Michonne's Walking Dead Exit Explained: What Happened & What Comes Next

Danai Gurira left The Walking Dead after the season 10 episode "What We Became," and there were instantly questions about where Michonne went. While Michonne returned in the TWD finale, there's still intense speculation about what she was doing during her absence from the show — questions that will be likely be answered in the upcoming Rick and Michonne spinoff The Ones Who Live. Michonne left Maggie, Daryl, and the rest of the survivors to find Rick, who had been absent since season 9. Both Rick and Michonne were included at the end of The Walking Dead season 11, though the brief appearance didn't reveal anything about where Michonne had been.

While many viewers were hoping for Rick and Michonne to reunite with Rick's daughter Judith or connect once again with Maggie or Daryl, it was instead revealed that Rick was on the run from the Civic Republic Military (CPM), and Michonne was still searching for him. Rick and Michonne reconnected in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live miniseries in 2024, and the spinoff series revealed what she was up to after leaving the flagship series.

What Happens In Michonne's Final Walking Dead Episode

"What We Became" Was One Of The Most Eventful Michonne Episodes In The Walking Dead

Before she returned in the series finale, Michonne's final episode of The Walking Dead came in season 10, episode 13, "What We Became".

Having sailed with Virgil to the island where his family is, they arrive to find the naval base abandoned. Very quickly, Michonne begins to suspect something isn't right, and her suspicions are soon confirmed when she learns Virgil's family is dead. The weapons she was promised are also nowhere in sight. Realizing she's been lied to, things take a strange turn when Michonne begins hearing other voices in the compound. When she goes looking for their source, Virgil traps her, locking Michonne in a room overnight.

Michonne learns the truth from other people who once lived and worked at the naval base with Virgil until he locked them up too. Virgil was welcoming to newcomers, but soon revealed his true, malicious intentions. One evening a riot broke out, and in the chaos, Virgil locked all the doors to the building — only he didn't realize his family was still inside.

Virgil served breakfast to Michonne, only to tell her he'd drugged it with a hallucinogenic. She experiences a psychedelic vision in which she's first visited by Siddiq and then imagines her life if she had never saved Andrea or met Rick, instead joining up with Negan and the Saviors where she's seen wielding Lucille.

Once Michonne awakes, she attacks Virgil and gets his keys. As she's freeing everyone, Virgil runs off and burns their boat. Though incredibly angry, Michonne shows Virgil mercy but demands he returns her belongings. As Michonne collects her things, she sees Rick's cowboy boots, the pair he's been wearing since season 1.

She demands Virgil show her where he found them, and he leads Michonne to a ship that washed up on the island. Inside, she finds an old smartphone with Rick's name, illustrations of Judith and her, as well as some Japanese writing engraved into its glass screen. This is when Michonne finally realizes that Rick is alive.

Michonne radios Judith Grimes, revealing to her that the "brave man" might be alive, and she's off to find him. She leaves the island with the others, and when Michonne arrives at the mainland, she once again takes two walkers as her chained guards.

Looking almost identical to when she first appeared on The Walking Dead, Michonne heads north towards the last destination listed in the ship's manifest: "New Jersey Shipyard." On her way, she comes across a frightened pair desperate to catch up with their group, and Michonne agrees to help them. As they left, it was revealed the group was a huge procession of hundreds of people.

Michonne Leaves The Walking Dead To Find Rick

After Season 10 Michonne Heads To New Jersey

Michonne wasn't killed off in The Walking Dead, but she never fully returned to the show between season 10 and the series finale. Where exactly she's going at the very end of "What We Become" was unclear at the time, but her mission was obvious — she is trying to find Rick.

The only clue she had, however, was the ship's manifest referring to the New Jersey Shipyard. That in itself wasn't much to go off of, but Michonne is a resourceful survivor, and if any group well-stocked enough to send a ship from New Jersey to Virginia is still hanging around the shipyards, she'll find them.

This is, of course, assuming Michonne doesn't run into any trouble with the new group, but because this is The Walking Dead, trouble with a new group seems all but guaranteed. It had been six years since Rick was taken away in the helicopter, so there's no telling exactly when it was in those six years that he was on the ship. Also, if he managed to come this close to Alexandria, why didn't Rick just go home?

The group that took Rick away was identified in an episode of Fear The Walking Dead as the Civic Republic Military The CRM is described as a mysterious organization with a mission that's somehow connected to the future of all humanity.

As shown in The Walking Dead: World Beyond, they are also ruthless killers, which didn't bode well for Rick. It was also shown that they were holding Rick against his will, even after saving his life. In this case, if he's in need of rescue, who better to do that than Michonne? Why the CRM wanted Rick in the first place is explored in The Ones Who Live.

Michonne Appeared In The Walking Dead Finale

Michonne And Rick Both Returned For A Cameo In Season 11

Throughout The Walking Dead season 11, viewers wondered if Michonne would return. Both Michonne and Rick made an appearance before TWD concluded, but it wasn't until the main story was over, and the survivors had defeated the evil rulers in The Commonwealth. Two brief scenes included Rick Grimes and Michonne, though neither revealed where Michonne went. One post-credit scene showed Rick on a small beach area outside a city. However, a helicopter shows up and demands that Rick turn himself back in. Before he does, he throws the phone onto a boat — the same phone that Michonne found.

This scene was puzzling, because when the CRM showed up on Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond, they were shown to have no qualms about killing deserters or those who flee. It seems the CRM needs Rick for something, and that is why they kept him alive. However, the next scene showed Michonne on horseback with her sword, decapitating Walkers, still looking for Rick. It seems she already left the large group she encountered in her last appearance, and her search for Rick Grimes continued.

Michonne Returns In The Walking Dead Spinoff

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Showed Where Michonne Goes

Originally, the Rick and Michonne The Walking Dead reunion was supposed to happen in a series of movies. That has all changed. Instead, the Rick and Michonne The Walking Dead property is a spinoff series titled The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, one of three TWD spinoffs set after the events of season 11. The Rick and Michonne spinoff arrived in 2024, and was originally described by AMC as an "epic love story."

The miniseries backtracked for the audience to give more context to Rick's time with the CRM and to explore just how Michonne finds Rick. The bulk of the miniseries, however, focuses on Michonne trying to get Rick out of their clutches while they want him to become an officer in their ranks, and Rick tries to stay in order to make sure the CRM does not go after his family. It's as much of a miniseries about espionage as it is about a zombie apocalypse.

Ultimately, however, it is that epic love story AMC promised as it brings Rick and Michonne back together in the end.

What Danai Gurira Has Done Outside Of The Walking Dead

Gurira Is An Accomplished Actress And Playwright

While Danai Gurira might be known for her work on The Walking Dead, she’s an accomplished actor and playwright outside of her work on the series. When she is not playing Michonne, she has written plays that have been performed off-Broadway in New York. According to Gurira’s 2014 appearance on The Tavis Smiley Show, she started writing as a way to hone her strengths as an actress, but also to write strong female roles that she is able to identify with.

Though most of Gurira’s theater work was actually done early in her acting career, she still makes a point of returning to the stage. In 2022 and 2023, she performed as the titular character in Richard III for Shakespeare in the Park. Her play was recorded and broadcast as well.

Gurira also made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Okoye in Black Panther in 2018. She has since reprised the role in multiple movies and voiced the character in MCU animated properties like What If…? She is also set to reprise the role for another Disney+ series.

In addition to her work in the entertainment industry, Danai Gurira also uses her high profile for good. She is a United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador. She is a champion of women’s rights and equality, not just in The Walking Dead, but in the real world as well.