#imagine commonwealth soldier Carl against the CRM. Parents killing the top brass. CRM outside the Commonwealth weakened by chaos.

[wontlasttwodays]

These conflicts you bring up are exactly what the latter show needed. The relationships were so hollow and the dialogue so vague. Not only would he modulate to Michonne's mindset, but also missing Daryl, and talking to Negan.

Would Carl also believe that Rick was out there? Or would he just be respectful of the need for hope? Perhaps he'd observe the days where she wore Rick's shirts or quiet corners of the house where, during tense times, she talked to herself like she was talking to Rick.

He only interrupted her one time and that was when she was worried about the new people and reopening. He needed her to debate it with him and not a ghost.

Perhaps, Carl would have a hard time letting people into his confidence, his trust, while locked into Alexandria. Perhaps what happened between him and Ron, his disability after, what happened to Michonne by Jocelyn, gave him ptsd. So for himself he mends his philosophy that sure you can help people, protect people, but you can't have friends. Perhaps despite Carl's efforts to mask and be brotherly, RJ feels Carl is distant and hard to know. [Like the Prepan/Postpan relationships in Station Eleven.]

This is how Lydia and Carl would have bonded over deep suspicion and common mistrust. Not fear, not rejection, just trauma induced wariness. [cough*Richonne*cough]

If Carl isn't with Michonne when she finds Rick's artifacts, then perhaps we see him struggle not only with parenting his siblings in their absence, but also with the belief that he was alive. Perhaps Lydia can't assist with kiddos/be motherly because TRIGGERED. Lydia only available to him as a girlfriend adds to Carl's feelings of a divided life. When the Commonwealth offers to take them in, our tired boy is swayed.

Carl could've made this story so much more interesting.

This has been said so many times, but Richonne's story couldve had so much more depth if Carl had survived.

They could've explored how he'd feel about Michonne's change of heart about letting people in after the Jocelyn incident, and he could've changed her mind about giving people a chance again. They could've let Judith be more of a child instead of an adult in a child's body, going toe to toe with Michonne on existential issues (I always thought she was a little too precocious and young to be arguing with Michonne about issues she has no life experience dealing with.) If Carl was checking Michonne about her mindset it would make so much more sense because he's older with actual experience with people.

The whisperer arc which was written to involve Carl could've had so much more meaning had Carl been with Lydia instead of Henry.

They could've explored the difficulty Carl could have being a parent to his siblings while Michonne goes to find Rick. Maybe he has to protect Judith who is very headstrong like Michonne and wants to go after Rick herself. Maybe RJ has a dark side and is starting to become cold like Carl was at his age, and doing dumb things like sneaking out of the walls, and Carl has to think about how Rick would solve that problem since Rick is his only Dad reference. Maybe Carl doesn't want to be a parent, and just wants to be a normal 20ish year old after his hard childhood, and he holds resentment towards both Rick and Michonne for leaving all their children. Any of those scenarios would be fascinating.

Instead, they killed Carl off and left Daryl (who left), and Carol (who left) to raise their kids. They could've had a goldmine of fascinating conflicts and situations to pick from.