The Walking Dead's Carol: A Timeline Of Major Events For Melissa McBride's Character

As a fan of the Walking Dead, for a long, long time, Carol was not my favorite character. It wasn’t because I hated her - I just felt very indifferent because she sort of stood in the background for some time.

But slowly, Carol has become one of my absolute favorite characters in The Walking Dead, and it’s because of her excellent character development and brilliant story. And now that her story has continued off into a spin-off, we have to update her timeline. Let’s talk about my girl, Carol, and her amazing story.

Carol’s Abusive Husband, Ed, Is Killed

In Season 1, Carol was one of the original members of the quarry group, alongside her daughter, and her abusive husband, Ed, who was the epitome of a “terrible moment” for her. While we know from the start that Ed is an abusive ass, it’s not until the episode, “Vatos,” where we get to see some justice served.

Beforehand, Ed had his ass beaten by Shane, but later on, when walkers attacked the quarry camp, Ed gets his just desserts and is finally devoured by a walker, effectively freeing Carol from his abusive hands. It’s then that we start to see her personality a bit more - but more happens down the line that truly changes her.

Carol Finds Her Daughter, Sophia, Dead

I think this was one of the first moments I truly felt bad for Carol. No mother deserves to lose her child. At the very beginning of Season 2, Sophia ends up getting lost in the forest as she’s trying to run away from walkers, and the group spends the first half of the season searching for the girl.

It’s revealed in the episode, “Pretty Much Dead Already,” that Sophia was kept locked away in Hershel’s barn the whole time, having died, turned and been put in there, and was let loose when the barn doors were opened by Shane. Watching Carol try and run to her daughter, before Daryl holds her back, is a moment that always sticks with me to this day. And, it was certainly a heartbreaking death to boot.

Carol Gets Trapped In The Prison - And Daryl Saves Her

Weeks pass. The Greene farm has fallen. The group started off Season 3 at a run-down prison, taking out the walkers inside and calling it their home. But, while Carol was down below, she and T-Dog were overrun by a group of walkers - and at first, it’s presumed that she was killed, as T-Dog was.

However, in the episode, “Hounded,” Daryl finds Carol deep below in the prison, malnourished but alive, having found a way to outrun the walkers and hide herself. Daryl wastes no time in bringing her back upstairs so that she can heal properly. It was the first time, at least for me, where I truly saw her resilience as a survivor of this undead world.

Carol Chooses To Kill Lizzie 

After Carol already lost Sophia in Season 2, she ended up becoming a mother figure to sisters Lizzie and Mika in Season 4, two girls who lost their parents. But as the season progressed, it was revealed that Lizzie wasn’t mentally stable - and ended up killing Mika, her sister.

Carol, realizing the threat that Lizzie was to both Judith and other children, decides to take Lizzie out by shooting her in the episode, “The Grove,” simply saying to the young girl to “look at the flowers” before she takes her life. It pains her to do so, but she knows that it’s the right decision, regardless of her own personal feelings.

Carol Takes Out A Crazy Amount Of People At Terminus

Terminus was a crazy, intense moment in The Walking Dead during the premiere episode of Season 5, and all of those cannibals can go straight to hell. As Rick and the others were fighting for their lives to somehow make it out of there alive, Carol was on the outside, dressed up in walker guts and dirt, using her skills to her advantage and taking snipe shots.

I mean, the woman literally blew up a gas tank and set the whole place on fire. This was the moment where I realized, “Okay, wow, she is so badass. Why didn’t I realize this before?” And that sweet reunion between her and Daryl after being separated for so long - definitely one of their best friendship moments.

Carol Meets Ezekiel 

It was the beginning of a beautiful TWD relationship. In Season 7, Carol is in need of medical attention in the episode, “The Well,” so Morgan ends up bringing her to The Kingdom, another settlement where Ezekiel - known as King Ezekiel - rules. At first, she thinks the theatrics of him being a “king” are a little pretentious, but she starts to warm up to the man.

It’s so nice to re-watch this scene years later, knowing that these two end up getting together down the line; it was the start of something so sweet, and the change that Carol truly needed.

Carol Decides To Take A Break From Killing

Carol Decides To Take A Break From Killing

While we have seen Carol kill over and over at this point, she needed a solid break, which was why she ended up leaving Alexandria all together, because she didn’t want to lose anyone else, and taking up space in a cottage near The Kingdom.

She isn’t necessarily a part of The Kingdom, but Ezekiel does stop by her cabin all the time to give her produce, furthering their friendship and creating a solid bond that soon becomes unbreakable. Even though she does get to relax for some time, it’s not that long before she ends up rejoining the fight.

Carol Returns As A Soldier To Fight Against Negan Alongside The Kingdom 

The Kingdom is under attack by the Saviors, and after everything that Ezekiel has done for Carol, she ends up rejoining the fight, deciding that even if she has lost people, she knows she can’t just sit to the side and let everyone die.

Once Negan is subdued and his men are taken out, Carol ends up residing in The Kingdom with Ezekiel - and over time, a romance begins to bloom.

Six Years Pass, And Carol Is Happy - For Now

In the middle of Season 9, six years have passed after Rick vanished from the group (while secretly being taken away by Jadis) and now, Carol is the queen of The Kingdom, for lack of a better word, with Ezekiel (as he constantly asks her to marry him), and both have become parent figures to Henry, another small boy that Carol had a connection with when the Saviors were attacking.

Things seem alright for now, with the two of them ruling together and no major events happening. She’s happy. She’s even let her hair grow longer. But, that happiness doesn’t last for long.

Carol Loses Henry - And Leaves Ezekiel 

The Whisperer War arc arrives in Season 9, during the episode, “The Calm Before,” - and Henry is one of the people who's killed. His head was put on a spike in order to mark the territory between the Kingdom and the Whisperers. And, of course, Carol is the one who ends up finding Henry, while Daryl tries to urge her to look away - reminiscent of the day she lost Sophia.

Due to her grief - and also her rage in wanting to take Alpha out - she ends up leaving the relationship with Ezekiel, saying that she didn’t think she could ever properly move on from that. She needed to make sure she could avenge Henry, as well as all the other poor unfortunate souls that were killed as well, and that includes leaving to go back to Alexandria with Daryl.

Carol Teams Up With Negan To Take Out Alpha

The team up we never knew was happening. Negan, for years, was locked up at Alexandria, but was able to break free at one point before joining the Whisperers. Then, it’s revealed in the Season 10 episode, “Walk With Us,” that he was actually working for Carol the whole time, giving Alpha's head directly to her.

It’s a crazy moment, watching these two characters work together to take out this crazy threat, and it’s later shown in the Season 10 episode, “Look at the Flowers” just how involved the two of them were together in order to take out Alpha. Carol was willing to do whatever it took - and boy did she, by using anti-hero Negan.

Carol And Ezekiel Open A Secret Clinic

You know, Season 11 of The Walking Dead almost feels like a fever dream to me half the time, but when it comes to Carol, not that much happened with her in her final episodes – which is honestly surprising considering she was one of the few main characters from the first season still around.

Even so, in one of her few acts of rebellion in Season 11 against the Commonwealth, she and Ezekiel team up in order to open a secret clinic for those in the town who needed help with medical issues. Carol had spent so much time trying to make sure Ezekiel could get care that she knew she had to find a way to help others too.

Carol Kills Lance

Of course Carol would find a way to take out one last person on The Walking Dead. I mean, we all kind of hated Lance anyway and it was only really a matter of time before he was taken out but it was nice that Carol did the killing.

It wasn’t even supposed to be like that, but of course when Daryl and Carol’s lives were threatened when Lance pulled a gun on them, she took him out. Simple as that – Carol doesn’t mess around.

Carol And Daryl Say Goodbye…For Now

The finale of The Walking Dead gave me all the feels and of course, one of the biggest moments was when Carol said goodbye to Daryl. They were able to get the Commonwealth under control and in good hands, and now, Daryl decided to go off on his own to try and find Rick.

Carol lets him go, because of course she does – it’s not like Daryl is her pet or anything. But these two have been through the ringer together time and time again, and to watch them say their farewells (before the spinoff series, obviously), is still just as emotional the second time watching it.

Carol Reunites With Daryl In France, Of All Places

I bet none of ya’ll thought these two would reunite in France, of all places, but somehow, the unthinkable happened.

In the spinoff, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Carol comes back in Season 2 – titled The Book of Carol. She’s looking for Daryl this time around and literally tricks a man into flying her across the ocean, manipulating him into believing that she’s looking for her lost daughter.

Was it messed up? Yeah, but her and Daryl ended up reuniting in one of the worst circumstances (during a major battle), but it was still beautiful nonetheless.

Carol Helps Laurent Escape, And Stays With Daryl In France

Throughout Season 2 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, she and Daryl work together to find safe passage for Laurant to America, since everyone and their mother is looking for this kid. She is able to convince her friend to fly him back to America, and at the last second, sticks around with Daryl to kill the people who were hunting Laurant down.

Now, she and Daryl are stuck in France while Laurant is going back to America where he’ll be safe. There are still enemies out there that want them dead. And now, they are traveling to England together to find a way to somehow get home.

Yes, this is still the same The Walking Dead universe and I can hardly believe this is what is happening either, but here we are.

What could happen next with Carol in the next season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon? Whatever the case, you know we’ll be eager to see it – and cheer her on every step of the way.