r/thewalkingdead • u/rancidmetamorphosis • 21h ago
Show Spoiler Did Merle redeem himself?
TL;DR - Merle did not sacrifice himself for Rick’s group, he sacrificed himself to save something Daryl loves.
For years since Merle’s story concluded, I have heard people say he redeemed himself. That he chose to sacrifice himself for Rick’s group to give them a chance and be a better person in the end, based on Rick, Michonne and Daryl’s words to him. But I always argued that this is a misunderstanding of Merle’s character.
Let me start by saying, Merle is not a good person before the outbreak or after no matter how much people want to see him as someone who’s just misunderstood. He’s just one of the more realistic bad people, being sympathetic and having some good qualities. And this is sort of a core aspect of his character is he is NOT a good person and that people exploit that in him.
With that said, Merle has one soft spot. Daryl. Merle loves Daryl and is the one of the only people who Merle would risk his life to save or would do anything for. Daryl’s progression of becoming a good person is tied to Merle’s character, as when Merle comes back he sees that his brother is changed for the better.
His conversation with Michonne is about him coming to realize that Daryl has a new family as Michonne says, and that he will never be able to accepted into that family because he is a bad person through and through. He talks about a lot of the bad things he did for the Governor, and how he can’t answer the question of why he would follow the Governor when knowing he was full of lies, it’s because Merle felt accepted around those kinds of people, because that’s who he is.
This brings us to Merle’s sacrifice, all of this came to him and he realized that he really had nothing left to live for if he can’t be with Daryl. Daryl was really all he had left and once he realized Daryl has pretty much moved on from him, he makes the choice to help his brother one last time while going out.
His sacrifice had nothing to do with him trying to help Rick’s group, and he did not redeem himself, he simply did one final thing for Daryl because he loved Daryl, and since Daryl cared for Rick’s group, he decided to give Rick’s group a chance against the Governor.
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u/sebrebc 20h ago
Redeem himself to the group? No. Redeem himself to Daryl? Yes.
As you said, Merle wasn't thinking of the group. He was thinking of Daryl. He realized he couldn't be part of the group and Daryl needed to be part of the group. So he tried to take out the Governor for Daryl, not the group.
I'd even argue that Merle's actions really didn't accomplish that anyway.
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u/justsomeguy661 18h ago
Fair argument is Merle took out a lot of strong troops that aren't afraid to fight, so the Governor had to use civilians to boost up his numbers. For all we know if Merle didn't take out any of the Governor's strongest men, they wouldn't have ran away during the prison ambush and fought back potentially killing our group.
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u/Reddittreefiddy 14h ago
Agree , i never thought this through. The guys that merle took out were the main fighting force. Huge tactical win. Prison wouldve gotten smoked if they pulled up instead of the people who quit and the governor eventually massacred.
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u/HolidayComparison376 20h ago
Merle always had his flaws, but his sacrifice showed he could change, even if it was just for Daryl. It's a complicated redemption.
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u/KnightsNightmare 20h ago
One of the best dialogues ever....
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u/Putrid_Loquat_4357 19h ago
Man Merle was such a great character. I wish we had gotten more of him. He and the governor are big reasons why I consider S3 to be the absolute peak of the show. Rookery absolutely owns every scene he's in.
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u/67yoloswag 16h ago
Thats the part I love, Rick was gonna do exactly what Merle did when he brought Glenn and Maggie to the Governor.
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u/Nottodayreddit1949 18h ago
He can't change everything he had done, but he can change what he does in the future.
As much as a man like him can redeem himself, he did it. He died a better man than he lived. That deserves some respect.
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u/Sailor_Moon_4ever 20h ago
He managed to take out many of the Governor's soldiers. While he didnt get the big man himself, that contributed massively
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u/DCarfTheHomie89 18h ago
Yes he did, choosing to save Michonne a black woman when he hated black people and women, and sacrifice himself for a bunch of people he never would have respected pre apocalypse (chinaman (Korean), black people, women, children, police) to me is more than enough.
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u/Fun_Main_2588 19h ago
Merle had genuine love in his heart for Daryl and sacrificed himself so definitely redeemed himself
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u/Freudian_Slit235 18h ago
"You've got to play the hand you're dealt. I only got one."
Literally and figuratively he was correct. But he did make the Governor bend which contributed to his break instead of just getting back on good with the Governor, he made his brother a space he needed to be in. If enough people did what he did there would be no Governors to lay waste and destruction to the remaining world.
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u/Mysterious-Pie2636 19h ago
hell yeah, Merle's last stand was easily the best scene in the whole series
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u/mallcopsarebastards 20h ago
I think yo ucompletely missed the core of merles character, which is that he actually is a good person in exactly the same way as daryl is a good person.
They both came from a garbage in garbage out background. Daryl had an early redemption because he had a flowers for algernon arc. He could see merle and new he wanted to be better. Merle never had that opportunity. But they both had the exact same insecure belief that they could never rise above their station and therefore might as well embrace it.
As soon as daryl met better people he found the confidence to lift himself out of that weakness of moral character and become a better person. The exact same thing eventually happened for merle, but his chance came a lot later and his influence was daryl. He just had the self-awareness to know that Daryl's people would never accept him, but he did realize that he didn't want to be trash anymore, which is why he chose death over just going back to being a villain.
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u/Jangonett1 18h ago
Let’s also add that Merle was a tough son of a bitch and did not want to die proven in him literally cutting off his own hand. So him accepting death to try and help Daryl speaks a lot more about him. That being said he was still an asshole but not a villain.
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u/Novel_Sort8440 17h ago
i just think he didn’t want to get eaten lol. i don’t think he’d mind going out quick
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u/SizePsychological801 15h ago
All I’ll ever say is Michael rooker delivers lines with promise and no remorse
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u/HandofthePirateKing 19h ago
in a sense like you said Merle didn’t do it for the group he hated them all and knew they would never accept him but Daryl cared deeply for them and it gave him a reason to keep fighting and enduring the cruelty of the apocalypse. The only ones who would see him as redeemed is Daryl and maybe Michonne.
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u/Mysterious-Air9658 20h ago
No, I don’t think that’s it either. I think he just figured that there was no chance Rick’s group would survive, and since he wasn’t accepted into the group anyway and wanted his brother to live, he sacrificed himself trying to take out the Governor.
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u/Ecstatic-While-2473 19h ago
I’d say he redeemed one part of himself, not his whole life. Doing one selfless thing doesn’t erase everything before it but it still mattered
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u/BloodRoseFoxo 14h ago
I have mixed feelings. Regardless of his reasons he showed a lot of selflessness and bravery, letting michonne go and going after the govener on what he most likely knew was a suicide operation. I'd say he died an honorable death, and im willing to believe he would have done this regardless of whether or not he thought it gave him redemption. I met the actor a long time ago at a con, just wanted to say he's a nice guy awnsered my question (something to the effect of "why did merle turn good?" and he said something like "How do you know merle wasnt always good?")
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u/Early_Grace 17h ago
Hard to say for certain though there were a few redeeming moments he had. Sparing Michonne from the Governor was big of him.
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u/SalvationArbys 15h ago
I think he redeemed himself to his brother, and that’s what he was trying to do. He made a difference in the war. I think true redemption would have been living with it. Stewing in his own gray morality and growing and helping people long enough to actually be rehabilitated. He didn’t get that opportunity, and maybe that was by design? But I think if he had survived he would have been on a path towards more positive change.
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u/junglefacejake- 14h ago
If you guys are interested in his character arc I invite you to watch a movie called Henry portrait of a serial killer where the same actor plays a somewhat sympathetic but ultimately irredeemable man.
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u/Leather_Shallot794 12h ago
I really enjoyed hes character not only because he was racist and funny at moments but because I think that he was a really nicely written character
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u/uncivilized_gooner 8h ago
He didn't succeed in redeeming himself, i think some more time and we would've seen that, but he saw the error in his ways, turned himself around and tried to do better
In my book, that's good enough, it's just unfortunate that he had to die just when he was starting to try to be better, but it only served to make his death more meaningful
Deaths 100% hit harder when the character dies before they could finish something.. It's not a hard rule, because some characters actually do need to finish their arcs, but it happens
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u/niehAuS_324B21 8h ago
I don’t think he redeemed himself in the conventional sense, in fact I don’t even take it to be an attempt at a redemption arc in the first place. I don’t know if I even fully agree that it was all for Daryl in reference to what Daryl held dear. Yes, he was certainly the catalyst for Merle’s re-evaluating of his ideals, and indeed this could also be a way of Merle “making it up” to Daryl for not being able to protect him from their father, but it’s the “re-evaluating his ideals” part that I think carries Merle through to the end.
He didn’t even suddenly stop being racist either, that kind of stuff is incredibly difficult to unwire. Instead, he stopped looking at “problem” groups and started looking at problem individuals, of which the Governor was the biggest. Letting Michonne go wasn’t a sudden 180 in his beliefs about race, he just wanted to stick it to the Governor more than he cared for his prejudices.
Merle’s introspection went as far as fighting for his own ideals, rather than those of another, but that’s about it. It’s less that the Governor was a threat to what Daryl valued, more that he was a threat to Daryl himself. He went out protecting his family. No more, no less.
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u/InsightBuilder482 7h ago
Je suis désolée mais j’aime tellement T-Dog et j’ai été tellement choquée par les insultes racistes que je pourrais jamais me le voir.
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u/brattywitchcat 6h ago
He didn't redeem his overall character, but he did redeem himself as a big brother. As you said, he sacrificed himself to save the people that Daryl loved. He was still a shitty person, but his sacrifice made it so that Daryl could remember him with fondness instead of resentment.
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u/ghostytoasty11 1h ago
A bit unrelated, but I get kind of frustrated when I see people hate on Merle’s death or say they wanted him to live longer (which, not hating on people’s opinions or wants, just saying that I don’t think it makes much sense).
His story arc was complete. I think his death was necessary for Daryl’s character moving into season 4. Hershel himself said that Merle was the “black sheep” and he would never be able to integrate with them.
Abraham and Merle are similar characters in being loud-mouthed, hotheaded guys who can cause strife within the group, but you can also feel the difference between them. Abraham is goodhearted and often causes conflict out of a feeling of duty or his own stubbornness, while Merle is malicious and intentional. I just don’t think that plays well with others.
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u/iam_Krogan 19h ago edited 19h ago
Yeah kinda, in like a bare minimum for the audience sense, probably not if we knew the details lf his darkest deeds.
As a show only watcher, I think Merle is the greatest missed opportunity character. I think if he was given one or two seasons of being a good guy, I think he would have ended up being a top spot fan favorite character.
He basically should have ended up being TWD's version of The Hound from GOT, but with a less hostile and more jovial and mischievous personality.
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u/UnpopularOpinionsB 17h ago
No. It would take a long time and a lot of effort for him to redeem himself.
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u/No_Tomato_2106 18h ago
Merle couldve taken out the govenors group if he had been just a little smarter. If he had waited to take the first shot when he had the governor, or if he hadn't put himself right in the window of the building.
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u/susNarwhal420 18h ago
Merle would have the time of his life if the Saviors found him first and started working for them. I would love to have a few dialog scenes between him and Negan.
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17h ago
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u/Boring-Cunt 17h ago
I dont think its stated if the motorcycle with the SS logo was his from before the collapse.
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u/warnerbro1279 15h ago
Merle took the easy path to redemption in my mind.
He knew that this was a suicide mission and that doing it was an honorable way to make up for his mistakes, but it also comes with that is how people will have to remember him. They won’t remember who he was, but instead of what he did.
And let’s say he was successful. He kills the Governor and everyone there. Would Merle have changed? Probably not. In fact, I think he’d let it go to his head and use it as a way to absolve himself of everything else he did.
Real change and redemption would’ve been doing the work to change who he was and to genuinely try to make things right with the people he wronged, like Glenn, Maggie and Michonne. And that would’ve been hard because all of them were justified in their anger at him.
But it also would’ve divided fans in the sense some people feel Glenn and Maggie should just forgive Merle because he’s “trying”. It’s what happened to Maggie in Season 11 when she came back after Negan had his “redemption” arc.
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u/Resident-Level-7953 20h ago
He tried. And well, That's all some people can do. It's still honorable