I was thinking about how TWD has some of the best character development of any TV show, and I started picking that apart. With Daryl, I’ve always wondered how much of an impact Merle’s death actually had on his development.When Merle dies, we get that little time jump and suddenly Daryl feels way more open. He’s making jokes, laughing more, and building stronger connections with the group, eventually accepting them as his family. Daryl always used isolation as a coping mechanism and I feel like a lot of that came from Merle. As much as he loved him as a brother a lot of trauma came with that relationship. I wonder if finally letting Merle go is what made Daryl stop seeing himself as an outsider who was always ready to leave if the chance came up to becoming one of the biggest pillars of his new found family. I also love that even before Merle’s death we got little glimpses of the real Daryl throughout the show. Like how hard he searched for Sophia, how he apologized to the prisoners who lost their friends, and how he was the first one to run off and get Judith food.