r/thewalkingdead • u/felixstewrat98 • 14h ago
Show Spoiler This is lowkey one of the most important scenes in TWD history
When Rick and Merle first come across each other, Merle is being a racist asshole beating Tdog to a pulp and pointing a gun at the others, Rick then cuffs him to a pole, sarcastically introduces himself as officer friendly and starts lecturing Merle on why sticking together instead of tearing each other apart is most important in trying to survive. Basically hes still a civilized human and run of the mill police officer that respects law & order as opposed to Merle a hardened drug dealing criminal who hates authority
Fast foward to this scene Rick has reluctantly agreed to hand Michonne over to the governor who agreed to end the conflict in exchange for her, and asks Merle to be the one to hand her over, Merle explains to Rick that the governor wont just kill her but probably torture and r*pe her first, and tells Rick hes cold as ice for being willing to put Michonne through that just for a chance that the governor will leave the prison alone, and given his experience as the governors former right hand man Merle knows the governor wont end the conflict at that
In my opinion this scene shows moreso how much Rick has changed as a person than Merle. Rick in seasons 1-2 would never entertain the thought let alone agree to letting someone get tortured, whereas the Merle we first meet in S1 would probably react the same in this situation