Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the series finale of The Walking Dead.

After more than a decade on television, The Walking Dead aired its series finale, “Rest In Peace,” last night. It saw a tentative end for characters new and old as the conflict with the Commonwealth that had been building came to a close. However, the franchise is not dead yet as it is now looking ahead to a whole host of spinoffs that are looming on the horizon. The most significant question left open surrounds the highly anticipated return of Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) that the show had been long telegraphing the promise of. Each had departed from the story seasons ago and everyone had been left in the dark. The short answer is yes, both Rick and Michonne appeared at the end of the series finale.

The character who was most interested in their whereabouts was their daughter, Judith (Cailey Fleming), who had recently taken to wondering more and more about them. She even had discussions with Daryl (Norman Reedus) before he went off on his motorcycle into spinoff land about both of them. Much like how we were first introduced to her father in the stunning pilot episode all those years ago, she did so in the hospital after being shot at the end of the penultimate episode. Skipping over a lot of what ended up playing out, we then jumped forward a year to get the scenes that many had been waiting for all season long. In case it wasn’t already clear, this piece is going to spoil all of the final moments. In the event you haven’t seen it, best bookmark this and come back later. If you have or are willing to get completely spoiled about what we see of these two characters, proceed ahead.

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Where is Rick, and What’s With the Helicopter?

the walking dead series finale rick grimes andrew lincoln looking at fire

Starting with Rick, the first shots we get is of him striking a match and his eyes looking down as he writes a letter by the fireside. He is seemingly trying to get a message to his family, who has not heard from him for years and does not even know that he is alive. After a few moments of silence, he begins speaking about his past and how it continues to haunt him. He says that he thinks “of the dead all the time” as we get a flashback of his deceased son Carl (Chandler Riggs) putting on his father’s iconic hat while recovering from being shot way back in the second season. This is followed by many others, including his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and his former best friend Shane (Jon Bernthal), who similarly met their end in the apocalypse. Rick continues to discuss how he lost them, which is then overlapped with Michonne (more on her in a minute) who is writing a similar letter. The montage then continues as they each reflect on the many people they have both left behind.

Rick, who has seen more people die than just about anyone, says “I think about them all every day, their faces, what I learned from them, how they made me who I am, so much more than all this made me who I am.” The “this” is the suffering and pain that he has been put through, which he is now doing everything he can to put in perspective as he finds himself at the most alone he has ever been. He then looks directly into the camera and continues speaking about how “all of our lives, they come in one life, we’re together, pieces of a whole that just keep going for what we gave each other. One unstoppable life. You showed me that. You gave me that.” Rick then concludes writing, and we get more of a glimpse of where he is currently at. He walks barefoot through the mud as the rotting corpses of walkers that are trapped there growl at him. He throws the bottle with the message that he just wrote into the water and we hear a helicopter approaching. Rick shouts “no” then tries to run away, but it is too late for him to avoid being spotted. He desperately throws his bag onto a nearby boat that has run ashore, but he gets spoken to directly by an unseen man in the helicopter over a loudspeaker.

the walking dead series finale rick grimes andrew lincoln barefoot on the beach

“Consignee Grimes, you have been located and are instructed to surrender! Remain in place with your hands up!” Rick, visibly angry at this command and defiant as ever, obliterates the head of a trapped walker with a spear of sorts. He then turns his gaze back up at the helicopter, and we hear a more personal speaker that gives one more mysterious message: “C’mon, Rick. It’s like he told you, there’s no escape for the living.” It is unclear who this “he” is, but details can provide some indication about what is going on. Rick is wearing the same jacket as when he was whisked away a few seasons back and it seems as though this may be a group that bears the three circle insignia as was also on the helicopter. While not conclusive just yet, this may be the so-called Alliance of the Three that emerged in the apocalypse. Evidently, there was a disagreement as Rick has been on the run from them. However, he then breaks into a smile while we got a glimpse of what appears to be Manhattan as he raises his hands while the helicopter descends before everything fades to white.

Where Is Michonne, and Where Did She Get That Horse?

the walking dead series finale michonne danai gurira looking at fire
Image via AMC

The reappearance of Michonne begins in the same fashion as it did with Rick: she is sitting by a fire and writing a letter of her own. However, it seems as though she is writing to Judith and RJ (Antony Azor) about how she is looking for Rick. Just as Rick begins his monologue, she does as well. “I tried to get to you and your brother, again and again. It’s too far for the radio now, I know that. But I still got you. And you got me. We’re connected. We’re still connected to everybody we ever loved.” Where exactly she is as she writes this message remains unclear, but it seems as though it is a more remote area that is far removed from civilization. Her sole way of clinging to people is through this letter they may never read.

However, she is using the emotional connection she has as she explains that “we’ll always be together, even when we’re apart. We, together, are the strongest thing. We're love, and love is endless. So we, those gone, those away, we are endless.” Michonne then looks directly at the camera as well, meeting eyes with Rick a world away. When daylight comes, she closes the notebook that she is writing in and we see a nearby horse that she likely found in the course of traveling. She looks at what appears to be a smartphone of some sort that we see has a similar drawing on it to the one Rick also has and smiles before saying “I know you’re back there. I know your brother is back there, just as sure as I know he’s out there, somewhere. Not just as a part of us, he’s alive out there. I will find him. Because I know he’s trying to find us.”

the walking dead series finale michonne danai gurira on horse

She then takes off on horseback, taking down a lone walker with her sword and wearing a spiffy new suit of handmade armor. We can’t get a good look at any landmarks that would help identify where exactly she is, but she soon comes across an enormous horde of walkers that has gathered nearby in a valley of some sort. Rather than run away from it, Michonne is similarly defiant and charges right into it. She says “remember what I said, it’s what he said, hold it to your heart. It’s true, forever.” Echoing all the other characters who are seen in a montage, she then says one last line that “we’re the ones who live.”