Of all of the characters to outlive the whole lot of “The Strolling Useless,” Judith Grimes is essentially the most shocking. Conceived someday in season 1, fetus-Judith’s hope of survival all through season 2 depends completely on her mom Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) not dying from sheer clumsiness. There are many shut calls: at one level pregnant Lori steals a automotive with out telling anybody, forgets to concentrate to the highway whereas driving, and finally ends up flipping the automotive over in the midst of the evening, with walkers close by heading in direction of the noise. Some individuals simply aren’t meant to stay in such tough occasions.
Commercial
Fortunately for Judith, Lori one way or the other lives lengthy sufficient to provide start to her amidst a walker ambush on the jail in season 3. Child Judith is then carried from place to position for the following 5 seasons by varied individuals, together with a toddler psychopath who practically suffocates her to loss of life in season 4. Though the individuals round child Judith preserve dropping like flies, she stays robust by means of all of it. Then in season 9, after a shock time leap, Judith is sufficiently old to be a correct character with strains and a persona. Performed by Cailey Fleming, 10-year-old Judith has all of the toughness and braveness that her father Rick was recognized for.
There’s only one downside: is Rick Judith’s father? Or might Judith’s actual father be that dastardly Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal), who had a fling with Lori for a number of weeks earlier than she found out she was pregnant? Mathematically it looks like Shane’s the extra seemingly mum or dad, however followers can definitely make the case for Rick…
Commercial
Realistically, Judith’s father might be Shane
The case for Shane being Judith’s father is straightforward: Rick spent a number of weeks on the hospital in a coma. Throughout these weeks the apocalypse occurred, and in some unspecified time in the future Lori and Shane began hooking up. The precise timeline is deliberately left fuzzy by the present, however the scenes we do get of Lori and Shane within the early episodes indicate that they have been having unprotected intercourse frequently.
Commercial
After Rick and Lori reunite, they’ve intercourse at the least as soon as earlier than Lori finds out she’s pregnant, however they rapidly begin having marital troubles as Rick finds out the whole lot that is occurred. To place it merely: there have been many extra alternatives for Shane to impregnate Lori than for Rick, though it’s technically potential that it was Rick who did the deed.
As a result of DNA exams are onerous to seek out within the apocalypse, each Lori and Rick appear content material to only assume Rick’s the daddy and probably not dwell on it. Shane, nonetheless, totally believes the infant is his, and his possessiveness in direction of Lori and her unborn little one is a giant a part of what turns him more and more vindictive and unstable all through “The Strolling Useless” season 2. If Rick hadn’t killed him in “Higher Angels,” it is clear that Shane would’ve saved considering of the infant as his personal, and would’ve saved feuding with Rick due to this.
Commercial
After the time leap, followers had been observing Judith intently for any indicators of Shane-esque conduct. All she wanted to do was rub the again of her head and the jig could be up, however as an alternative she act extra like the way you’d anticipate the daughter of Rick Grimes to behave. Bodily, she would not appear to share many similarities with both father. (Truthfully, she would not even look very like Lori both.) Evidently on the subject of the query of Judith’s organic father, the reply is completely as much as followers to determine.
However who does Rick suppose the daddy is?
A notable piece of proof within the “Shane’s the daddy” camp, and one I suppose followers put an excessive amount of inventory in, is a season 7 scene the place Rick straight up says, “I do know Judith is not mine. I do know it. I really like her, she’s my daughter however she is not mine. I needed to settle for that.”
Commercial
Some followers take this as affirmation of Judith’s parenthood, however others interpret it as Rick merely explaining his decision-making course of. He “accepts” that Judith is Shane’s organic daughter in order that he would not should fixed surprise what the reality is. If he can settle for the worst-case state of affairs and nonetheless love Judith, then he is aware of his relationship together with her can be advantageous it doesn’t matter what. This ties into the argument Rick’s making to Michonne all through the scene: that they (the Alexandrians at conflict with Negan) want to simply accept the worst potential end result of a state of affairs from the beginning, in order that it will not nag at them and cloud their judgment going ahead.
However even should you do take Rick’s phrases at face worth right here, the takeaway for Judith continues to be the identical. In all of the ways in which rely, she’s Rick’s daughter. He is the one who raised her (for these first few years at the least), and it is his and Michonne’s values she grew up studying. Even when Judith received her DNA examined and located conclusive proof that she wasn’t Rick’s daughter, hopefully she’d know to not pay it any thoughts.
Commercial
