The Walking Dead Why Judith Wont Tell [SPOILER] That Rick Is Alive

The Walking Dead season 10 has revealed to Judith that Rick might still be alive, but why doesn't she share that information with [SPOILER]?

Warning! SPOILERS for The Walking Dead season 10, episode 15 ahead.

Judith has learned in The Walking Dead season 10 that Rick could still be alive, but interestingly, she chooses not to share that information with Daryl in episode 15, "The Tower". This episode is serving as the temporary season 10 finale of The Walking Dead because its actual finale is unable to be completed due to the various industry shutdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, The Walking Dead's season 10 finale will premiere later this year, leaving viewers to wait on the resolution to its cliffhanger ending.

The Walking Dead season 10 has focused primarily on the war with the Whisperers. After several clashes, each side has lost people, but it's Negan's killing of Alpha that has proven to be a real turning point. With Alpha dead, Beta is now in charge of the Whisperers who remain, and though he refuses to be called the new Alpha, he's gathering his own giant herd of walkers to use as an attack. Meanwhile, the survivors of Alexandria and Hilltop have been forced to flee their communities and are, for the moment, settled in a hospital building. While there, Daryl patrols the surrounding area for any signs of trouble, and in Walking Dead's penultimate season 10 episode, Judith joins him.

In The Walking Dead season 10, episode 15, "The Tower," Daryl and Judith do come across a Whisperer spy and pursue her. Daryl shoots the Whisperer with an arrow, and as she lies there, he interrogates her about Beta and the horde's whereabouts. The Whisperer doesn't offer up any useful information and so Daryl shoots her again, killing her. Judith is clearly disturbed by this, but not for the reason Daryl thinks she is. When he asks her what's wrong, Judith at first is concerned about the woman he killed, thinking about how they just left her in that ditch, but it quickly becomes about her own missing family members.

Judith goes on to reveal that she spoke with Michonne and learned that she isn't coming back right away because she's helping some people she met. Judith then explains that she didn't tell Daryl this sooner out of a fear that he might leave, too. However, she pointedly doesn't mention the most important detail she learned from her mother - Rick might still be alive and that is who Michonne is out searching for. So why doesn't Judith tell Daryl the whole truth?

The most obvious answer is the one Judith herself gives - she doesn't want Daryl or anybody else to leave. For as mature as Judith acts, she's still a young girl growing up in a wildly dangerous and ever-changing world. Sure, she's been aware of the walkers since she was old enough to hold a sword, but she still craves the consistency of her old life. Audiences didn't watch Judith grow from a small toddler to the fierce girl she is, but we know it happened during a time of relative peace for the survivors' communities. The Whisperers have shattered that peace, and Judith has since lost her mother and now her home. She can't imagine losing Daryl or anyone else, and so she keeps the truth about Michonne's new mission to herself.

Another reason why Judith is reluctant to tell Daryl about Rick possibly being alive is that she may not want to give him or anyone a false sense of hope. Michonne was cautious when telling Judith about the clues she found pointing to Rick's survival, but Judith isn't in the same position. Already she worries about those she loves leaving her, and were she to share that Rick might be alive, then more would go searching for him. And if they either didn't find Rick or got themselves hurt or killed while searching, Judith would never forgive herself.

Judith's decision to keep the truth about Rick and Michonne from Daryl is a complicated one. On the one hand, she selfishly wants to keep those she loves with her, but on the other hand, she doesn't want to give anyone - and especially not Daryl, who since her father's "passing", she's come to look up to quite a bit - a false sense of hope that Rick is actually alive. Judith is growing up, but doing so comes with hard choices, and this little ass-kicker is just trying to make the best ones she can.