Tonight's second episode of The Ones Who Live served as a tragic reminder that we should never get too attached to anyone in The Walking Dead universe.
In "Gone," we flashed back to Michonne's journey to last week's climactic reunion with Rick, as she travelled with a new companion, Nat, played by Matthew August Jeffers. The two become close after spending a full year recovering from a CRM gas bombing, and Nat is the one who shoots down the helicopter at the end of episode one.
Unfortunately, one CRM solider is still kicking, and guns Nat down moments after Rick and Michonne lay eyes on each other.
Jeffers was asked how he felt about Nat's fate during an interview with EW.
"Painful, but I think it's poetic. I think the whole symbolism of Nat keeping Michonne’s fire going and having that lighter carry on is poetic and stunning and deeply upsetting in a beautiful way. And yeah, I think that it was really well-written that Nat was kind of underneath the initial meeting of Michonne and Rick, that Nat helped Michonne get to this point. And when he knew that that point had arrived, he realized that he had done his mission.
And I think it goes back to the core of who Nat is, which is loyalty and making sure that the ones that you love, whether you've known them for two days or 20 years, get their dreams fulfilled. And it’s because his dad helped him fulfill his dreams when he was young. So when Nat sees Michonne in unison with Rick, it's like, okay, I can walk off into the sunset in this kind of beautiful, tragic ending."
What did you think of the second episode of The Ones Who Live? Drop us a comment down below.
The series presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?
Scott M. Gimple, Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe, serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside Lincoln, Gurira, Denise Huth and Brian Bockrath.