Who Are the Villains in THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON?

In The Walking Dead TV series, many of the villains came from the comic books, like Negan, Alpha, and the Governor. Sure, we got some random (and not great) baddies here and there but they didn’t hold a candle to the classic ones. But the show’s spinoff series are giving us a great mix with established heroes and frightening yet fresh antagonists. In The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, our Southern hero gets on the wrong side of not one but two villains—Codron and Madame Genet—shortly after he washes ashore. Let’s dig into who they are and why they are making Daryl’s journey even harder.

Who Is The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Villain Codron? 

Daryl has a good heart but he has an, um, affinity for stirring up fights. Sometimes he starts them and, even when he doesn’t, he is 100% gonna finish a brawl. However, this situation with Codron is not his fault. He starts a fight to save a couple travelers from two jerk soldiers from a group/movement initially known as “the Cause.” Naturally, one of them is Codron’s brother, who Daryl doesn’t even kill! (He does kill the other guy but that’s not what matters here.) The woman traveler killed Codron’s brother and later lied on Daryl to save her own skin. It is easy to believe that an American man would do that, after all.

Codron also works with/for the Cause, more formally known as Pouvoir Du Vivant (Power of the Living). He doesn’t waste time piecing together Daryl’s location and comes into Sister Isabelle’s abbey with his men. They kill several nuns before Daryl takes out his entire crew like John Wick with a knife. (Yes, the nuns are technically killer nuns but they don’t want to hurt Daryl.) Defeated and angry, Codron retreats but we know he won’t stop until he gets his hands on Daryl.  

Pouvoir comes into direct conflict with l’Union de l’Espoir, a freedom group that the abbey members align with. They are open to all messages of faith and perseverance.

In episode three, Codron and Genet finally cross paths. She doesn’t know who he is, of course, but Codron tells her that a “traveler” representing Genet told him about a great movement (the Cause) in Paris. He says the person gave him that Mike Tyson-esque tatt and said he was a warrior now. He presents that recording of Daryl to Genet, confirming that he is still alive, and promises to find Daryl for Genet. She officially hires him to complete the task and this is not great for Daryl.

Daryl slips through Codron’s fingers initially but he still ends up getting captured by another one of Genet’s guerriers. In the end, Codron reveals that he’s not so villainous after all. After Daryl’s group escapes the wild gladiator situation, Genet’s men (including Codron) find them once again. He decides to spare their lives, instead shooting his comrades so they can escape. His deception leads to some torturing at the hands of Genet. We don’t know if Codron will get out of this predicament but if he does, it will be interesting to see what happens to him in season two.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Villain Madame Genet and Pouvoir Du Vivant, Explained

At the end of the first episode, we meet Madame Genet, the leader of Pouvoir Du Vivant. It is possible that the Cause is similar to the CRM in America with widespread operations. We don’t learn much about her except that she has a ship with walker “test subjects” and human prisoners. One of the latter was Daryl before he caused some trouble and escaped, but not before causing so much damage that Genet’s collective lost lots of research. Why was he a prisoner on a ship bound for France? We will surely get more details as Daryl Dixon progresses. The crew (specifically the captain) presumes that he’s dead but she wants them to start looking for him anyway. A man who can do so much damage alone is not someone she wants to be in her way. 

Of course, Genet had her soldiers hunt down Daryl so she can attend to bigger issues. Those matters include walker and human experimentations for reasons that still are not clear. Some of their work takes place at her Pouvoir base at the Maison Mère hotel in Paris. But Daryl ruined one big hub when he destroyed that ship, a project three years in the making.

Genet tried to get revenge against Daryl by making him the center of a dangerous spectacle. In the finale, Genet put Daryl into a gladiator-style battle against enhanced walkers. Thankfully, Daryl teams with Quinn to defeat them before Fallou and company send everything into chaos. Daryl escapes, Genet’s men catch up to them, but thanks to Codron, Daryl and the crew get away.

Madame Genet will do anything to get Daryl in her clutches again, so it will be interesting to see how Daryl continues to evade her and protect the Nest in season two.

Originally published September 10, 2023.