The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live delivers the long-awaited reunion after nearly five years

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has finally managed to reignite loyalty and heightened the hype for the franchise with the return of Rick Grimes. The character was last seen in the eleventh episode of season 9 ‘Bounty,’ where he was presumed to be dead, which also led a huge sect of the fandom to disagree with the series writing off the beloved character.

Despite ending on a heartbreaking note where fans had to bid farewell to their favorite zombie goodness, the original series finale gave a glimmer of hope by revealing Rick was alive. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live had an enthralling premiere, where the premise shed light on where the character was all this time and who captured him.

However, besides exploring his story after his disappearance, the truly goosebump-inducing moment was the ending. Rick finally reunites with someone who had waited for his return for years and didn’t give up on his search.

Disclaimer: This article contains significant spoilers for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Reader's discretion is advised.

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The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live sees Michonne finally reunite with Rick

As seen in the premiere of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, while flying to some location far away from the C.R.M. headquarters, Rick and Donald's (played by Craig Tate) helicopter was hit by an exploding missile. Unfortunately, the projectile struck Donald, and he blew off, so Rick had to take control of the aircraft to do a safe landing.

However, despite making it alive with two other soldiers, he was cornered by the attacker. Much to Rick’s surprise, the person was none other than Michonne, his lover, to whom he had been writing letters (that never reached her) all this time.

Unbeknownst to Rick, Michonne embarked on her own journey, leaving everything behind in search of him. While others gave up, believing Rick was no more, Michonne didn’t want to lose hope.

As witnessed in the thirteenth episode of The Walking Dead: The Walking Dead’s season 10 ‘What We Become,’ Michonne joined the survivor caravan she encountered while helping Bailey (Andrew Bachelor) and Aiden (Breeda Wool). What transpired after that remained a mystery.

However, after the abrupt exit, speculations took rise once again. Many fans believed Michonne joined the Portland, Oregon survivors, a thriving community of 87,000 people, part of the Alliance of the Three, the other two being Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Omaha, Nebraska.

Being the rivals of the C.R.M., they entirely wiped out two of the survivor communities, with Portland being the only remaining group. Michonne likely joined the Portland survivors to stand against the tyranny of C.R.M.

After discovering that ones of the C.R.M. soldiers was Rick, Michonne was immensely overwhelmed with her pent-up emotions, given her search finally came to its conclusion. However, besides her relief, she is also shocked to see him as part of the C.R.M.

Michonne and Rick are set to engage in an extensive conversation, sharing the experiences and events that have unfolded throughout the years. For fans who have longed for the reunion of these two characters, the joy is immeasurable as they witness the long-awaited moment.

The TWD fandom’s happiness is profound, a testament to the patience and hope that lasted almost five years. As the much-awaited reunion unfolded at the premiere’s end, fans have been left on the edge of their seats, eagerly anticipating what’s on the horizon.

However, given the teaser of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Episode 2 ‘Gone,’ the upcoming installment is revealed to explore what happened to Michonne after her exit from the main series.

It is likely that fans may have to wait for the third episode of The Ones Who Live to see the emotions unraveling between the two characters, evoking tears of joy and relief from the TWD universe.

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Stay tuned for more news and updates on The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live as 2024 progresses.