A blast from Daryl’s past is the key to explaining the Reapers.
It’s time for anotherWalking Deadinfo dump.
Daryl splits off from the group the night they were set upon by the Reapers.
Lynn Collins as Leah in ‘The Walking Dead’ season 11.Josh Stringer/AMC
Dog got injured (don’t worry, he’s fine) so he went ahead on his own.
She takes off her mask and we see it’s Leah (Lynn Collins).
Showrunner Angela Kangdid tell usthat story wasn’t over.
Ritchie Coster as Pope in ‘The Walking Dead’ season 11.Josh Stringer/AMC
He scrawled a note on a map for Leah that read, “I belong with you.
Well, she did!
Just not in the way we were expecting.
The Reapers take Daryl back to their base where they waterboard him for information on Maggie and the others.
The more Leah speaks with Daryl, the more feelings are brought back to the surface.
Pope feels he and his people were chosen by God for… something.
It’s not clear for what.
When the outbreak hit, he remembers taking refuge in a church as bombs were falling.
When the flames finally went out, he looked around to see neither he nor his guys were harmed.
He took that as a sign from the Almighty.
After splitting from Daryl, Leah joined up with the Reapers and she’s been with them ever since.
She’s now the right hand of Pope.
Pope is now looking for revenge, which works in Leah’s favor.
She advocates for Daryl, noting how their numbers are declining.
Daryl gives Leah some information to keep himself alive.
That earns Daryl a tryout.
Pope does love a cleansing fire!
He sees Daryl not only fight to break out of the room but save Leah first.
That’s a big thing for Pope.
He has a Reaper-wide policy of not turning your back on your brother in arms.
So, now Daryl is an official member of the Reapers and so is Dog.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention the pooch has been totally fine this entire time.
However, Daryl has a sobering reminder of Pope’s wrath.
Pope turns on Bossie, convinced he had somehow left Turner to die.
As punishment, Pope throws Bossie into their bonfire and holds him down among the flames until he dies.
God, Pope says, uses fire both for baptism and wrath.
There are a few things to all of this that just don’t really make sense.
Pope believes the Reapers have been chosen by God.
That doesn’t seem very pious.
Why would Leah be so on board with this life of cruelty?
Also, Pope wanting revenge for Turner’s death is kind of laughable.
Dude, the Reapers attacked the Alexandrians first and you are now mad that people died in the process?
Maybe you’re just mad because his soldiers' failure reflects on his leadership.
Maybe they are only like that to those who have wronged them.
One way for this all to make sense is that Maggie did something to piss them off.
We also know that Maggie has gone through some dramatic changes because of her life on the road.
Whatever the reality is, all this seems to be setting up a difficult spot for Daryl.
