'The Walking Dead' Season 3, Episode 15: 'This Sorrowful Life' Recap

“The Walking Dead”, season 3, episode 15, “This Sorrowful Life”

In the prison, Hershel, Daryl, and Rick prepare to meet The Governor. They plan to give The Governor Michonne, but they need to do it quietly so no one else notices she’s missing.

Inside, Rick finds Merle ripping up mattresses in search of some drugs. He tells Merle they need his help. He tells him they need to hand over Michonne, but Merle warns that The Governor won’t kill her. Instead, he’ll keep her alive and torture her. He also says he’ll need wire to contain Michonne, not rope. She’s too strong for that.

The survivors rally together to distract the Walkers as Rick, Hershel, Glenn, and Daryl load up their truck. They ask Michonne to join them. Rick starts to regret what he’s about to do.

Inside, Merle and Carol have a chat. She asks where his allegiances lie. He says he’s only there for his brother. She tells him to pick a side and stick with it. He notices how much she’s changed, and is almost proud of her.

Daryl asks Glenn if he’s seen Merle. When Glenn is less than happy to talk about him, Daryl says that he’ll make Merle apologize for what he did to him and to make it right. He says there’s no making it right because of what happened to Maggie. Daryl leaves in search of him.

In the generator room, Daryl finds Merle still looking for drugs. He asks Merle if Rick talked to him, and he confirms he did. Then Merle asks if Daryl agrees with their plan, and Daryl tells him whatever Rick says goes. Then Merle asks if he even has balls anymore, and calls him a sheep. Merle tells him that Daryl is turning into him. Daryl tells him he wants his brother back. When Daryl leave, Merle grabs the phone and packs it in a bag.

Inside, Hershel leads Maggie and Beth in prayer as Rick prepares to abduct Michonne outside. Rick sees visions of Lori, but has to convince himself that she’s not there.

Rick walks into the prison, and Hershel meets him. He tries to talk Rick out of what he’s about to do, and Rick cuts him off saying he can’t and he won’t.

Deeper in the prison, Merle leads Michonne through the hallways and tunnels. They encounter a group of Walkers, and he knocks Michonne on the head with a phone, and drags her away. He covers her head with a bag, and wraps her arms in wire.

Outside of the prison, Merle walks a bound Michonne down a street and tells her about Rick’s deal with the Governor. She doesn’t buy it.

At the prison, Rick tells Daryl the plans are off, except that he can’t find Merle or Michonne. Daryl helps him look for them, and they realize that he took her. Daryl says he’ll track them down while Rick takes care of business.

Meanwhile, Merle tells Michonne he wants to be with his brother, and his brother wants to stay in the prison, and that he is going to save the prison. She tries to convince him that he’s not a bad man, but then he says that he’s killed 16 men since the end began.

In the prison, Glenn talks to Hershel. Glenn says there’s nothing they can do, and that there will always be another bad man waiting, just like the Walkers. Then Glenn tells Hershel that he wants to marry Maggie. Hershel gives him his blessing.

Meanwhile, Merle leads Michonne to a motel and ties her to a pillar. He breaks into a car and attempts to hotwire it. He triggers the car alarm, which attracts a horde of Walkers. Michonne looks on worriedly as they approach her. She calls for his help, but he can’t hear her. She fights them off with her legs. Merle disables the alarm, and comes to her rescue, throwing her into the car, and driving away.

As they drive away, she asks him what his aim is. She points out that Merle stays on the outside and works for whoever needs it. She says that this was his chance to prove himself to Rick, and he blew it. Merle points out that they were going to turn her over to save themselves, and that she’s just as much on the outside as he is. Then she points out that after the Governor was done with her, then she wouldn’t have to live with herself.

At the prison, Glenn finds a walker wearing a wedding rings, and cuts off its finger.

In the car, Michonne asks if Merle killed anyone before the end started, and he says no. She asks why he bought into the Governor’s BS. She says that they can both go back to the prison, but he says that he can’t. When she asks why, he stops the car. He draws his knife, and cuts her hands free. He opens the door and invites her to go back to the and prepare for what’s next. He has something to do on his own. He gives her back her sword, and then drives off.

Later, Daryl happens upon Michonne. He asks where Merle is, and if she killed him. She says he let her go, and Daryl continued on to look for him.

Outside a liquor store, Merle sits in his car listening to music and drinking Whiskey as a group of Walkers surrounds him. He laughs and turns up the music. Each time they get too close, he inches the car forward, eventually leading them all to the Governor’s meeting spot. He cranks up the radio, and puts the car in neutral, allowing it to roll to where the Governor’s men are waiting.

He slips inside the abandoned factor as the Governor’s men scramble to find the source of the music. The see the cars and quickly take down the Walkers. From inside the factory, Merle shoots down several of the Governor’s men.

He gets the Governor in his sights, but Ben gets in the way and is shot. The Governor and his remaining men ambush the factory and take down Merle. He wrestles the Governor, who manages to bite off two of Merle’s fingers in the process. Merle refuses to beg for his life, and the Governor draws his gun and shoots him.

At the prison, Glenn proposes to Maggie. She says yes.

Rick address his group of survivors and finally tells them about his deal with the Governor in exchange for Michonne. He tells them that he was going to, but that he changed his mind… Except that now Merle took Michonne to the Governor, and Daryl went to stop them, and he doesn’t know if it’s too late now. He apologizes, and says that he can’t be that way anymore, and that it can’t be his call anymore. He says he’s not their governor, and it’s not a group decision, no matter what.

Rick excuses himself from the group, and heads to the lookout tower. He spots Michonne walking back to the camp, happy to see her alive.

At the Governor’s meeting spot, Daryl arrives and see the aftermath of what happened, including many of the Governor’s men ripped apart. He takes out some of the remaining Walkers that were feasting on the bodies. Then he sees another Walker… His brother. Daryl breaks down and cries.  Merle stumbles towards him, and he pushes him to the ground and repeatedly stabs him in the head, crying the whole time.