The Walking Dead's 10 Best Farewell Episodes

With an artsy, impressionistic cold open comprising a series of disparate images, What Happened and What’s Going On solidifies itself as one of the most visually distinctive and experimental episodes of The Walking Dead.

The plot follows Noah as he leads Rick, Tyrese, Michonne, and Glenn to investigate Noah’s former gated community near Richmond, Virginia, a supposed safe haven. In predictable Walking Dead-fashion, it’s not, and Tyrese is bitten in Noah’s home. The bite sends Tyrese into delirium as he bleeds out with the infection takes hold, causing familiar faces such as Martin, The Governor, Bob, Beth, Lizzie and Mika show up to taunt or comfort Tyrese in his final moments.

Fundamentally conflicted, Tyrese wrestles with the choices of giving up or fighting, something he’s struggled with during his journey thus far. Tyrese has painted himself as a pacifist, unwilling to kill anything but the undead, but he’s realised showing mercy can have its consequences as well. It’s a dark moral dilemma Tyrese faces, and ultimately, he chooses to stop fighting and dies peacefully.

In a detail that may have been overlooked, Noah’s promise of sanctuary led the group out of Georgia and onto a trajectory to meet the people of Alexandria, The Kingdom, Hilltop and beyond. So, it wasn’t just goodbye to Tyrese, but also the show’s roots in Georgia.