As we are poised to enter 2020 and the back half of the 10th season of The Walking Dead, there is one thing that fans know of for sure: Danai Gurira’s Michonne is leaving the series. Gurira has more than paid her dues on the show, and she’s looking to continue her role in The Black Panther, continue her work as a writer and successful playwright, and direct. In fact, next year she is directing Lupita Nyong’o in a TV series for HBO Max, Americanah, based on the award-winning novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
How many episodes Michonne has left of The Walking Dead is unclear (although, some have predicted she only has one episode left). How and when she exits the series is also unknown, as is whether she will actually join the Rick Grimes movies, although Scott Gimple — the architect of The Walking Dead universe — has hinted that she might.
Based on how Michonne’s story arc has played out so far in season 10, the most common theory is basically a version of this one, from Reddit:
Last time we saw Michonne, she was headed with Virgil to his home on a Naval base, where Virgil will trade weapons for a boat ride back and other supplies. There has got to be a reason why it’s a Naval base, just as there has to be a reason it’s Michonne going back with Virgil, and there’s got to be a reason that Michonne’s last words to Judith were basically, “You can contact me via walkie talkie anytime you want.”
I don’t think that Michonne is coming back, but I do think she’ll remain in contact with Judith, for a while, at least. I think that the Naval base has been a landing spot for the CRM helicopters in the past. I think that Rick Grimes has passed through the Naval base. I think that Virgil will tell Michonne that Rick is still alive, and I think that Michonne will leave in search of him. I don’t think she’s coming back to Alexandria, but I do think that we’ll see her again in the Rick Grimes movies, which will eventually culminate in the reunion of Rick, Michonne, RJ, and Judith years from now.
