The Walking Dead does not often return to storylines from years past, or even dwell too much on deceased characters, but after a 90-minute episode that felt necessary but that didn’t offer much in the way of surprises, showrunner Scott Gimple must have felt obligated to drop a bombshell in the last 10 minutes to justify the runtime.
A bombshell is exactly what he dropped, harkening back to a secret that most fans of The Walking Dead never assumed would be addressed again: The paternity of Judith.
Way back in the fourth episode of the second season of The Walking Dead, “Cherokee Rose,” Lori took a pregnancy test, and when it came back positive, there was some question about who the father of the baby was. The question hovered in the background of the show and colored some of the subsequent interactions between Shane and Rick, but the show never really addressed it until 5 seasons later.
Most in The Walking Dead fan community assumed, based on the math, that the baby was Shane’s. The pregnancy test was taken only days after Rick and Lori reunited, after Lori had spent months with Shane. It wasn’t impossible that it was Rick’s baby, but the odds were in Shane’s favor. The timeline was sketchy, and here the comics provide no help, either.
In tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead, “Service,” Rick finally acknowledged what we all assumed to be true: That Judith is Shane’s baby. It came in the context of a conversation with Michonne, over why Rick refuses to fight with Negan. He doesn’t want to lose Carl or Michonne or Judith, or anyone else. That’s when he brought up Shane.
“I had a friend. I don’t talk about him,” Rick told Michonne. “He was my partner. He got Carl and Lori to safety right after it all started … My friend, his name was Shane. Him and Lori, they were together. They thought I was dead. I know Judith isn’t mine. I know it. I love her, she’s my daughter. But she isn’t mine. I had to accept that. I did. So I could keep her alive.”
What’s interesting here is that Rick not only ackowledges that Judith isn’t his biologically, but he also seems to suggest that he’s forgiven both Shane and Lori for being together, or at least understanding why they were together.
What it means for the future of the series is anyone’s guess. Maybe nothing. Or maybe they’re trying to bring the focus on Judith again, should her life be in danger in future episodes. Or maybe it’s simply a fitting story to provide us with more context surrounding Rick’s decision to lay down his arms and give in to Negan’s every humiliating demand.
In either respect, it was a nice storytelling touch. In the universe in which they live, it would be impossible to survive if they dwelt too much on the past, on the losses, and the heartbreaks, but it’s nice to know that the past is not completely forgotten, either.