old mystery of Rick Grimes' disappearance—came much later. The main series finale was merely the penultimate step, leading into a series of highly anticipated spin-offs that ultimately delivered the emotional, definitive conclusion to the story of Rick, Michonne, and the fate of the entire post-apocalyptic world. This article breaks down the seven key elements that defined the end of the original The Walking Dead saga, from the final battle to the ultimate family reunion.

The Final Fates: A Complete Character Profile List

The series finale, "Rest in Peace," was surprisingly light on major character deaths, a deliberate choice by showrunners to focus on hope and survival rather than tragedy. Instead, it served as an epilogue for most of the core group, detailing their final decisions, relationships, and new roles in the reformed society. Here is a complete breakdown of what happened to the main survivors by the end of the series and its immediate follow-up events:

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• Daryl Dixon: After a pivotal speech that convinced Mercer to switch sides, Daryl rode off on his motorcycle in the final moments. He promised to search for Rick Grimes and, ultimately, found himself on a new journey across the Atlantic in the spin-off The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, searching for a way home.
• Carol Peletier: Carol chose to remain in the Commonwealth, taking on a leadership role alongside Ezekiel. She is seen thriving, having found a stable, peaceful life, and is instrumental in the community's reconstruction.
• Maggie Rhee & Negan: Their relationship remained strained but functional. Negan, having atoned for his past, chose to exile himself, living alone outside the main communities. Maggie later sought him out, leading directly into their own spin-off, The Walking Dead: Dead City, where they travel to a walker-infested Manhattan.
• Rosita Espinosa: Rosita was the most significant death in the finale. After a heroic act to save her daughter, Coco, from a horde of walkers, she was bitten. She chose to spend her final moments with her friends and daughter before being put down by Eugene, dying peacefully surrounded by her chosen family.
• Eugene Porter: Eugene survived and was last seen alongside his partner Max, raising Rosita's daughter, Coco, fulfilling a promise to his dying friend. He found his purpose and true family in the new Commonwealth.
• Mercer: The head of the Commonwealth military, Mercer, turned against Governor Pamela Milton after Daryl’s plea. He led the mutiny, helped defeat the walker herd, and was last seen as the new, just leader of the reformed Commonwealth.
• Ezekiel & Princess: Ezekiel was elected as the new Governor of the Commonwealth, working to rebuild it as a true democracy, while Princess remained by his side.
• Gabriel Stokes & Aaron: Both characters survived the final battle and were last seen living in the reformed communities, continuing their roles as leaders and protectors.

The Commonwealth Conflict: Defeating the Final Human Threat

The main series finale’s primary conflict centered on the battle for the Commonwealth, a massive, seemingly utopian community that hid a corrupt, class-based government led by Governor Pamela Milton. The central theme of the final season was whether civilization could be rebuilt without repeating the oppressive mistakes of the past.

The Walker Horde and the Class War

The climax of the finale was a two-pronged attack. First, the survivors, led by Daryl, Maggie, and Negan, had to overthrow Pamela Milton's tyrannical regime. This was achieved when Mercer, convinced by Daryl's passionate argument about fighting for the future, defected and led his troops against Milton's loyalists.

The second, and more immediate, threat was a massive, mutated herd of walkers—a "mega-herd"—that breached the Commonwealth's walls. These walkers were more dangerous than any seen before, having evolved into "variant" or "climbing" walkers, capable of using tools and opening doors, a terrifying new development that directly set up the more advanced threats explored in the spin-offs.

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The survivors, including the newly defected Commonwealth soldiers, worked together to funnel the herd into the wealthy Estates district. By detonating explosives, they destroyed the Estates, symbolically eliminating the corrupt, class-based structure of the old Commonwealth and wiping out the walker threat in one decisive action. Pamela Milton was defeated but spared, left alive to face justice for her crimes, a powerful display of the survivors' moral code.

A New Beginning: The Reformed Commonwealth

The final moments of the main series showed a one-year time jump. The Commonwealth had been completely reformed. The new government, led by a council that included Mercer as the military leader and Ezekiel as the new Governor, was focused on equality and cooperation. The walls of the Commonwealth now stood as a beacon of hope, connected to other surviving communities like Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside, all working together to rebuild true civilization. This ending solidified the main series' message: the true fight was always about building a better world, not just surviving the current one.

The True Conclusion: Rick, Michonne, and the Fall of the CRM (2024)

While the main series provided closure for most characters, it left the biggest story thread dangling: the disappearance of Rick Grimes and Michonne’s subsequent search for him. The post-credit scene of the 2022 finale, which showed Rick and Michonne still alive and separate, was a direct setup for the 2024 miniseries, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which delivered the final, definitive ending to their story.

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The CRM Threat and the Pinpointing of the True Enemy

The Ones Who Live revealed that Rick had been captured by the Civic Republic Military (CRM), a powerful, secretive organization with tens of thousands of soldiers and a massive, hidden city. The CRM was the ultimate evolution of the post-apocalyptic threat—a powerful, organized military force that believed it had the right to destroy other communities for the sake of its own survival.

The entire miniseries focused on Rick and Michonne’s desperate attempts to escape the CRM and, ultimately, their decision to dismantle it from within. In the finale of The Ones Who Live, the pair successfully exposed the CRM's plan to destroy the city of Portland and its 50,000 survivors, turning the CRM's own weapon against its corrupt leadership.

The Ultimate Family Reunion

The final, emotional scene that truly concluded the overarching narrative of The Walking Dead was the reunion of the Grimes family. After successfully taking down the CRM, Rick and Michonne were finally able to return home. They landed a helicopter near the original communities and were met by their children: Judith Grimes and their son, RJ (Rick Grimes Jr.), whom Rick had never met.

This reunion—a moment of pure, unadulterated hope and peace—served as the definitive end to the fifteen-year journey of the Grimes family and the core message of the franchise. The final words of the main series were "We're the ones who live," but the final visual of the entire saga was a family, finally safe, together, and looking toward a future where they could truly live, not just survive. The ending cemented the fact that the spin-offs were not just extensions, but necessary chapters to complete the story that began back in 2010.