Rick and Michonne finally reunite in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. But, after finally finding him, Michonne keeps a crucial secret from Rick.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live finally brings Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne Hawthorne (Danai Gurira) back together again. The two post-apocalyptic lovers have been tragically separated ever since Rick’s apparent death in Season 9 of The Walking Dead. However, after learning that her husband may still be alive, Michonne embarked on a long and often discouraging journey to find him in the vast and largely unexplored new world. The two finally reunite in the first two episodes of The Ones Who Live, but not everything about their rendezvous is as fans might have expected.

Michonne has lost precious years with Rick, making their reunion in The Ones Who Live extremely satisfying both for her character and for viewers who have waited for this moment since 2018. However, the joy is short-lived, as Michonne immediately finds herself thrown into yet another precarious situation as the Civic Republic Military moves in and brings her to the city of Philadelphia, where Rick has been held for much of the last several years. While she and Rick are still able to see each other secretly from within Philadelphia’s walls, they aren’t safe until they can escape and leave the CRM behind completely. Amid this danger, Michonne fills Rick in on some of the things he’s missed — but deliberately leaves out one very important piece of information he would be more than interested to know.

Michonne Doesn’t Tell Rick About RJ In The Ones Who Live

Rick Grimes’s disappearance from The Walking Dead left him unaware of everything that happened with his community and his family thereafter. Gone for the better part of a decade, Rick missed the entire Whisperer War, the incidents with the Commonwealth, and more. Even worse, Rick wasn’t there to see his family grow after his departure. Little did Rick know that Michonne was pregnant with his child when he was first kidnapped by the CRM. Nine months after Rick’s supposed death, Michonne gave birth to her son, Rick Jr., or RJ. While Judith grew up with some memories of her father, RJ was left with only stories on which to hang his view of Rick. He came to know his father as “the brave man,” who had sacrificed himself to save the rest of the community before he was born.

When Rick and Michonne finally reunite in The Ones Who Live, they enjoy a few moments of blissful relief before things take a sudden but not altogether unexpected turn. Rick quickly and desperately informs Michonne that she is about to be taken into the CRM, who will not allow either of them to leave. After this has happened, Rick finds Michonne again, allowing the couple to have a slightly longer conversation about what Rick has missed. During this conversation, Michonne assures Rick that Judith is safe and doing well. She begins telling him something else, clearly about to drop the massive revelation that he has another son, but catches herself. Michonne vows to tell Rick “the rest” after they’ve escaped the CRM, choosing to keep the truth about his son to herself until a later point.

Rick And Michonne’s Reunion Is Tenuous

As ecstatic as she is to finally be with Rick again, Michonne can see that there is something different about him. The terrifying community supported by the CRM has had a profound effect on Rick that Michonne picks up on immediately. The fear in Rick’s eyes as he schooled her in how to respond to the CRM’s questions was something that Michonne hadn’t seen since the first days of the Savior’s occupation. To see a once proud and powerful leader so terrified immediately put Michonne in defensive mode, not sure how to approach this new situation. While she trusts Rick with her life, Michonne seems to have an inkling that his judgment may be askew when it comes to the CRM, especially after spending so long under their thumb. Knowing this, she keeps back certain information that could cloud Rick’s judgment even further until she knows they are safe outside of the CRM’s jurisdiction.

As one of The Walking Dead‘s best heroes, Michonne knows how to scope out a new situation — and when to play her cards close to the chest. Even despite her emotionality at being back together with Rick, Michonne recognizes that this is a man she does not fully recognize. After spending years and years apart, Rick is not quite the same man he had been when she last saw him atop the dam. Knowing this, Michonne chooses not to be fully honest with him just yet until she can figure out where his head is and how they plan to move forward. Audiences know that this was absolutely the right decision. Rick is at his most desperate during the events of The Ones Who Live, going so far as to cut off his left hand to escape and get back home to his family. On the verge of breaking down, Rick doesn’t need another distraction to cloud his mind as he faces the toughest battle of his life.

Will Rick Ever Get To Meet His Son?

While neither Judith nor RJ are confirmed to appear in The Ones Who Live, the series could still reunite them with their father, marking the first time that Rick has met his youngest son. The second episode of the series showed Michonne trying to get in contact with Judith over the radio on multiple occasions, implying that she might answer at some point before the season finale. If this is true, then Rick would at least get the opportunity to speak to his children, even if he is not able to physically reunite with them.

Rick’s reunion with RJ would be particularly emotional if it should ever come to pass before the end of The Ones Who Live. The early years of The Walking Dead showed Rick striving to do everything in his power to keep his young son Carl alive amid an ever-dangerous new world. However, Rick failed in this aspect of his mission when Carl was tragically bitten by a walker in Season 8, dying shortly thereafter. To discover that RJ exists would change Rick’s life forever. While no one could ever replace Carl, RJ represents a second chance for Rick to show his son the new world, as he promised Carl he would do. With two children waiting for him back home, Rick needs to finally make it back to Alexandria to make his family complete once more.

Michonne chooses to keep RJ’s existence from Rick when they first reunite in The Ones Who Live, but this information can’t stay hidden forever. The Walking Dead is building up to the reunion of the Grimes family—which audiences have anxiously waited for ever since Rick disappeared all those years ago.