'Daryl Dixon' Season 3 Episode 2 Recap & Ending Explained: Will Daryl And Carol Get Stuck In Solaz?

From the look of the 2nd episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3, the Spanish air suits David Zabel’s spin-off. Spain fits Daryl like a glove. But Carol, not so much. There’s a reason Carol can’t make peace with the way her saviors have kept traditions alive in their special little town. From a dead country to one that’s almost forgotten that the undead are just outside their walls, it’s a journey. But Daryl and Carol’s stay in Spain may last longer than they want it to.

Spoiler Alert

Where in Spain are Daryl and Carol staying?

Well, as it turns out in the beginning of today’s episode, Carol didn’t go very far when she wandered off by herself. She’s actually not been having a bad time at all. She’s been taking a stroll through the woods, and she’s come to see a sweet couple’s charming young love by a river. Things would’ve turned really bad from this point on for every party had Daryl not found Carol. What they see from a distance is the young couple’s terror when a car stops and a bunch of thugs get down to rummage through their belongings. If it had been Daryl and Carol, they would’ve only taken some food and medicine and gone their way. But these people don’t seem to be the friendly type. There’s a reason the couple is hiding from the shotgun wielding group of sketchy men. They certainly look like the kind of people who’d do much more damage than just taking their stuff. Daryl’s ready to strike from a distance. And when they inevitably find the couple and decide to kill them so word doesn’t spread about their looting, Daryl takes care of the situation with his trusty crossbow. But there’s one who comes later and gets away. The couple, Roberto and Justina, can’t be more thankful for Daryl being there to save them. They’re eager to help out a sick Carol with what food and medicine they can share. But Daryl knows that Carol would need much more than that to get over her infection and her fever. And most importantly, they’d need a place to stay. When they were questioned by the looters, Roberto claimed to be from Santiago. But they trust Daryl and Carol with the information that they’re from a town nearby. Considering they’ve packed enough provisions to last them weeks, they were certainly not out for a random bath in the river. What they vaguely reveal is that they’re on the run. Justina feels for Carol. They’ve just saved their lives too. Knowing only her abuela can help Carol, she’s reluctant to agree with Roberto’s decision to go on their way. If Justina has to get Carol her Grandma’s help, they have to go back to the place they’re running from. But Daryl’s not taking any chances with his friend’s life. He doesn’t give them much of a choice when he points a gun at them. Under threat, but not too sadly, Justina brings Carol and Daryl back to their seemingly beautiful, well-guarded town. Justina and the horse-rider girl, Paz, seem to be friends. Paz has a say in who goes in and out of the town, and maybe even more. But just getting in won’t cut it for Daryl and Carol. Justina may be close with the mayor, Federico de Rivera, but Fede is pretty severe with his rule about no outsiders staying in his town, Solaz del mar. But Daryl and Carol aren’t just random strangers. They saved his niece’s life. Fede is rather insistent on limiting his gratitude to food and supplies for the road. He even claims that they just don’t have the room. But Roberto’s father, Antonio, has a bigger heart than that. He has a room to spare for the sick woman whose friend saved his son’s life. Antonio’s barbecue, Justina’s abuela’s medicine, and the cat at their place all contribute to Carol’s speedy recovery.

What is La Ofrenda?

Ever since they’ve gotten back to Solaz, Roberto and Justina have only been speaking of leaving this wretched place. As a newcomer, Daryl doesn’t see what’s so bad about a peaceful, properly-governed town where people don’t run out of food and supplies and have a roof over their heads. It’s pretty ironic for Daryl to want to convince Roberto that love isn’t the only thing important in life. In the first episode, it was Daryl who said that he was done with a life that only consisted of fighting and surviving. But it’s easy for people to lose sight of what really matters when their very lives are constantly on the line. Roberto and Justina dread even to think of a future where they’re not together. And no matter how much Daryl and Carol dismiss it initially, they really fear something they call La Ofrenda. That’s what they were trying to escape when they packed their bags and went out into the world for a chance at a life together. Antonio doesn’t relish having to tell his son to give up on love. But he’s just doing his job as a father. He’s trying to keep his son safe. Daryl and Carol didn’t think much of it at first. But then they saw Justina pull away from Roberto when one of Fede’s men disapproved of their closeness with a menacing look. But Daryl doesn’t want to get into all this. And neither does he want Carol to stick her nose into other people’s business and get herself in trouble. All he wants is to gather enough supplies so that he can fix the boat and they can sail off to America. Roberto’s really keen on joining them with his girlfriend. But I doubt that Daryl means to take them along. It just so happens that the second day of Daryl and Carol’s stay in Solaz is a pretty significant one for the town. They’ve been visited by the mighty convoy of El Alcazar, the last remnant of the Spanish monarchy. Fede’s amicable relationship with the future king, Guillermo Torres, is pretty much all there is to Solaz’s prosperity. Guillermo comes bearing gifts; medical and recreational essentials and, most importantly, a truck full of guns. Daryl’s initiation into all this happens through Antonio. He tells Daryl all about this wicked tradition that El Alcazar brings to Solaz once every year, La Ofrenda. They claim that they’re choosing a young girl from Solaz to take her to El Alcazar and marry her off, but none of the girls who leave are ever heard from again. Their parents are practically forced to give up their daughters so that Fede can count on the security that El Alcazar ensures in exchange. That explains why not everyone is applauding and cheerfully welcoming the future king of a post-apocalyptic Spain. There’s even the wretched father of a girl who was chosen in La Ofrenda and taken by the monarchy, pouncing at Guillermo for answers and closure. But Fede knows what he is doing. And no one else’s voice will ever be more important in Solaz.

Will Daryl And Carol Get Stuck In Solaz?

We got surprisingly intimate with a whole new world and community in the span of one episode this week. And I have to say that the world building in the second episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has surpassed my expectations. Fede’s an increasingly complex character. On the one hand, he seems to be a rational, fair leader of Solaz. But how can he be a good person when he has let El Alcazar reinstitute a wildly dehumanising and cruel tradition in exchange for protection? His own niece is terrified of being lost in that dark world. Who knows what happens to the girls who are taken in the name of a better life? They’re promised opportunities, marriage, and safety. But if it was that simple and benevolent, why wouldn’t they be allowed to keep in touch with their parents? So it makes sense that Roberto is terrified that it will be Justina’s turn this year. What Daryl saw as a not too terrible a place to live is a hell for young girls and their parents. They live their lives in fear of being stripped of their identities and stories and becoming objects the royalty wins in lotteries. It’s a dreadful tradition, made only more morbid by all the festivities around it. The girls who are to participate in this are all dolled up. Their tearful eyes make it difficult to sew their names on the ribbons. But they aren’t supposed to go on them. The ribbons are for the pigs who’d represent the girls in a race. It’s a race no parent and no young girl wants to win. But unfortunately, one of them has to be sacrificed in the end. Justina has been lucky 6 times in a row, counting this one. But the one little girl whose hair she was doing before, Alba, turns out to have the worst luck in her first La Ofrenda. The sight of the grieving father who lashed out at Guillermo being tortured by him is enough to convince you that he is far from a benevolent future king. And the worst part is, Alba’s mother has to hold back her tears and pretend that this is a blessing if she doesn’t want to end up like that man. 

Even if these girls are alive, you know they can’t be happy in a place that is ruled by someone like Guillermo. You even worry for his wife, the future queen of Spain, Elena. She was once taken away from her home just like the other girls. And seeing as this is the first time the convoy has brought a woman along, this is El Alcazar’s way of reassuring Solaz that their girls will be doing better after being picked at La Ofrenda. Daryl means to keep out of all this and mind his own business. But he’s a polite guest who likes to help out with chores and stuff. When he lends a hand to Paz as she handles the pigs, he finds out more about her than her long job description in Solaz. Paz is one of the good ones. She holds some amount of power in Solaz. And she’s the one who helped Justina and Roberto escape in the first place. But the most interesting thing about Paz is her secret affair with the future queen of El Alcazar. Meaningful glances were shared between Paz and Elena when she got here. And later, the queen even sent her a note while half-heartedly doing her duties of keeping the morale high in the sacrificial girls’ sitting room. When they find a quiet corner to meet in after what seems like a long period of distance, we realize that they’ve been in love for a long time. They were separated when El Alcazar took Elena from her home, and Paz ended up in Solaz. Elena only found out about Paz being in Solaz when one of the girls from here talked about her in El Alcazar. It goes without saying that if someone blows the whistle on this affair, both Paz and Elena will have to pay big prices. For now, only Daryl has caught them. But it can’t be long before someone else finds out. Elena is very clearly a tool being used by Guillermo to lull Solaz into a false sense of safety. At the celebratory dinner, none of Daryl’s very evident efforts can keep Carol quiet. But in her defence, Fede did ask his American guests to impart their wisdom about managing communities. Carol is clearly disturbed by the ghoulish tradition Fede is keeping alive in the name of running his town well. But what’s really tragic is that Fede’s explanation makes sense. Before Solaz came into this alliance with El Alcazar, they were constantly under attack. They never saw a day of peace until they came into an agreement with the Spanish royalty. They provided Solaz with protection in exchange for their girls. And this is a tough decision that Fede has had to make to ensure that his community thrives in an otherwise dead world. But the logic of it does nothing to comfort the shattered heart of a parent who’s just lost her daughter to this monstrous tradition. It’s not that Alba’s mother, Carmen, doesn’t try to hold her pain back and lie when Fede demands her false gratitude. But her voice cracks. And the only one who comes to her aid is Justina. She thanks the hungry wolves on behalf of their prey, just so that she makes sure that no further damage is done to Carmen or Alba. It’s hard to say if Justina’s grandmother means it when she goes rather aggressive on Carol for speaking out of turn. She may just be doing it out of fear. After all, Fede isn’t too kind to his family. But she may also be an old woman with twisted values who thinks that running a functional community in a post-apocalyptic world is worth losing a few girls to the darkness. Carol’s polite enough to take it when Justina’s grandma belittles her for being a nomad with a big mouth. But it’s not just Carol who’s gotten herself wrapped up in a complicated mess in a foreign land. Remember the bandit who saw Daryl and ran away? He’s followed him back to Solaz, and he’s brought friends. Daryl doesn’t have to break a sweat while he quietly takes care of the thugs. But more people might miss their friends and come to Solaz looking for them. We don’t know much about Fede’s relationship with the bandits. But they can’t be too popular over here. If Fede holds Daryl responsible for drawing trouble to his home, it might take Daryl and Carol much longer to get out of here and fix their boat. That’d only stall their trip back home even more. That can’t make Daryl too happy.

...