but, despite what some want to keep trumpeting here, Carol's change makes sense. Whether you like it or not is a different story. It's fine if you don't, I'm not trying to change your mind on that, but trying to claim it's for "seemingly no other reason" is patently false.

Out of all the characters, we may have seen Carol change the most. Abused wife, grieving mother, finding solace in the group, then becoming one of its protectors. The constant in her surroundings was the sense of persistent danger. But when the group arrived in Alexandria, that started to change. Different characters experienced it at different speeds, but everyone in Rick's group came around to the notion that they were finally.... home.

Once they had gotten over the dual crises of the collapsing wall and the Wolves, we started the second half of the season (IIRC) with a scene of Carol baking cookies. We see her enjoy something that made her forget she's in a zombie apocalypse. We also see her mourn Sam, the little kid that she took pleasure in terrifying, who basically died exactly like how she described. Do all the Carol naysayers forget that happened? She was directly involved in the kid basically going into shock, then he DIED (leading to his whole family then dying). Is Carol not allowed to feel guilt over this happening? Especially since at that time in the story, several weeks (months?) had passed since the Wolves invaded. She actually had time to reflect on her actions because she was no longer in "must survive" mode.

Then when the Saviors came around, we saw them humanized before Carol mashed on them all. I agree that the writing in this show can be real shit, but that was a fantastic parallel to Rick's group that they were survivors themselves. Carol saw this, thus deepening the guilt she felt when she had to kill to protect those she cared about. This is also when she found a rosary, of all things.

Someone commented above that Morgan was the (illogical) reason for her change, and while I agree he's a factor, I view him more as that persistent symbol to Carol that someone CAN exist without taking any more life. She just can't deal with it like Morgan. I agree that her leaving felt weak, but the journey leading up to that point was rock solid. Divest what you think Carol *should* be from what she actually *is*.


edited for typos