WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 12, “All or Nothing,” which aired Sunday, March 13 on AMC.
The Walking Dead has spent a lot of time unraveling the seedy underbelly of the Commonwealth in Season 11C. The incredibly loveable survivor Connie worked to expose the Commonwealth’s classism, Eugene learned about “fake Stephanie,” and Carol helped Ezekiel get his surgery through some shady business with the show’s new villain Lance Hornsby.
While all of that has been important, the thing that might prove the most significant to the series’ endgame is something in the Commonwealth going right: Daryl’s new bromance with Mercer. The two of them almost immediately got along, and “All or Nothing” continued that theme. But this new friendship is kind of weird for a multitude of reasons.
The first interaction that fans saw between Daryl and Mercer was when the latter led a training exercise for new soldiers. Rosita and her partner completed the challenge with ease, Daryl wasn’t used to working with a partner. Because Daryl failed the exercise, he had the “special” assignment of helping Sebastian Milton with his walker-killing training. When Daryl messed that up too, Mercer helped him out. He told Daryl that the Commonwealth was a good place — if he could keep his head down and learned how to play the game. That proved Mercer must have been a loner before the apocalypse, and that’s probably one reason why he’s drawn to Daryl. Daryl has taken his advice and started to vibe with the Commonwealth’s top general.
Continuing that theme, “All or Nothing” showed Pamela, Lance and a group of Commonwealth solders traveling to the Virginia communities to try and convince them to join a pact. While inside Alexandria, Mercer was noticeably impressed; specifically, he was impressed that Daryl was a leader in the community. More than that, though, Mercer was almost jealous that everyone inside of Alexandria was on equal ground. What anyone had done before the apocalypse didn’t affect their status in the community.
That and other interactions have hinted that the ultimate reason for Daryl and Mercer’s bromance probably has to do with The Walking Dead‘s endgame. It’s clear that Mercer likes the way that Daryl and his communities do things, and he’s clearly tired of the classism in the Commonwealth. In fact, the series has already hinted that Mercer could be the leader of the resistance. Thus, it makes sense from a story point of view for Daryl and his crew to have an ally inside of the Commonwealth when the real fighting begins.
But it doesn’t make much sense for Daryl’s character. From the very beginning of the series, he’s been the definition of a loner. He’s gotten along with plenty of characters, and fans have “shipped” him with a number of people over the years; however, nothing really happened because he always preferred to be alone. Not to mention, every couple of seasons he wandered off into the wild to mope about something new. The fact that he and Mercer have connected over just a few short months has been odd. Yet while it’s strange to watch, their bromance clearly serves a purpose, and it probably has to do with taking over the Commonwealth and changing it for the better.
To see more of Daryl and Mercer, tune into The Walking Dead Season 11. New episodes air Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and are available to stream early on AMC+.
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