glenn's pizza squad.

get to know me: favourite relationships [7/8] → glenn & maggie (the walking dead)

qualities of a hero

A Richonne Ranking: 40 Moments [27] Judith – Service, 7x04

This is Rick at his most exposed. It’s all he could ever give of himself to another person to pick over the deepest wound that the zombie apocalypse has inflicted on him. The third season – the conclusion of all the Shane and Lori drama, the birth of Judith, the loss of his wife – is Rick’s absolute undoing. In After, it’s played as the ultimate dig when Carl mentions Shane in the midst of his anger. For Rick himself to willingly bring the whole thing back in an effort to open himself up to Michonne is huge. It’s raw and painful and beautiful. You can tell how much it means for him to say, “Judith isn’t mine” by the way he breathes out afterwards – like it’s a breath he’s been holding in since the day she was born.

Rick’s reveal here should also be considered within a broader pattern that’s forming, too. Since these two became official, we’ve seen him much more emotionally open and direct than ever. His response to Michonne shutting down in her grief is to reach out (see also: Say Yes). And while this confession shows her the sacrifices he’s made to serve his argument, an inadvertent consequence – whether conscious or not – is that Michonne’s role as a parent becomes even more legitimized. Rick’s claiming of Judith is as legitimate or illegitimate as Michonne’s of both of their children. If Rick sees Judith as his, he sees Carl as Michonne’s.

Andy: It’s one of those watershed moments that happens between the two lovers, between Michonne and Rick, that brings them together.