Warning: spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
Rick Grimes’ fate has been a mystery since 2018, but The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live provides enough details to assemble a broad timeline of what happened to Andrew Lincoln’s character after his The Walking Dead exit. Rick Grimes being lifted away by a black helicopter in The Walking Dead season 9 was a deliberate ploy for the post-apocalyptic franchise to set up a larger story. Six years and a canceled movie trilogy later, Lincoln reprises his most famous role alongside fellow zombie alum Danai Gurira, who once again portrays the katana-swinging Michonne in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live‘s cast.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 1, “Years,” focuses almost entirely on Rick, chronicling his movements between season 9’s dramatic bridge explosion and the franchise’s present day. While the premiere skips briskly through The Walking Dead‘s timeline, it does answer most of the big questions posed by Rick’s disappearance, charting all of the major things Rick endured while his friends and family were battling skin-wearing Whisperers and whipping up revolution in the Commonwealth.
11 Rick Grimes Woke Up In A Military Hospital After The Walking Dead Season 9
In his narration, Rick reveals that after being picked up by the Civic Republic Military helicopter in The Walking Dead season 9, his next memory is of waking up in one of the organization’s military hospitals. Rick does not explicitly detail the nature and timescale of his recovery after almost dying from the self-triggered bridge explosion, but it can be assumed that CRM medics were responsible for keeping Rick alive and getting the franchise’s protagonist back onto his bootless feet.
10 The CRM Refused To Let Rick Grimes Leave
Steep hospital bills and medical insurance may no longer be problems in The Walking Dead‘s zombie apocalypse, but Rick paid dearly for his life-saving treatment nonetheless. As shown in Fear The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the CRM kills survivors just for learning of its existence, keeping the Civic Republic shrouded in a tight veil of secrecy. As soon as Rick Grimes was taken behind CRM lines, therefore, his freedom was taken away. Adhering to its strict policy, the CRM refused to let Rick leave its territory and return to Alexandria.
9 Rick Grimes Was Designated As An “A”
The Walking Dead‘s Jadis had already teased how the CRM divides survivors into “A” and “B” categories, but never properly explained what those terms meant. In The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 1, Okafor confirms “B” survivors are those just trying to keep themselves alive, while “A” survivors possess strong convictions, attract followers, and will die for a cause they believe in. Rick Grimes obviously occupies the latter camp. Despite Jadis optimistically claiming that Rick was a “B” when she summoned the helicopter in The Walking Dead season 9, it did not take long before the CRM realized Rick was very much an “A.”
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8 Rick Made 5 Attempts To Escape The Civic Republic
The CRM’s big realization that Rick Grimes is an “A” survivor seems to have come after his first escape attempt. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live definitively reveals that Rick has tried to leave the Civic Republic five times, with that figure confirmed by both Major General Beale and Rick himself. Escape attempts one and two are not detailed whatsoever. Escape attempt three was the one shown in The Walking Dead season 11’s ending, which concluded with Rick tossing his boots and phone into a boat and getting picked up by a CRM helicopter.
Escape attempt four is depicted at the beginning of The Ones Who Live episode 1 and involves Rick Grimes cutting off his own hand. Attempt 5 comes much later after Rick becomes a CRM soldier, and is thwarted by the sudden appearance of a young girl standing right in the place that Rick needed to set on fire.
Rick Fail | What Happened |
|---|---|
Escape Attempt #1 | Unknown |
Escape Attempt #2 | Unknown |
Escape Attempt #3 | Recaptured by CRM helicopter (see The Walking Dead series finale) |
Escape Attempt #4 | Lost a hand |
Escape Attempt #5 | Interrupted by young girl |
7 Lt. Col. Okafor Prevented Rick Being Killed By The CRM
One of the biggest mysteries after Rick’s disappearance in The Walking Dead was why the CRM would bother keeping him alive. The villainous organization executes survivors on a whim, leaving no obvious reason a constant flight risk like Rick Grimes should be repeatedly spared. This paradox is solved by the CRM’s Lieutenant Colonel Okafor – a high-ranking soldier looking to fix the group’s evil ways from within. According to Okafor, “A” survivors are typically killed by the CRM, but the Lt. Col personally vouched for Rick to join his unit, secretly believing his inner strength could save the CRM from itself.
6 Rick Grimes Was Made A Civic Republic “Consignee”
Having been spared by Okafor’s intervention, Rick Grimes was placed in the CRM’s six-year consignee program. Essentially a trial process for “B” survivors that the CRM encounters, Rick lived among other consignees on the Civic Republic’s outskirts and was made to work various jobs for the main community’s benefit, such as clearing out zombies. While Rick completed the tasks he was assigned, he never stopped trying to escape during his stint as a consignee. Okafor made numerous overtures to recruit Rick into the CRM during this period, but was always unsuccessful.
5 Rick Didn’t Talk To Anyone For 2 Years After His Walking Dead Exit
Esteban, a fellow CRM consignee, claims that Rick Grimes did not talk to a single soul during his first two years imprisoned by the community. Not only does this detail highlight Rick’s initial determination to return to Alexandria at all costs, there was also a tactical element to his silence. By refusing to talk, Rick gave the CRM absolutely no details that could lead back to his friends and family in Alexandria, ensuring his old community stayed safe from attack. Eventually, perhaps after realizing escape would not come soon, Rick’s perspective on not talking softened.
4 Rick Made New Allies Before His The Walking Dead Spinoff
Despite being as approachable as a sleep-deprived bear, Rick Grimes was making friends even before dropping his vow of silence. Esteban pestered Rick constantly during their time together as consignees, refusing to give in until the bear finally cracked and replied. By the time The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live begins, Rick and Esteban are firm friends – so much so, Esteban risks his life by aiding Rick’s fifth escape attempt. If Rick eventually takes over the CRM – and previous The Walking Dead storylines strongly suggest he will – Esteban would slot neatly into Rick’s inner circle alongside the likes of Gabriel, Aaron, and Carol.
Rick has also made an ally of the other “A” survivor Okafor spared, Thorne. Whereas Rick is best described as a quiet, raging stoic, Thorne is a more explosive and extroverted character, but despite not quite seeing eye-to-eye, they share the kind of camaraderie that comes from shared experience. Both also possess strong morals, and would not look the other way if they discovered the CRM was committing evil acts in secret. Again, Thorne is an ally that would blend well with Rick’s friends back in Alexandria.
3 Rick Grimes Loses His Left Hand In The Ones Who Live
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 1 begins by showing Rick’s fourth attempt to escape the CRM. Due to his prior efforts, Rick is tethered to a soldier, forcing him to cut off his left hand before making a dash for freedom. The massive resulting blood loss means a groggy Rick is quickly caught, taken back, and patched up. This scene is inspired by Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic books, in which Rick loses his hand much earlier courtesy of the Governor.
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2 Rick Joins The CRM & Becomes A Pilot (To Finally Escape)
When even chopping off his own hand fails to cut it, Rick plans his fifth escape attempt more carefully. Inspired by an offhand comment from Esteban, Rick accepts Okafor’s long-standing offer to join the CRM. Lasting for approximately one year, Rick learns combat, weapons, helicopter piloting, and a range of other skills that make him even more formidable. Biding his time, Rick waits for the perfect opportunity before making another attempt to escape, even going so far as leaving behind a fake corpse to trick the CRM into believing him dead. Once again, he fails.
1 Rick Gives Up Hope Of Returning To Alexandria
Following yet another failure to return home, Rick essentially gives up. Following Thorne’s lead, Rick comes to accept that he can never escape the CRM, and that doing so would only put his loved ones in danger regardless. Instead, Rick resolves to follow Okafor’s plan and rise through the CRM ranks until reaching a position where he can change the organization for the better. In Rick’s mind, doing this will make the world safer for Michonne, Judith, and his friends back in Alexandria – even if they never know he did it. Rick finding this level of acceptance is where The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live‘s main story picks up.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
- Release Date
- February 25, 2024
- Cast
- Andrew Lincoln , Danai Gurira , Pollyanna McIntosh , Lesley-Ann Brandt , Terry O’Quinn
- Seasons
- 1
- Network
- AMC
- Showrunner
- Scott M. Gimple
