Rick Grimes dropped a major truth bomb during last night’s episode of The Walking Dead Season 7. He finally confirmed what fans already thought about Judith, but it still hurt to hear him say it.
The Walking Dead Season 7 episode 4 revealed Rick knows Judith is not his daughter. He admitted to Michonne he knew Judith was his best friend Shane’s daughter. He told her his wife Lori had slept with Shane when she believed Rick was dead. It caused a lot of tension between them, but when Shane and Lori died, Rick knew he had to accept Judith as his own. Rick has been carrying that secret since he found out Lori was pregnant. Andrew Lincoln explained to Entertainment Weekly why his character has never spoken about it until now.
“Well, it is, but it’s also a great secret,” Lincoln told EW. “It’s a great, great secret that he’s been holding on to for a long, long time. It’s also a very smart way of understanding why he’s behaving in this way, because he’s been behaving that way with regards to his child since the outbreak, since he got the news. There’s a scene with Lori where it’s almost touched upon — outside on the farm, there’s a scene where he makes peace with whatever’s gone down and that’s, I think, a key moment. He doesn’t voice it, but it’s there. It’s in the air.”
Rick told Michonne his secret in order to get her to understand why he’s letting Negan run Alexandria. Rick is thinking about Judith’s future, Carl’s future, and the future of everyone else in Alexandria. He knows they can’t win right now, but Michonne believes otherwise. It’s difficult for Michonne to let go of control since she’s been fighting to survive long before she ever encountered Rick’s group.
Rick acknowledging the truth about Judith is his way of accepting defeat; Michonne doesn’t like this, but respects his honesty. However, when Michonne sees a pile of burned mattress on her way to hunt. She realizes the Saviors burned the mattresses just to show they have power over Rick. It angers Michonne, and she’s ready to fight, even if that means she’ll be up against Rick, too.
The Walking Dead Season 7 airs Sundays on AMC at 9 p.m.
