The Walking Dead director on why the finale had to end with *that* moment

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead

(Image credit: Jace Downs/AMC)

The Walking Dead series finale brought back some familiar faces.

Warning: Spoilers for The Walking Dead series finale ahead!

The final moments of the last-ever episode of The Walking Dead contained a special five-minute epilogue that reveals what took place after Rick's helicopter ride in season 9, and what became of Michonne after season 10.

"The show was always Rick Grimes' journey. You can't really wrap up the story of The Walking Dead without Rick Grimes," series executive producer and episode director Greg Nicotero told ComicBook. "It didn't feel right, it didn't feel authentic."

"We wanted to serve the story arc that the writers had created over the last 30 episodes or so [of Season 11], but we couldn't end with Rick Grimes being taken away in a helicopter and there's no mention of him ever again," Nicotero said. "So it was very important for us to really sort wrap up the show the way it started, which is seeing who this person is and where he is on his journey."

Nicotero added: "The idea really was that it was intended to be these short, small impressionistic images that tell us that Rick is still alive and he's still fighting to get home, and Michonne is out there, and she's still fighting to find him."

"These are two people that have been separated for a very long time," Walking Dead Boss Gimple previously told Entertainment Weekly of the forthcoming spin-off. "They’ve lived whole other existences and they have to find themselves again, let alone each other. And it’s hopefully going to be mind-blowing. It kind of goes coast to coast that way between the intimate and the epic and the insane."

For more, check out our guide to how to watch The Walking Dead in order.