More was left behind at the prison in the Season 3 finale of The Walking Dead than a home that Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl (Norman Reedus) and the rest of their group spent many months fortifying and nurturing. A sense of security and safety was lost for all, but for Daryl Dixon, a piece of his persona was sadly and necessarily abandoned within the collapsed prison fences.
You rarely saw Daryl on the move in Seasons 1, 2 or 3 without his signature motorcycle identified by a pair of lightning bolts on its engine cover. That bike never made it out of the prison after the Governor’s final attack and Daryl was forced to spend the next 1.5 seasons on foot.
One of the many perks of the Alexandria safe zone in The Walking Dead Season 5 are pieces of the old world preserved behind reinforced steel walls. Though Daryl was slow to trust the Alexandria lifestyle or its denizens, he was eventually lured into a position within the community thanks in part to an opportunity to ride a bike again.
Somewhere between two episodes ago and this past Sunday’s latest episode of The Walking Dead, Episode 514, Daryl finished building the motorcycle that Aaron had kept in his garage and took it out on his first recruiting run. With Eric still down with a broken foot, Daryl has become Aaron’s new partner to scout and bring in fresh faces to Alexandria. What better way to scope out Maryland and Virginia than on a new ride.
The following The Walking Dead Season 5 video recently released by AMC takes an inside look into the creation of Daryl’s new bike and when it hit the road for the first time, both during trial runs and on the actual show. I think you’ll agree that Daryl now seems whole again with his butt firmly planted on a motorcycle’s seat.
