We’ve known that Danai Gurira was exiting The Walking Dead this year for a long while, but it’s finally about to happen. Next Sunday’s installment of season 10 marks the end of Michonne’s long-running tenure on the series and ahead of this monumental episode, AMC has released a sneak peek that reveals a major twist to her final storyline that was set up before the midseason break.
When we last saw Michonne in the midseason finale, “The World Before,” she agreed to accompany Virgil back to his home – a fortress on Bloodworth Island – as he said there would be a sizeable arsenal there that could help the survivors in their war against the Whisperers. However, this clip reveals that Virgil actually withheld the whole truth from her and he has his own ulterior, if sympathetic, motives for bringing Michonne along.
The sneak peek begins with Michonne growing suspicious of the situation. When she storms off to search for weapons, Virgil admits that it’s not safe. After a sweary response from Michonne, Virgil reveals that the island was clear. “Until the others came. They brought violence. The sickness came with it.” This sickness “killed my family,” the man explains.
Virgil says that he doesn’t have the kind of combat skills that Michonne does and she asks him what exactly he wants her to do. “My family is still in there. My wife. My babies. That’s why I asked you to come,” Virgil confesses. “Needed you to come.”
So, there you have it, Michonne’s final act on the show won’t be fetching new supplies for the war effort but saving a whole other community from some unknown assailants. It’s clear that she’s not going to make it back to Alexandria after this but exactly what happens to her to prevent that, though, is not yet known.
We’ll find out when The Walking Dead 10×13 “What We Become” airs Sunday, March 22nd on AMC.