The Walking Dead: A Tribute To The Symbol of "Humanity" and The Importance of Daryl Dixon.

Dale Horvath: What was left of the group's humanity.

If you didn't watch last night's episode, please just stop reading, and WATCH THIS EPISODE! I don't want to ruin anything for you, for I am pretty sure absolutely no one saw the last ten minutes of the most previous episode coming, at all! So it is with great sadness, I must take this time out to have a moment of silence for the late elder man filled with wisdom and a heart of gold: Dale Horvath.  Dale was taken in a very gory way just the other night.  It broke my heart, and made my brain cry.  It's going to be very strange watching the show without such a wonderful character that Jeffrey DeMunn did such an awesome job portraying.  Dale was definitely one of my favorites characters on the show because he kept his kind heart in the crappy world that they live in.  Sunday Night was one of the saddest moments (for me, anyway) in television history.  My family was left in shock and sadness as we all watched the show together like we do every Sunday.  Dale was not only one of my favorites, but he was a family favorite as well.  However, his kind heart, unfortunately, was in a way, what got him killed in the first place.  

This episode showed a very compassionate and very brave side to Daryl.  The very last minute of the show, Daryl calmly moves Rick out of the way, taking and works up the courage to put poor Dale out of his misery.  Dixon gives Dale a 'sorry brother' and pulls the trigger on the elder man we all loved so much.  Dale being gone (to me at least), is symbolizing the death of humanity in the group, as we know it.  It was like killing Simon in the famous Lord of the Flies, I think.  Rest in peace, Dale Horvath. Whenever I see bucket hats, now..you will surely be the first thing that comes to mind.

Daryl Dixon: The loveable bad ass with the good intentions.

Seeing this side of Daryl adds on to why he's my favorite character on the show, and one of the best characters in anything that's on TV, right now! Daryl Dixon has grown so much on The Walking Dead, and everyone has grown some sort of soft spot for the bad ass cross-bow wielding redneck.  In fact, Daryl has become such a great character on the TV show, that he's getting written into the comic books. That's a pretty big deal.  Actor Norman Reedus (plays Daryl Dixon, and happens to be my favorite actor) was a huge contributor to the development of this character, along with the maker & writer of the series, Mr. Robert Kirkman and the other makers of the show.  Reedus' character is so complex, and he says so himself: "he's the kind of person that you just want to give a hug, but if you try, he'll try and stab you."  You get all of this from Dixon, with the help of how Norman Reedus portrays him.  When the show first started, you only see the mean side of Dixon: he's only out to help himself and his brother.  But as time goes on, you see that he needs the group just as much as they need him.  He is such a significant part of their group now, and such a big deal on the show

One can see throughout the show that Daryl has the strength to do what the majority of the group is afraid to.  He goes out on his own to hunt, he went out on his own to look for Sophia, he put a member of their group out of their misery.  Daryl is slowly rising up as one of the leaders of the group.  Dixon went from being this redneck in their group that no one wanted to even come towards, to this brave man that people can rely on.  They look to Daryl for protection, and they're starting to care for him, and warm up to him even more.  Also, you see that Daryl is starting to warm up to the group. You see that he cares, and it's easy to see that he just wants what's best for everyone. He may not come off the right way in showing it, but everyone knows that his intentions are for the greater good of those around him.  And I might be making a big deal out of this, but I think the fact that Daryl called the men of the group "my boys" was kind of a big deal.  He feels like one of them, now and he sees that he's being embraced in a way that's good.  Watching Dixon grow like he has is one of my favorite things about not only the show itself, but of anything I've watched on television. 

There are plenty more reasons as to why Daryl Dixon is such a wonderful part of this show, and I don't think it's possible to write them all in one post.  He's my favorite character on this show, and definitely someone I would want on my side in a zombie apocalypse. Hell, he should be just about everyone's number one pick! He'll keep you safe, he'll get you food, and he's very easy on the eyes (of course that third one is the least important of those three, but it's nice).

Although episode was definitely one of the saddest. With death comes life, in the way that as a result of Dale's fatal attack, Daryl stepped up to take on the task of dealing with it.  This moment in Walking Dead history resulted in Daryl showing that not only does he care, but that he has the potential to be a great leader.