Why Rick Leaves Michonne Behind In The Ones Who Live (& Why She Comes Back)

Summary

• Rick’s decision to leave Michonne shows how the CRM has broken him mentally, leading to desperate measures.
• Despite Rick’s attempts to make Michonne leave without him, she sees through his excuses and stays by his side.
• Rick’s choice to fulfill Okafor’s plan in The Ones Who Live highlights his commitment to changing the CRM for the greater good.

Warning: This article contains mentions of self-harm. It also contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episodes 1-3.After their reunion in episode 2, The Ones Who Live looked like it would focus on Rick and Michonne’s unity in trying to escape, but Rick’s attempt to make Michonne leave without him added a surprising twist. Rick has spent years trying to return home and reunite with Michonne, but despite seeing her for the first time in years, he tries to make her leave on her own. Michonne had to come up with a fake identity to be allowed into the CRM, meaning she can’t openly be with Rick, forcing him to come up with a plan in secret.

Michonne follows Rick’s precise and detailed instructions which he hands to her on a note, but when she finally gets out of the CRM facility, Rick is nowhere to be seen. Rick makes it look like Michonne has died trying to escape, allowing her to return home to their children. However, with everything that happened to Michonne after her Walking Dead exit, she refuses to give up on him that easily. To Rick’s surprise, Michonne returns, causing tension between the couple. While Michonne is rightfully upset that he tried to make her leave without him, Rick’s decision is understandable.

The Ones Who Live
airs Sundays on AMC and AMC+.

Rick Leaving Michonne Proves The CRM Has Truly Broken Him

Rick’s decision to leave Michonne may come across as cowardly, but it is also proof that the CRM has truly broken him. The CRM and Major General Beale are among The Walking Dead‘s most menacing villains, with The Ones Who Live highlighting how much they’ve impacted Rick mentally. Their rule about not being allowed to leave leads Rick to cut off his own hand, indicating just how desperate he is to escape. After numerous failed escape attempts, Rick even contemplated taking his own life, showing just how mentally exhausted he had become at the hands of the CRM.

Rick’s mental decline has likely made him scared of returning home.

Losing years of his life and his hand to try and beat the odds highlights why Rick wanted Michonne to leave without him. He tells Michonne he doesn’t believe they can escape and would rather her return home to their daughter, so she doesn’t have to endure the same fate he has. In addition, Rick’s mental decline has likely made him scared of returning home. Seeing his old allies as well as his daughter after all these years will be difficult with how much his time with the CRM has changed him, suggesting he’d prefer Michonne to leave without him.

Rick Wants To Fulfill Okafor’s Plan In The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

Although Rick’s mental fragility is a big factor for him leaving Michonne behind, he also wants to fulfill Okafor’s plan in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Okafor was attempting to change the CRM by trying to get more leaders involved in altering the overall mindset of the military faction. The CRM are responsible for around 100,000 deaths, and their current way of operating indicates that they will continue to kill anyone who stands in the way of their security. This essentially puts all survivors outside the Civic Republic in danger, which Okafor wanted to change before his death.

Fittingly, Rick seems to want to continue this goal. He has always been about doing things for the greater good that benefit the many, not the few. While there are hundreds of thousands of people living safely thanks to the CRM, it doesn’t justify taking innocent lives just because they could be a threat. While Rick doesn’t know just how severe the CRM’s crimes are, he is aware that they’re a problem. Therefore, Rick may have tried to make Michonne leave without him so that he could put his entire focus into changing the CRM and leading the Civic Republic.

Michonne Stays Because She Sees Through Rick’s Excuses

Despite Rick trying to give Michonne an easy way out of the CRM, she doesn’t go through with the escape plan without him because she sees through Rick’s justifications. There are very few survivors who know Rick as well as Michonne does, meaning that she can see he’s hurting, but is aware it’s not the only reason behind his decision. Despite not being aware of Okafor’s plan, Jadis mentions that “something else” is keeping Rick there. If Jadis can see through Rick’s excuse, Michonne definitely can and that is why she won’t leave, at least without finding the truth.

Michonne has sacrificed so much to be with Rick and wouldn’t let their journey end in such an anti-climax. Good people died for Michonne to find Rick and leaving without him would be disrespectful to everyone she lost. Knowing that this is the same man who led the battles against Negan and The Governor proves why Michonne chooses to stay. They can leave together or fight together, but she won’t let Rick leave her behind. Michonne’s loyalty and Rick’s sacrifices are proof of how much they love each other, which The Ones Who Live has perfectly conveyed.