Merle is the Most Complicated Character in The Walking Dead

Merle Dixon is the older brother of Daryl Dixon, and while Daryl went from an asshole to a kind dude that developed a true family bond with Rick’s group, Merle Dixon didn’t exactly have the same arc. Merle was handcuffed to the roof of a building after pissing off Rick and causing a major problem for the group. When they attempted to go and save him, Merle was nowhere to be found for two seasons straight. He had cut off his own hand to get out of the handcuffs, his fate left unknown. 

We finally reunite with Merle in season 3 of The Walking Dead, where he is now with a new group. He is found to be working with the Governor, one of the central main villains back in the early old school days of the series. When Michonne is introduced in season 3, she causes a huge problem for the Governor, and her character leads to Merle’s own journey, when he eventually reunites with the group. 

Merle’s decision to protect his brother while standing against the Governor, including lying to his face about killing Michonne, led to him being forced to run away from his boss to go with Rick’s group. 

Merle was very tough to root for since the beginning of the series, when he beat up Glenn, acted like a bigoted piece of shit towards certain characters, and he was the reason why Daryl left the group for a temporary period of time in season 3. However, Daryl’s love for Rick’s group was already very strong by this point, and he came back to their home with Merle, saving Rick’s life in the process. Merle knew that he would never be welcomed in the group after his past actions, and he decided to make a drastic decision. 

Merle decides to get back in the good graces of the Governor to protect his brother, by kidnapping Michonne and attempting a sort of peace deal by giving her up to his old boss. Michonne convinces him to not go through with the plan, and Merle realizes that the Governor will end up killing everyone in Rick’s group, including his brother. He lets go of Michonne and creates his own plan of taking down the Governor, going with his own suicide mission. 

Merle is successful in taking down some of the members in the Governor’s group, but he is killed by the Governor. 

This was probably the only good thing Merle ever did in the show. 

He realizes his mistake, and decides to make amends by protecting his brother’s group in his own way. Plus, his last words to the Governor was that he wouldn’t beg to die before being shot dead by his old boss. 

Then Daryl was forced to put down his brother for good, when he came back from the dead as a zombie. I think that Merle needed to die, to let Daryl fully move on with his life. He was such a likable dude, and we got to see his bond grow with Carol, who once expressed sadness when she learned that Daryl had left the group for a short period during season 3. 

In a way, his character was kind of similar to Shane. 

Merle could have been very useful for Rick’s group, due to his risky nature and military background, but his decision to join an evil group, and treating everyone like trash in Rick’s group was a huge reason why he was so disliked by everyone. 

It makes me wonder if they would have welcomed him back, but honestly, I’m not sure if it would have gone down well. They probably would have locked him up permanently in the prison for good, and while Carol did care about Daryl, I would not have put it past her to find a way to kill Merle during his stay. (Let’s face it, that woman was capable of a lot of crazy things).

How did you guys feel about Merle’s character?

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn