This Sorrowful Life

Merle chooses his brother's side, and pays for it.

"This Sorrowful Life" is the fifteenth and penultimate episode of the third season of The Walking Dead, first aired on AMC on March 24, 2013. Directed by Greg Nicotero and written by Scott M. Gimple, it follows Rick as he weighs handing Michonne over to the Governor, while Merle Dixon takes matters into his own hands; it features Merle's death.

Quick Facts

Series: The Walking Dead
Season: 3
Episode: 15
Air date: 24 March 2013
Writer: Scott M. Gimple
Director: Greg Nicotero
Photographer: Rohn Schmidt
Editor: Nathan D. Gunn

Lore & Background

Rick tells Hershel and Daryl of the Governor's offer; Hershel refuses to take part. Merle binds Michonne and drives her toward the meeting point, but she gets him to admit he had never killed anyone before joining the Governor, and he lets her go. He then uses the car's alarm to lead a line of walkers to the ambush site and kills many Woodbury soldiers, until the Governor catches him and shoots him dead.

Reader's Guide

At the prison, Glenn receives Hershel's permission to marry Maggie and proposes with a ring taken from a walker at the fence. Rick tells the group he could not go through with the exchange and that he should not have decided alone. Daryl finds his brother reanimated at the meeting point and, weeping, puts him down. The episode was watched by 10.69 million viewers.