Why Jadis Left The Walking Dead With Rick

The departure of Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead was a monumental moment in the series, but why did Jadis leave the show alongside him?

When Rick Grimes was taken away from The Walking Dead via helicopter, why did Jadis leave with him? Played by Pollyanna McIntosh, Jadis was introduced in The Walking Dead season 7 as the leader of a brand new community living inside a junkyard. Mixing the self-preservation of the Saviors with the primitive tendencies of the Whisperers, Jadis' Scavengers kidnap Gabriel, and it's not long before Rick's people come looking for their man of the cloth. After some persuasion, Rick and Jadis join forces against Negan, but the Scavengers betray their new friends, siding with the Saviors after receiving a better offer. Ultimately, however, Rick's warning comes true, and the Saviors decimate the Junkyard group, leaving Jadis to rule over a pile of corpses.

Following Negan's defeat, Jadis moves to Alexandria, but struggles to adapt to their more conventional lifestyle. Jadis strikes up a budding romance with Gabriel, before eventually deciding that she would rather go "fast" by herself than far with others. Unbeknownst to Alexandria, the Scavengers had been secretly working with the CRM, feeding them prisoners who would be taken away via helicopter. After Rick sacrifices himself to save his people from a zombie horde, Jadis is the one who finds Andrew Lincoln's character badly wounded by the riverside. Jadis realizes that Rick's only chance at survival is the CRM, but also knows that Rick is her ticket out of town, thanks to the mysterious "A" or "B" system the CRM have in place.

On a personal level, the former Scavenger leader was desperately struggling to adapt to life in Alexandria. Despite eventually revealing her true name to be Anne, Jadis still carried the weight of guilt from Scavenger massacre, and there was obviously a massive cultural difference between her own group and Rick's that would be tricky for anyone to overcome. Where the Alexandria alliance was all about coming together, Jadis still had the mentality of a lone wolf, and her final deal with the CRM was as much about fulfilling her own wishes as it was saving Rick's life. However, it's still not clear why Jadis would choose the CRM over Alexandria. From the outside, this looks like swapping one community for another. Evidently, Jadis knows more about the CRM than the audience do, so they must operate in a way that the ex-Scavenger finds more appealing.

This fits with what has since been revealed about the CRM in Fear The Walking Dead. Maggie Grace's Al encountered one of the helicopter group in the spin-off's fifth season, sparking romantically with the mysterious Isabelle. Despite their connection, Isabelle is willing to kill Al to protect the CRM's secret existence, and this seems like standard practice for the group. The CRM operate in the shadows, are happy to kidnap people, and aren't rushing to help outsiders - a philosophy far more compatible with the Scavengers "we take; we don't bother" motto. By swapping Alexandria for the CRM, Jadis isn't simply moving to another community, she's trading in a settlement that thrives on cooperation and kindness (usually) for something more familiar to her.

Shifting to a real-world perspective, it was imperative that Jadis depart The Walking Dead by Rick's side. Although Andrew Lincoln's character technically survived his ordeal, The Walking Dead has largely acted as if Rick died. Instead of making the truth of Rick's disappearance a major plot point, The Walking Dead season 9 moved on, leaving Rick's future to his upcoming solo movie. Only Michonne has discovered signs of Rick's survival, immediately before departing The Walking Dead herself, and Judith became aware of the truth only recently. If Jadis had organized Rick's departure to the CRM but stayed behind in Alexandria herself, her deception would automatically become a massive ongoing storyline, which isn't what The Walking Dead had in mind.

And finally, Jadis will reportedly be a major factor in the upcoming Walking Dead movie starring Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes. The film will find Rick in alien territory, and it'll be useful to have another familiar face that viewers recognize. Pollyanna McIntosh's Jadis fills that role perfectly, but she had to leave AMC's The Walking Dead behind first.