The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 recap: everything to know before watching season 3

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2, subtitled "The Book of Carol," premiered on AMC on September 29, 2024. A post-apocalyptic horror drama, the show's second season consisted of six episodes that were released weekly. It revolved around the story of Daryl Dixon as he continued his journey in France while Carol Peletier attempted to find him after realising he had disappeared.

The former was forced to navigate the politics between the Union of Hope and a paramilitary group while attempting to keep young Laurent alive. Daryl and Carol soon reunite in France, albeit with more than a few dangerous enemies, after the two of them manage to come out unscathed.

However, their escape back to America hits a roadblock, forcing Daryl and Carol to step off the plane, letting Laurent and Ash, the pilot, escape into the sky instead. It does raise the question of how the duo planned to return to America, but all is soon revealed.

That’s because their journey has only just begun as they start trekking through the Channel Tunnel that links France to the United Kingdom. Things get a lot more complicated before they become easier as the reunited duo continue their journey home, leaving France in their wake. Their journey through England and into Spain will be the focus of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3, the first episode of which premiered exclusively on AMC on September 7, 2025.

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Daryl gets caught in the middle of a tug-of-war for a child messiah named Laurent

A still from The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 (Image via AMC+)

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 kicks off by following Daryl in the French countryside, much like season 1, but the only difference is that Daryl is now acting as a protector. Throughout season 2, he attempts to navigate and figure his way through his challenging new role as protector to Laurent, the child believed by many to be a messiah. But his beliefs and more are tested when he discovers that the religious faction led by Losang is planning a dangerous test for Laurent.

Losang attempts to kill Daryl at the advice of his faction, but Daryl manages to escape, and alongside Isabelle and Fallou, he returns to rescue Laurent from Losang's trial by walker. The group succeeds in their mission, and Fallou escapes with Laurent, but things go from bad to worse for the young child. A paramilitary group, called Pouvoir, led by Marion Genet, decides to chase after Daryl and Carol after the Union of Hope falls. However, Carol eventually manages to kill Genet, and the two groups merge in the absence of Genet’s leadership.

These eventually lead to Daryl and Carol fighting against both the Nest fanatics and the militant extremists. Despite their efforts to protect Laurent alongside their new ally Ash, the boy becomes the center of an increasingly dangerous power struggle.

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Carol’s journey to find Daryl becomes complicated quickly in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2

A still from The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 (Image via AMC+)

The season 1 finale showed Carol on the lookout for Daryl, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 continued that storyline as she traversed across the Atlantic looking for her friend. Things kick off in America after she finds his bike being used by a thief, and she soon discovers Daryl is all the way across the Atlantic.

Somehow, thanks to her cunning and charm, Carol manages to get to France, partly because she allied with a survivor named Ash by lying to him. However, upon reaching France, things soon become complicated for her as she finds herself in the middle of a civil war between a paramilitary group and the Union of Hope, where Daryl is.

She successfully infiltrates the paramilitary group and, despite facing numerous obstacles, the two are eventually reunited when the group attacks Mont-Saint-Michel, where the Nest is located. Along the way, Carol narrowly escapes death several times, but it turns out their journey is far from over as they’re soon forced to return to America via the long way.

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Daryl and Carol sacrifice the easy way home for a trek to England

A still from The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 (Image via AMC+)

After letting Laurent and Ash leave on the plane, Daryl and Carol are forced to find an alternative mode of transportation. Fallou helps them with that as he reintroduces them to Codron and Akila, as well as a Scottish couple who tell the group that they can make their way under the English Channel.

Fallou and Akila decide to stay back while the other five make their way through a nine-hour trek under the channel. However, things quickly become complicated as the group begins hallucinating, Carol and Codron run off on their own, with only the former returning.

To make matters worse, the Scottish couple attempts to kill Daryl for gas masks, only for him to kill them so that he and Carol can safely continue their journey. Codron remains alive, although the final minutes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 only feature Daryl and Carol as they begin their nine-hour journey through the tunnel.

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Interested viewers can watch The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 on AMC.