Rick Grimes' Spinoff Made A Key Part Of The Walking Dead's Ending Totally Pointless

One aspect of The Walking Dead's ending seems redundant after Rick Grimes' return in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. AMC's main The Walking Dead TV show concluded in 2022 on a positive note, with a one-year time jump revealing a happy Commonwealth community ruled fairly and democratically by Ezekiel and Mercer. The Walking Dead then received a second ending in 2024 thanks to Rick and Michonne's spinoff, The Ones Who Live.

Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira's characters returned home to reunite with their children and Rick met his son RJ for the very first time, putting an emotional addendum on the series finale from two years prior. Nevertheless, The Ones Who Live's ending sat largely separate from The Walking Dead's. The spinoff never showed the Commonwealth (or even confirmed which community Rick and Michonne returned to), and no other characters arrived to greet them. Despite clearly trying to avoid undoing how The Walking Dead ended, The Ones Who Live still made one part of the main show's finale pointless.

The Commonwealth's New Leader Was A Big Part Of The Walking Dead's Ending

Everyone Wanted To Know Who Would Take Over The Commonwealth

The Walking Dead's final season revolved almost entirely around the good guys deposing Pamela Milton and Lance Hornsby as the Commonwealth's leaders, so the question of who would ultimately replace them naturally became quite important. When The Walking Dead's closing scene revealed Ezekiel and Mercer as the lucky successors, both characters' arcs were satisfyingly resolved.

Ezekiel began his The Walking Dead story as leader of the Kingdom, but lost his community to the Saviors and subsequently started doubting his ability to lead. Ezekiel's confidence slowly returned throughout The Walking Dead season 11, and assuming control of the Commonwealth was the final step in that redemptive journey. Ezekiel began as the leader of a small settlement, overcame a series of trials and obstacles, then emerged as the leader of a much larger settlement, rounding off his arc nicely.

Mercer underwent a similar journey. When Michael James Shaw's The Walking Dead character debuted, he was reluctantly under the thumb of the corrupt Milton family. Mercer represented the everyday citizens of the Commonwealth, routinely finding himself torn between duty and morality. Mercer becoming a leadership figure in The Walking Dead's ending represented him breaking out from the Miltons' shadow and finally following his gut as a literal representative of the people, not just a figurative one.

Watching Ezekiel and Mercer replace the Miltons was, therefore, a meaningful moment for all involved, not to mention a symbol of hope and unity for The Walking Dead as a whole. After The Ones Who Live, however, it would only be a matter of time before everything changed.

There's No Way Rick Wouldn't Take Over As Leader After The Ones Who Live

Expecting Rick To Not Become A Leader Is Like Expecting A Zombie To Wash His Hands Before Eating You

Based on every single thing The Walking Dead showed viewers about Rick Grimes across the span of 14 years, it seems inconceivable that Rick wouldn't become the Commonwealth's leader after returning home in The Ones Who Live. The spinoff's final episode refrained from showing exactly where Rick and Michonne returned to, but since Judith and RJ were settled in the Commonwealth when The Walking Dead ended, that would likely be where the Grimes family laid down roots, especially with the Commonwealth having more facilities for children than Alexandria.

Rick would have probably tried to focus on his family, take a regular Commonwealth job, and respect Ezekiel and Mercer's authority. Sooner or later, he would have failed. Rick Grimes has always become the leader of whichever group he assimilated into one way or another, even when trying to actively avoid such responsibility. The Ones Who Live's entire story revolved around how Rick, designated by the CRM as an "A" rather than a "B," cannot help but lead. Indeed, Rick's CRM training and rank made him even more suited to leadership than when Andrew Lincoln left The Walking Dead in season 9.

Ezekiel knows this, of course. Mercer would figure it out soon enough. Ezekiel might have eventually ceded his position to Rick, but even if he waited until the Commonwealth's next election, it feels inevitable that Rick would be encouraged to stand, and would subsequently win any democratic contest based purely on a platform of being Rick Grimes. In another scenario, the Commonwealth might come under attack from an enemy group sometime after The Ones Who Live. At that point, Rick's experience and past success as a wartime leader would force him, willingly or not, to take the reins.

How Long After The Walking Dead Would Rick Take Control Of The Commonwealth?

Did Rick Rain On Ezekiel & Mercer's Parade?

The Walking Dead's timeline has been messy since the beginning, but AMC's explosion of spinoffs has made the franchise's chronology almost impossible to track. The Ones Who Live's exact placement in said chronology was left deliberately vague, but a few helpful clues can be found sprinkled through the series. Based on Michonne's comment about RJ being eight years old and Jadis' various meetings with Gabriel, it can be deduced that The Ones Who Live took place only a short time after The Walking Dead's final scenes.

Consequently, Rick would have turned up a matter of weeks, maybe months, after Ezekiel and Mercer were elected. If there had been a larger gap between shows and Ezekiel enjoyed a solid run as the new governor, his The Walking Dead ending wouldn't have been affected by Rick's return. Because Rick joined the Commonwealth so soon after The Walking Dead, however, Ezekiel's governing days would be numbered almost as soon as they began, invalidating the ending of his story somewhat.