A zombie from The Walking Dead with Daryl DixonThe exciting zombie fight in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon finale reveals huge opportunities that The Walking Dead and its related spinoffs missed. Although the original The Walking Dead show ended in 2022, audiences still question whether the conclusion was satisfying enough for such a popular and well-loved series. The same goes for spinoffs like Dead City, which could have taken some advice from Daryl Dixon’s effective and engaging spinoff. It was clear from the start that Daryl was going on a more fun adventure, with the titular character undertaking a creative zombie fight that involved variants and gladiator weapons.

Although Daryl Dixon season 2 has the chance to expand on these variants and introduce more exciting storylines, The Walking Dead risks neglecting other spinoffs to keep Daryl’s adventures and discoveries consistent. Zombie variants seem to be in the spotlight for this franchise now, and judging by Daryl Dixon’s season 1 finale, these threats will continue to emerge and become something greater. The exciting finale also revealed other opportunities for the franchise that would’ve been perfect for progressing the main show and making other spinoffs more exciting and coherent.

Daryl Dixon Episode 6’s Zombiebowl Is The Best Walking Dead Fight In Years

A zombie variant in the The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon finale

Daryl Dixon’s zombie fight in episode 6 has quickly become one of the best fight sequences in the franchise, with the hardened survivor facing several zombie variants in a battle arena. Although audiences don’t see Daryl return home in his Walking Dead spinoff, the zombiebowl scene is still satisfying to watch without the need for a happy ending. Throughout the final seasons of The Walking Dead, there weren’t many action scenes with the zombies due to the beloved characters fighting other villains known as the Commonwealth. The lack of zombie fights made the main show feel less like an apocalypse, but Daryl Dixon’s success is rectifying this mistake.

With Daryl using only a battle axe to kill the first variant and eventually being handcuffed to Isabelle’s ex-lover, Quinn, the fight becomes more intense the more Genet becomes impatient. Daryl and Quinn joining forces to kill the remaining variants was enough to build excitement and create one of the best fight scenes in Walking Dead history. There’s no denying that Daryl Dixon finally gave audiences an intriguing zombie fight that showed more of the variants and their eerie capabilities. These variants have been a mystery ever since the franchise introduced them in later seasons of the main show, making the spinoff’s zombiebowl scene important for future storylines.

Daryl’s Final Battle Makes The Walking Dead & Dead City’s Endings Worse

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon

Even though Daryl Dixon’s zombie fight is now one of the most memorable scenes in the franchise, it does dampen the endings for The Walking Dead and Dead City. The main show had cliché explosions and peaceful conclusions for the characters, but the narrative didn’t seem interesting and compelling enough to end such a hit series in a memorable way. Both Dead City and the main series also failed to incorporate zombie variants into their respective storylines, which is disappointing for audiences who desperately wanted to know more about the threat that was constantly being teased for upcoming spinoffs.

On top of that, audiences believed Maggie and Negan’s spinoff was going to introduce a new, deadlier variant as Dead City’s mutant sewer zombie. However, that variant turned out to be a “melted zombie” that had several bodies joined together due to the methane in the sewers. That scene alone didn’t last long, which quickly scores Daryl Dixon’s fight high on the leaderboard of unforgettable moments. If The Walking Dead was serious about moving forward with more interesting storylines, zombie variants should have been on their list of priorities, as leaving them out of the main show and first proper character spinoff made these threats appear more insignificant.

Daryl Dixon’s Zombie Variant Scenes Prove The Walking Dead’s Future Is Exciting

Variant attacking zombie in Walking Dead Daryl Dixon

Daryl Dixon wasn’t afraid to focus on the new zombie variants and how they’re growing to be the top threat in the franchise. The final episode of season 1 revealed more of Walking Dead’s new burner zombie type, which are zombies that have acidic blood running through their decaying veins. Any leakage onto human skin can cause significant damage, as shown when Daryl was grabbed by one in the pilot and almost suffered further injuries in the battle arena. However, audiences see these zombies get injected with a mysterious arrow moments before attacking Daryl, something that changes their skin and biology in a matter of seconds.

Genet clearly has enough research to build new deadly weapons out of the zombie variants. These arrows could change numerous zombies in one go, creating something much deadlier for the beloved characters in Daryl Dixon. The zombie vs zombie fight scene also reveals Walking Dead’s variants are now attacking each other due to their mindlessly savage nature, which poses more risk to the remaining survivors in the apocalypse since they have nowhere to hide and no chance of using the zombie guts trick to escape through hordes. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’s zombie fight proves that the main show missed out on including more variants to excite audiences for the franchise’s future.