Norman Reedus Touches On Daryl/Dwight Dynamic Ahead Of The Walking Dead Season 8B

The times, they are a-changing for members of The Walking Dead.

Take Daryl Dixon, as an example. Coming out of season 7, many felt that the series stalwart had been stripped down to the bare bones – figuratively speaking, of course – at the behest of Negan and his sinister Saviors. But Norman Reedus’ fan-favorite came back swinging.

And from that gruelling torture came a fascinating, hate-hate dynamic between Daryl and his sworn enemy, Dwight. It’s seemingly Norman Reedus’ favorite story arc from The Walking Dead season 8, and viewers can readily expect it to be further explored when the hit zombie drama returns later this month.

That’s my favorite storyline going forward. They’re both right. One just knows how to deal with it a little better. The other one is scared. Daryl’s not scared. Dwight’s scared and he makes decisions based on fear, but he’s trying to do the right thing. It seems like it. So you can’t really hate on him. We all do horrible things in this world and Dwight did a bunch of crappy stuff and Daryl gets it, and Daryl knows that Dwight’s operating from a place of fear. Not to give anything away, but I’m very happy with that storyline going forward.

And those crossing their fingers in the hope that Daryl and Dwight will set aside old differences needn’t waste their time; as Reedus tells EW, the two survivors will always be fighting for a different cause.

I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think he ever fully accepts Dwight, but he gets it. He gets where he’s coming from, but he doesn’t like him. They don’t like each other. I think one person’s trying to hang out and the other person’s like, ‘Stay the f— away from me.’ You know what I mean? It’s like that whole thing of the snake biting the guy. He’s like, ‘Well, you know I’m a snake.’ It’s kind of like that a little bit.

The second, conclusive chapter in The Walking Dead‘s eighth season will begin its rollout next Sunday, February 25th, while those holding out for Morgan to make the jump over to Fear The Walking Dead can place a big red circle around April 15th on the calendar.