The series finale episode of The Walking Dead ends with a time jump one year into the future and various set-ups to future spin-off shows.
After its extraordinarily long run on television, The Walking Dead was finally cancelled after 11 seasons because of its declining viewership.
The very last episode of the show had a lot of ground to cover to tie up the loose ends on the show and it did this with a one year time-jump.
About The Walking Dead’s cancellation
The Walking Dead first started airing in 2010 and after 11 successful seasons, it was announced in 2020 that the show would end in 2022.
Not many scripted dramas can boast about the fact that they reached over 110 episodes during their run and even though The Walking Dead’s viewership declined with the years, many fans were still sad to hear about their favourite show ending.
When the show first premiered, it was one of the most popular shows ever on television and it reached well over 17 million viewers at its peak.
How does The Walking Dead end?
Even though The Walking Dead was not as popular as it once was when it ended, by the time that the final season of the show aired, many fans still had a special place in their heart for the show and were sad to see it go.
To soften the blow of the show concluding after such a long time on the air, this final season was extended over 24 episodes.
When the series finale episode, aptly titled “”Rest in Peace” finally premiered on 20 November 2022, many fans were still wondering how the show would manage to tie up all its loose ends.
The ending took a lot of inspiration from how the comic books ended in 2019, and this last episode focused in large part on how the corrupt Commonwealth government was finally exposed and overthrown.
While most of this episode is a blur of action and strategy coming together, the real ending actually takes place one year into the future.
This time jump-reveals where all of the remaining characters ended up after Pamela was overthrown, including Ezekiel, Michael Mercer, Princess, Eugene and his family, and Magna and her group, who all chose to stay in the Commonwealth.
Maggie and Hershel returned to Hilltop, and Aaron, Jerry, Nabila, and Father Gabriel returned to Alexandria.
Some of the goodbyes on this episode were clear set-ups for the various The Walking Dead spin-offs, like Negan leaving and the emotional farewell between Daryl and Carol.
Moreover, as an added bonus, fans also got to see Rick and Michonne in a few brief scenes before the show ended for good.
What happened to Rosita in the finale?
As always, the series finale of The Walking Dead had no shortage of heart-wrenching deaths, but one of the deaths that had the greatest impact on long-time fans of the series was Rosita’s.
Near the beginning of the episode, Rosita, Gabriel, and Eugene are all shown fleeing through the Commonwealth after rescuing Coco and some of the other children.
However, Rosita is bitten off-screen, but she hides this injury until their plans to overthrow the commonwealth can be executed. In the end, Rosita dies with Eugene at her deathbed just before all the chaos had subsided.
The return of Rick and Michonne
The Walking Dead’s finale shocked and delighted many fans with the return of fan-favourites, Rick Grimes and Michonne Hawthorne.
In the brief moment that these two characters are shown in the finale, Michonne finds evidence that Rick may still be alive after all and decides to start searching for him.
Fortunately, this is not the last that fans will see of these two characters, as Michonne’s discovery leads into a special spin-off mini-series, which is set to premiere in 2024.
Unanswered questions at the end of The Walking Dead
While the creators of The Walking Dead certainly tried their best to tie up all of the loose ends in the 24 episodes of the final season, fans still have some burning questions about a few finer details.
Some of the most common unanswered questions that fans of the show have are centred around Rick and his surprising survival.
Fortunately, most of these questions are likely to be answered in the spin-off series and fans will not have to wonder about them for too long.
However, some of the lingering questions that fans may never get answers to include questions about the “PPP” card that Tara found and that was never really mentioned again, as well as questions dating all the way back to the original outbreak.
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