What happened to Morgan Jones in The Walking Dead?

Morgan Jones, who Lennie James portrays in The Walking Dead, has been involved in the fandom since the pilot episode that premiered on October 31, 2010. He is one character who has come and gone repeatedly but has always been an important one.

Danai Gurira as Michonne, Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Sonequa Martin-Green as Sasha, Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene, Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Lennie James as Morgan Jones,  The Walking Dead _ Season 6, Comic Con – Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

If you remember back to the first episode of The Walking Dead, Morgan and his son Duane (Adrian Kali Turner) saved our hero Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). The father-son duo are the first people Rick encounters after waking from his coma. They explain what has happened since the outbreak and care for Rick and his wounds.

They teach him how to put down the undead with heat shots, and Rick, his law enforcement training kicking in, has to ask ” “We’re sure they’re dead? I have to ask.” Morgan assures him they are dead, but something in the brain is recharged, but they are truly dead.

Even though Morgan understood what was happening with the undead, he couldn’t bring himself to kill the reanimated version of his wife. This would eventually prove a huge mistake when his undead wife bites his son Duane before Morgan can put her down.

The Walking Dead Morgan Jones

When Rick and the Jones head their separate ways, the plan is to meet up in Atlanta. Rick honors his promise to radio them each evening, but he never hears from them.

In season 3, Rick, Michonne and Carl head on a supply run and encounter a man who shoots at them from a rooftop. This will be revealed as Morgan, but his mental state has been severely affected by what he has encountered. He shares the story of being unable to kill his wife, which leads to Duane’s death, telling  Rick that the weak have inherited the earth.

He declines their invitation to join them at the prison as he knows much death will follow.

The next time Morgan appears is in season 5, when he is seen on the railroad tracks that lead to Terminus. He eventually makes his way to Father Gabriel’s church, where he finds the note Abraham wrote on the map about the world needing Rick Grimes. This tells Morgan his friend is still alive.

Later in this season, he is met at his campfire by a member of the Wolves. He eventually comes upon two men trapped in a van, Daryl and Aaron, and saves them. They invite him to go to Alexandria and learns that Rick is there.

Morgan gets his open episode in season 5 titled “Here’s Not Here.” This episode takes a deep dive into what has made Morgan into the season 5 character we see. A man named Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) who introduces him to the book The Art of Peace and teaches him about the art of Aikido defense, which states, “completely avoid killing, even the most evil person.”

Jenna Elfman as Naomi, Lennie James as Morgan Jones – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 4, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC

This alters Morgan significantly, and he learns his “all life is precious’ mantra. But, it comes back to haunt him when he didn’t kill the Wolves he met, and they end up infiltrating Alexandria.

Morgan becomes a productive member of Alexandria until the end of season 8. After the Savior’s war, Morgan heads to Jadis’ Heaps and remains there alone. He then decides to leave Virginia even after his friends try to convince him to stay.

During season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead, we see that Morgan has crossed over to this series, and his first meeting is with a man named John Dorie (Garrett Dillahunt).

Fear the Walking Dead is currently airing its seventh season, and Morgan is still a vital part of this series.

The highly anticipated return of The Walking Dead Season 11 Part 2 premieres Sunday, February 20 at 9:00 pm ET/8c with new episodes available one week early on AMC+.

Fear the Walking Dead returns to AMC on April 17, with episodes airing one week early on AMC+.

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