The Best Speeches from 'The Walking Dead'

Season 6 of The Walking Dead kicks off this Sunday on AMC at 9.00 p.m; and with it comes hoards of zombies to force the group into more dangerous territory. With the introduction of Alexandria last season, followed by the return of fan-favorite Morgan Jones — we have plenty to look forward to this fall — including speeches.

If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, odds are you have started to play a game with your friends guessing when a speech is coming up. And while not all of them may be the most elegant dialogue heard by humanity through television, they certainly do shape up to be some of the show’s most compelling moments to date.

Ricktatorship

The concept of a ‘Ricktatorship’ starts towards the end of Season 5, right after Rick attempts to kill Pete for psychically abusing his wife. In this speech, Rick highlights what is necessary to survive in the apocalyptic world to those in Alexandria, who have been living behind a wall for far too long. This holds significance as the moment where Diana finally gives in to the new way of living — giving up her old way of maintaining peace within her community. It’s a charged and compelling speech, ending with Rick killing Pete to mark the beginning of a new set of rules for Alexandria that we will see in Season 6.

You Step Outside

Hershel was always a fan favorite, grasping on to what kept humanity strong in the face of absolute extinction. This ideology shows through his speech during Season 4 to Maggie and Rick, who are worried about him helping those with the flu outbreak in the prison. Here, Hershel talks about the way this new world is consistently forcing you to risk your life — and how each of the moments force you to make a choice about what you risk your life for, something he is willing to do for those who are sick inside the cells.

We Are The Walking Dead

Taking place towards the end of Season 5, the ‘Walking Dead’ speech is one of the most, if not the most, significant speech on the show so far. Here, we see how Rick intends to keep the group alive – by doing whatever must be done in order to survive. His focus is on survival, and much like his grandfather in World War II, he plans to do it by considering himself already dead. This moment with the group sets the stage for the future, keeping them focused on what matters most: staying together and doing anything to keep going – to become the walking dead.

I See Red

To say Morgan Jones has been through a lot would be the understatement of the century. First popping up as Rick’s savior in Season 1, Morgan was focused on keeping his child alive and facing down his wife who had turned during the outbreak. This speech takes place in Season 3, when Rick finds Morgan again on one of his runs. Reflecting on his past, Morgan recaps his failure to kill the walker who was once his wife. This lead to the death of his son Duane — after his wife jumped on him and Duane couldn’t pull the trigger. Only then was Morgan able to shoot his wife, but it was too late for his son. This speech is a turning point for Morgan’s character, where he views himself as a weak individual, but fuels his transformation into a true survivor.

Letting Go

An important part of Rick’s story, this speech takes place during the end of Season 4 when the Governor comes knocking with a tank. Throughout this season, we see Rick trying to develop a community in the apocalypse that people can come to and feel safe in. We see his determination to the idea when he walks straight up to the gate and offers the Governor and his people a place in their community — and talks about how everyone has done things to survive, but that they can change as part of an effort to come back to their humanity. However, the idea doesn’t appeal to the Governor and his people — and so conflict erupts again and their safe haven comes to an end, which leads up to Rick’s evolution into a member of ‘The Walking Dead’ in Season 5.