How Does The Daryl Dixon Show Timeline Relate to The Ones Who Live?

Just as The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has ended its first and likely only season, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is gearing up to release its second, entitled “The Book of Carol.” There were a few original show character cameos in The Ones Who Live, although Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) wasn’t one of them. But with many spin-offs, including The Walking Dead: Dead City, it’s likely the stories and timelines will converge or crossover eventually before they all end. One reunion fans are eager to see is between Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his right-hand man and “brother” Daryl. But the timelines between the shows are crucial to the likelihood of that ever happening.

How The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Timeline Fits

By the end of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, the timeline was in line with when the main series The Walking Dead ended as well (including its flash forward). The main group had already long overtaken The Commonwealth and Judith (Cailey Fleming) and RJ (Antony Azor) were living peacefully there. Michonne (Danai Gurira) would not be aware of this since she left after the battle with The Whisperers and long before The Commonwealth story began. Daryl, however, was part of that fight.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon effectively picks up right where The Walking Dead ends, so it would take place after Rick reunites with Michonne and somewhere between the end of The Commonwealth battle and the one-year time jump. In a final scene of the original series, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) gives Daryl an approving nod as he heads off to go…somewhere. He’s in search of answers, anything that can help while also fulfilling his nomadic lifestyle preference. He wants Carol (Melissa McBride) to join him, but she decides it’s best to stay put.

Daryl’s journey, as fans know, eventually leads him to France, where he faces new battles and enemies, and meets new friends. By the end of the first season of Daryl Dixon, a teaser shows Carol (Melissa McBride) searching for Daryl. He radios her earlier on in the season, right before being captured and taken by sea to Europe. Having not heard from him since, it’s likely she’s getting worried.

It’s unclear how much time passes in total through the duration of Daryl Dixon’s first six episodes. Based on travel time alone, it would be at least a few weeks, likely a few months. Daryl spends time at Mont-Saint-Michel in the end, long enough to begin acclimating to his new setting, even sporting a smile now and then. But in reality, he probably wasn’t there more than a week or two before deciding that he needed to get back home. Nonetheless, it would have been long enough without contact for Carol to become concerned.

Daryl’s Timeline In Relation To Rick’s

The big question is if by the time Carol sets out to look for Daryl, Rick has already returned to Alexandria or not. Carol was residing in The Commonwealth where Judith and RJ, who made cameo appearances in The Ones Who Live, were also living. The kids would have eventually brought Rick and Michonne there to introduce them to this thriving new community they call home. So, it would stand to reason that Carol would know about Rick’s return at some point shortly after.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon showrunner and executive producer David Zabel confirmed to Bleeding Cool that there won’t be any time jumps in the second season of Daryl Dixon. So, based on Carol finding Daryl’s motorcycle and meeting men who knew him, she’s hot on his trail. But she hasn’t yet made it to France. Her journey will likely occur simultaneously with where we see Daryl now, which was reconsidering going back to Mont-Saint-Michel with Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi).

Compared to The Ones Who Live, Daryl’s main events in Daryl Dixon are likely occurring around the same time that Rick and Michonne are fighting the Civic Republic Military (CRM). If Rick’s return happened before Carol left to search for Daryl, she may have decided to follow because she was getting worried that he hadn’t returned or checked in. But if Rick has already returned, it could be that Carol knows Daryl would want to see his old friend. It would make sense that she would want to find him and deliver the incredible news.

Will There Be An Originals Reunion?

It’s almost a certainty that there will be a reunion between Daryl and Carol on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’s second season, which returns in June 2024. A teaser trailer shows the two main characters on separate journeys, but fans expect that Carol will eventually find her long-time best friend.

Of the current spin-offs, Daryl Dixon has the best opportunity for a reunion with Rick and others as well. The Walking Dead: Dead City takes place about five years ahead, so that show won’t sync with the others unless they have a time jump. But Rick coming home is happening around the same time as Daryl’s journey in France, so there’s a good chance these two shows could end up in the same place at some point.

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There’s potential not only for a heartwarming reunion between Daryl, Carol, and Rick, the three remaining characters from the first season but for the last remaining Season 1 character as well, Morgan (Lennie James). Morgan left Fear the Walking Dead at the end of that show to search for his old friend Rick and hasn’t been seen since. The only surviving quartet from season one back together on screen would blow fans’ minds.

Whatever the case, it seems that Daryl Dixon falls perfectly in line with the timeline of The Ones Who Live, which is good news for fans. Most importantly, this means a Daryl and Rick reunion can’t be far off. Whether there will be one in Season 2 of Daryl Dixon or not remains to be seen. What we do know about the upcoming season of Daryl Dixon, however, is that anyone in Carol’s path to find Daryl needs to get out of the way, because the relentless fan-favorite character won’t stop until she succeeds. Stream on AMC+.