After nearly two years apart, Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier have finally reunited following the pair going their separate ways at the end of The Walking Dead in 2022. However, though the duo shared an emotional embrace last night on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol after having thwarted an onslaught of Walkers, the moment could have looked a lot different had it not been for star Norman Reedus, who wanted the scene to have more of an impact from how it was originally written. Reedus serves as an executive producer on the series, working closely with creator David Zabel in shaping how the spin-off comes across to its audience.

Sitting down with Entertainment Weekly following the premiere of Season 2, Episode 4, “Le Paradis Pour Toi,” both Reedus and Melissa McBride joined the outlet to discuss their big reunion, and it was then that the star revealed that Carol was originally supposed to just find Daryl in jail. Reedus knew the moment called for more, saying, “It had to be different than you just found me. The energy had to be out of this world when it happened. It had to be frenetic — just pure adrenaline.”

As such, the scene was changed to feature both Daryl and Carol fighting off a horde of undead at the Nest, with both coming at them from opposite directions. Once the bodies hit the floor, they both lock eyes, the music swells, Carol gasps, and the friends share one of the most heartfelt embraces in the history of the franchise as all goes quiet.

“I wanted the emotion to be different. Not just, ‘Oh, she finds me and I’m weak.’ I wanted it to start weak, and then he gets out and turns into a killing machine — and then just a record-scratch moment where it goes quiet. Everything goes on around us, but the sound goes off and it’s like… ‘Is this real? You’re right in front of me.’ So we worked on that.”

Melissa McBride Reacts to Daryl and Carol’s Reunion

We’re thankful Reedus had the foresight to change how things went down, because like he said, it definitely delivered more of an emotional gut punch the way it was shot. For McBride – whose character of Carol has never given up hope that he’s been out there somewhere – she echoed her co-stars’ sentiments, while at the same time mentioning how strange it must have been for Daryl to see her after all this time.

“I thought it was just lovely. It was such a beautiful set, and he’s just working so hard to fight through all these walkers, and it had to be absolutely bizarre for him because if she’s looking for him, he has no idea. And to see her of all people in the world on the other side of the world right in front of him, it had to be so strange!”

In the annals of The Walking Dead, the moment has got to be added to Top 10 lists everywhere for being one of the most important in the history of the series. With just two episodes remaining in The Book of Carol, here’s hoping the duo don’t get separated yet again, and Carol joins Daryl on his quest to honor the wishes of the now-deceased Isabelle, helping him protect Laurent, who just might hold the key to finally bringing an end to the nightmare they find themselves in.