After 13 Years, We Finally Know the Final Fate of This Walking Dead Icon

It's the latest death to destroy Clementine's life, following her parents' demise and Lee's tragic death in the first game. In this case, Clem and Ricca have already been through life-threatening adventures, making it all the more tragically unfair when Ricca dies without warning or explanation. Injured to the core and unwilling to face any more loss, Clementine pulls back from her friends and begins associating with the volume's villain, the Gardener.

Clementine Almost Turns Villain

Walking Dead Finally Introduces the Gardener

While Nuuk is a peaceful place, it's torn between two factions - the city council, led by Ujammiugaq, and the Gardener's militia. The Gardener is the nickname of a survivor named Maria who has assembled a militia from the town's disaffected girls, acting as a mother figure to those who have lost everything. Maria's gardeners protect Nuuk by capturing the undead and burying them up to the neck, 'planted' in Maria's 'garden.'

While Maria and her group initially seem welcoming, it's soon revealed that Maria has a pathological fear of being avoided, having been abandoned by her family after the zombie outbreak. She is unwilling to allow anyone to leave her, and frequently 'tests' her militia by having them plant a zombie solo, leading to deaths among her young followes. Offered acceptance and purpose, Clementine falls under the Gardener's spell, even skipping Ricca's funeral to remain in the Gardener's compound.

Eventually, Clem discovers that Maria is planning to assassinate Ujammiugaq and take over the town. Clem is captured by Maria and 'planted' in her garden among the dead, but ultimately breaks free and helps to bring the villain down, persuading the Gardener's militia to turn against their would-be leader. Clem chooses her former friends over the illusion of acceptance and love, deciding to take a harder path, but one that's ultimately her own.

The arrival of the Gardener is a big deal for Walking Dead fans. In The Walking Dead Deluxe #104 from Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Dave McCaig, Kirkman explains that he originally planned two villains for the Walking Dead comics that he didn't end up using. 'The Contractor' and 'The Gardener' were planned to star alongside such iconic villains as the Governor, Negan and Alpha, but ultimately ended up being cut when the story took a different turn. Clementine Book Three finally allows fans to meet the Gardener and see the terrifying gimmick that gives the villain her nickname.

Clementine Gets Her Happy Ending

Surrounded by Family, Clem Finally Makes It

After defeating the Gardener, Clementine finally visits Ricca's grave, swearing that, "If I ever love anyone again like I loved you, I'll tell them every day." In the final scene, she returns to her shared house, where different groups of friends have congregated for a meal. Clementine walks inside with her cat Dr. Barnwell, saying, "Everyone's waiting" as her final words in the franchise.

Since Telltale's Walking Dead: Season One, Clementine has been looking for a family to replace the one that was ripped away from her. She's settled in many different places, but always ended up having to leave and often to leave people she loved behind in the process. In Nuuk, she's finally found a home - one populated by the found family she encountered on her adventures, and the people she saved after she arrived. In the purest sense, Clementine finally arrives home.

Of course, this 'happy ending' is one tempered by loss. Clem's new life comes after losing the most important people in her life - people who she'd change places with in a heartbeat if it meant giving them a second chance at life. Her experiences cost her family, friends and even her leg, and while new aspects of her life can fill part of the void left behind, there's no replacing what she lost. The book ends with Clementine re-enrolling in school - two-sided imagery which sees her reclaim part of the life she lost even as she'll never be able to return to it.

This theme is echoed in Clem's new baseball cap, sewn by a friend in Nuuk. Clem's original cap was given to her by Lee Everett, symbolizing the lessons and influences he passed on to her as her early protector and mentor. Clem gave up the cap in The Walking Dead: The Final Season, symbolizing how she was striking out as an adult and protector. Its return sees her give up this desperate, nomadic life, but it's still not the original - things are better now, but they'll never be what they were.

How Does Clementine's Ending Fit into Larger Continuity?

Walking Dead's Themes Mesh Perfectly With Clementine: Book Three

In the final comic of the original series, Walking Dead #193, the story jumps ahead in time, revealing that - once humanity is dominant once again, with huge zombie-free areas and connections across the country - the outbreak is known as 'the Trials.' The zombie apocalypse is treated as a tragic event that nevertheless tested modern life and stripped away the unnecessary, leaving a stronger, more purposeful world behind in its wake.

Tillie Walden's Clementine trilogy embraces this theme, with Clementine coming through the Trials as a dynamic hero with love and community as her highest priorities. However, as with Walking Dead #193, it's clear that the experience of reaching this point took its toll, and Clem is still haunted by what she lost. It's telling that while the trilogy ends with Clementine finding community and family, it actively tears away her direct love interest and new (villainous) mentor.

In losing Lee and Ricca, Clementine lost sources of love that she knows she may never have again. It's a bittersweet ending that brings closure to Clementine's journey, seeing her through the Trials to a new way of life, but doesn't lose sight of the almost unbearable weight of what she lost along the way.

Will Clementine Return in Future Walking Dead Media?

The Comic Trilogy Is Over, But She's Jumped Medium Before

Clementine's story appears to be over in Walking Dead canon, even though Book Three leaves her at just 19 years old. Walden has made it clear that her Clementine books are a trilogy, with the story resolving in this final installment. However, there is some hope for fans who love the character. After all, Clem started off as a popular video game character before making the jump to her own graphic novels - it's within the realm of possibility that she could make a similar jump in the future.

Ultimately, Clementine's story deserves to be over because her arc is one of coming of age. She started off as a child and she enters adulthood having lost and learned, becoming someone who is connected to and responsible for a larger community. It's a satisfying arc, and it would likely take a lot to make it worthwhile risking that fact on another appearance. At the same time, Clementine is one of very few authorized spin-offs set within the comic universe, so Robert Kirkman clearly considers Clementine to have unique potential.

Clementine: Book Three draws the iconic Walking Dead character's story to a close, seeing her emerge into adulthood having been transformed forever by the zombie apocalypse - an unlikely survivor who has taken on the responsibility of saving others, despite losing so many people close to her.