The “Daryl Dixon” series establishes the biggest “The Walking Dead” mystery: Is Laurent immune?
Darui Sven
December 10, 2023 12:44 am
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6 min read
“The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” prodigy Laurent has a very special past that shows clear parallels to Ellie from “The Last of Us.”
A grumpy survivor is tasked with safely guiding a child through the post-apocalyptic world to a distant community—there, the child could possibly free humanity from the dystopia. When describing this plot, many might initially think of the TV adaptation of the popular video game “The Last of Us.” However, the plot of the new “The Walking Dead” spin-off about Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) can also be described in the same way. But that’s not all: in one specific aspect, both series will draw even closer…
- Warning: Spoilers for “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” follow –
Never seen “The Last of Us”? If you like the following trailer, you can stream the series on WOW:
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The nuns at the Saint Bernadette monastery firmly believe that Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) is a very special child. As a new messiah, he is destined to revive humanity. Whether there is any truth to this will possibly be revealed in “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” Season 2. But for now, we only have the hints provided by the first six episodes, and especially Episode 2 shows us that Laurent’s birth is indeed a miracle.
Devastating fate: Zombie apocalypse claims an early victim As the zombie apocalypse unfolds in Paris, Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) and her younger sister Lily (Faustine Kozie) have no choice but to flee in a car. During this escape, a secret that Lily has kept hidden for several months comes to light: she is pregnant—and her condition is critical. Isa seeks help at the side of the road in a stalled ambulance. This turns out to be a big mistake because the rescue workers have turned into biters and crave human flesh. Once again, the sisters have to retreat into the car.
They make their way to a monastery near Lourdes, where they actually find help. Father Jean (Hugo Dillan) and the sisters immediately attend to Lily. However, they soon realize that Lily has already been bitten by the undead rescue workers. The women do not yet realize the dire consequences this will bring.
“The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” shows the birth of the miracle child Unfortunately, they feel the consequences soon enough because while Lily is in labor, she dies from the zombie infection. Within seconds, she transforms into an undead and gives birth to a healthy (!) child in this state—for Father Jean, a miracle. He hands the boy over to the arms of his aunt Isa and then asks her to leave the room.
While Father Jean presumably takes care of killing Zombie Lily properly (we don’t get to see how this happens), Isa wanders lost through the monastery until she reaches the statue of Saint Laurent. For her, this is a clear sign: her nephew should now be called Laurent.
For those who have seen “The Last of Us,” these scenes may seem familiar. Similar to Laurent, Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) uniqueness is attributed to her birth. Before the girl was born, her mother Anna (Ashley Johnson) was bitten by an infected. Unlike Lily, she did not transform. Instead, Anna quickly severed the umbilical cord, asked her friend Marlene (Merle Dandridge) to take care of Ellie, and then allowed herself to be shot by her.
Does Laurent actually have special abilities? Ellie’s uniqueness is explained during the series: due to the circumstances of her birth, the girl is immune and therefore the key to a long-awaited cure. Laurent is also referred to as a prodigy. However, any potential immunity is not mentioned—although that would be plausible given the similarity between “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” and “The Last of Us.”
Instead, Isa describes Laurent’s uniqueness by saying that he shows excessive empathy and can see into people. While Daryl initially doubts this, he is proven wrong when Laurent repeats the words of Judith, which have been lingering in Daryl’s thoughts for some time: “You also deserve a happy ending.”
Furthermore, the boy apparently can predict the future, which astonishes even Isa. When Daryl is in a dangerous situation, Laurent reassures his aunt with the knowledge that Daryl will not die. Of course, all of this could be mere coincidence, but the series will not treat such events and the associated mystery around Laurent lightly. The twist: The boy is unaware of his gifts; for him, it’s always a special gut feeling that drives him.
Immunity to the zombie virus: Is Laurent resistant? In addition to the background of his special mental abilities, the audience of “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” is likely most interested in whether Laurent is immune to the zombie virus. Since Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich) informed us in “The Walking Dead” Season 1 that every person in the world is already infected with the zombie virus, which turns the deceased into monsters after their death, a zombie bite is not the cause of infection in the franchise. It merely accelerates death and thus activates the virus.
Accordingly, the virus should have already jumped to Laurent in the womb, turning him into a zombie, as his mother was bitten hours before giving birth, died, and returned as a walker before he was born. This seems clear to Father Jean as well, who is more than surprised to be holding a healthy baby in his hands with Laurent.
Premiere in “The Walking Dead” universe suggests immunity However, these scenes are the first of their kind in “The Walking Dead” franchise. We do not know with 100% certainty how a mother’s transformation affects an unborn child. Nevertheless, after these images, it seems quite likely that Laurent is indeed immune. Furthermore, a Buddhist monk predicted long ago that Laurent would save humanity by freeing the world from the zombie epidemic. It can be assumed that Laurent carries antibodies against the virus within him, which protected him at birth and would now be the key to a cure.
Certainly about Laurent’s possible resistance will likely come in the second season of the zombie spin-off, set to release in the fall of 2024. Until then, you have plenty of time to find out which “The Walking Dead” character you are most similar to:
Which character from “The Walking Dead” are you?
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