Summary
- The Walking Dead series finale sets up the future of the franchise with new spinoffs and major mythology swings.
- The heroes defeat Pamela and save the Commonwealth by infiltrating her grounds and convincing both sides to lower their guns.
- Rosita tragically dies in the series finale, but her final moments with Eugene solidify their unbreakable bond.
After more than a decade of brutal deaths, undead action, and post-apocalyptic drama, when it came to how The Walking Dead ended, it set up the future of the franchise. Though the zombie apocalypse promised to "Rest In Peace," The Walking Dead's series finale proved neither peaceful nor rested. Much of the series finale concluded The Walking Dead season 11's Commonwealth arc, with Daryl Dixon joining Mercer and the rest of their friends in freeing the community from Pamela Milton's clutches. The final minutes of The Walking Dead then shifted to larger matters — setting up AMC's forthcoming spinoffs, pairing up protagonists, dropping major cameos, and plenty more.
As much as the long-awaited The Walking Dead series finale brings stories to a close, a slew of new chapters are laid open for the future. "Rest In Peace" not only paves the way for Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead: Dead City, and the Rick Grimes and Michonne spin-off The Ones Who Live, but also makes major mythology swings that will inevitably have massive repercussions across all three projects. The Walking Dead may be over, but "Rest In Peace" becomes a somewhat misleading title by the time the credits roll. The season 11 finale may have been where The Walking Dead ends, but it's also where the future of the franchise begins.
How The Walking Dead's Heroes Beat Pamela & Save The Commonwealth
The rapid pacing of The Walking Dead's end means the finer points of Pamela Milton's defeat, such as how the heroes infiltrate Pamela's grounds, are left somewhat vague. The Walking Dead series finale explained explains that the assembled protagonists are secretly ushered into the Estates — a wealthy, gated district where Pamela and her inner circle have taken refuge, condemning the remaining thousands of Commonwealth citizens to death — through Mercer's remaining influence among the armored Commonwealth soldiers. Thus, Tomi saves Judith's life, and Mercer can launch his mutiny from inside.
The biggest tide-turner is Daryl Dixon's speech, which was originally delivered by Rick Grimes in the original The Walking Dead comics. Borrowing Rick's immortal "we are NOT the walking dead" line, which means that life brings hope for the future and that the dead should be the living's only enemy, Daryl convinces both sides to lower their guns. Pamela Milton loses her military backing, and the fight is effectively over. Gabriel then opening the gates of the Estate and allowing desperate citizens refuge marks a touching callback to his backstory, bringing redemption for the congregation Gabriel abandoned outside his old church, and highlighting his enormous character growth.
With Pamela Milton defeated, the zombie herd plaguing the Commonwealth remains the only immediate threat in The Walking Dead's series finale. Because variants are impossible to shepherd like regular zombies, the survivors force a truck through the horde to collect gas from a fuel depot, which they place underneath the Estates and ignite after luring the zombies there using music — a neat tribute to the fallen Luke, who employed the same tactic against Whisperers in The Walking Dead season 10. The Walking Dead series finale explained that blowing up the Estates symbolizes a change of social regime in the Commonwealth, with the rich no longer leeching off the masses.
Why Maggie Leaves Pamela Alive In The Walking Dead
Maggie and Negan have a rollercoaster of an arc during The Walking Dead series finale, one that contains many twists and turns (all of which served to help set up their spin-off The Walking Dead: Dead City). Initially, Negan wants to sacrifice himself for the greater good of the group by assassinating Pamela personally. Although undoubtedly similar, Negan's motivation here is different compared to when he killed Alpha. Silencing the chief Whisperer was Negan's vain attempt to win acceptance in Alexandria, but by shooting Pamela, Negan intends to draw the ensuing heat away from Maggie and the others.
Echoing The Walking Dead season 11's Outpost 22 incident, The Walking Dead series finale explained that Negan is once again willing to die in the name of protecting the people he once terrorized. Maggie refuses to let Negan go alone, and two unique factors are at play here. On one hand, Maggie is learning to accept Negan as a changed man; on the other, Lauren Cohan's character is likely seeking to avoid Negan and Annie's son growing up without a father the same way her son grew up without Glenn. Ultimately, killing Pamela becomes a moot issue.
Despite having a clean shot, Maggie and Negan voluntarily stand down once the situation swings in Mercer's favor, backtracking on Negan's previous claim a still-breathing Pamela would always be a problem. This decision is inspired by Negan's fall from grace. Telling Maggie, "Hell, a person like that... it's a fate worse than death," Negan is tacitly admitting how being made to live with his crimes was a greater punishment than if Rick Grimes had killed him.
The Walking Dead series finale explains these words proved enough to stop Maggie and explains why she puts a bullet through a dead Lance Hornsby when Pamela tries to take her own life. Pamela's attempt to get eaten by her former assistant's reanimated corpse is a moment of symbolic reflection upon her sins — death via a man she looked down upon for so many years.
What Happens To Rosita In The Walking Dead Series Finale
The final episode of The Walking Dead is a surprisingly bloodless affair, with casualties kept to a minimum. To the surprise of no one, Jules perishes almost immediately, and Luke soon follows when a leg amputation fails to save him. The biggest casualty in a mostly deathless The Walking Dead series finale, however, is Christian Serratos' Rosita. The Walking Dead injury happens off-screen, leaving the specifics of Rosita's death in The Walking Dead somewhat ambiguous, but the bite occurs as she, Gabriel, and Eugene flee from the Commonwealth's children's home after rescuing Coco. Despite mounting an epic fightback, Rosita is bitten.More than even ex-lover Gabriel, Eugene is the person Rosita wanted by her side as death approached.
After falling from a surprisingly sturdy pipe, Rosita was swarmed by the undead. She keeps this dark secret to herself, most likely to avoid distracting the group before the Commonwealth takeover is completed, but also to enjoy some precious last moments with her daughter and their "found family." This entire scenario adapts Andrea's death from Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead comic books. The moment was sad and one of the most depressing as the show rolled to an end, but also sweet. Not only did Andrea get bitten while fighting off encircling zombies, but she impressively kept the injury hidden just long enough to fulfill her goal and reunite with her family.
Rosita's final conversations with Eugene arguably deliver the The Walking Dead series finale's most emotional moment. Both characters tell each other "I love you" when Rosita reveals her impending death. For the sake of clarity, the meaning here is purely platonic, rather than a last-minute confession of romantic feelings. On her literal deathbed, Rosita admits, "I'm glad it was you at the end" as she and Eugene sit alone together one final time. The Walking Dead series finale explains these last words cement the unbreakable bond between Rosita and Eugene, who debuted together in The Walking Dead season 4.
