The Walking Dead season 3 is the one where Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his group take over a prison, and a friendly town called Woodbury turns out to be run by the Governor (David Morrissey). It is also the season that costs Rick his wife.
It aired on AMC from October 14, 2012 to March 31, 2013: 16 episodes, with Glen Mazzara as showrunner. This recap covers the whole season, the finale and our honest take.
Spoiler warning: the rest of this Walking Dead season 3 recap gives away every major death, including the finale.
The setup
Season 2 ended with the Greene farm overrun and the group scattered on the road. After a long winter, a heavily pregnant Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) needs somewhere safe, and Rick finds a prison.
Andrea (Laurie Holden), cut off from the group, has survived the winter with a new ally: Michonne (Danai Gurira), a sword-wielding loner who leads two chained walkers.
The key players in The Walking Dead season 3:
- Rick Grimes: Andrew Lincoln
- Lori Grimes: Sarah Wayne Callies
- Michonne: Danai Gurira
- The Governor: David Morrissey
- Merle Dixon: Michael Rooker
- Andrea: Laurie Holden
What happens in The Walking Dead season 3
Episodes 1 to 4: taking the prison
The group clears the prison yard and a cell block, but Hershel (Scott Wilson) is bitten on the leg, and Rick amputates it to save him. They also find a handful of inmates who have been hiding in the cafeteria since the outbreak began.
Elsewhere, Andrea and Michonne are picked up by the Governor’s men and taken to Woodbury, a walled town with lawns, a doctor and a smiling leader. Andrea falls for it. Michonne does not.
In episode 4, “Killer Within”, walkers flood the prison. Lori goes into labour, and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) delivers baby Judith by C-section. Lori dies, and Carl (Chandler Riggs) has to shoot his own mother so she will not turn. T-Dog dies the same day, sacrificing himself so Carol (Melissa McBride) can escape.
Episodes 5 to 8: Rick breaks, Woodbury shows its teeth
Grief hits Rick hard. A phone rings in the prison, and in episode 6 he takes calls from people he has lost, voices that exist only in his head.
Woodbury’s mask slips too. The Governor keeps walker heads in fish tanks and hides his undead daughter, Penny, in his apartment. Merle (Michael Rooker), Daryl’s brother, now works for him, and he kidnaps Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie on a supply run.
Michonne reaches the prison and guides Rick to Woodbury. In episode 8, “Made to Suffer”, they rescue Glenn and Maggie, while Michonne kills Penny and wounds the Governor’s eye. Daryl (Norman Reedus) is captured in the escape.
Episodes 9 to 15: the cold war
The Governor makes Daryl and Merle fight in an arena, Rick’s group breaks them out, and Daryl leaves with his brother for a while. In episode 10, “Home”, the Governor attacks the prison.
In episode 12, “Clear”, Rick, Carl and Michonne return to Rick’s hometown for guns and find Morgan (Lennie James), the man who saved Rick in season 1, broken by grief.
Rick and the Governor meet for truce talks in episode 13, and the Governor names his price: hand over Michonne, and the prison will be left alone. Rick nearly agrees.
In episode 15, “This Sorrowful Life”, Merle takes Michonne to make the trade himself, then lets her go and attacks the Governor’s men on his own. The Governor kills him, and Daryl finds his brother turned and has to put him down.
The Walking Dead season 3 ending explained
In the finale, “Welcome to the Tombs”, the Governor leads his army into the prison, and it is a trap. Rick’s group ambushes them with smoke and gunfire, and the Woodbury fighters flee. Furious, the Governor guns down his own retreating people and disappears with two loyal men.
Back in Woodbury, Milton (Dallas Roberts) had tried to help Andrea, so the Governor stabbed him and locked the two of them in a room. Milton dies, turns and bites her. When Rick, Michonne and Daryl find her, Andrea shoots herself before she can turn.
The season ends with Rick bringing Woodbury’s survivors, mostly the old and the young, to live at the prison. The Governor is still out there, and he comes back in The Walking Dead season 4.
Our take
Honestly, the Governor was an okay villain, but a bit boring. A town with a smiling leader who keeps walker heads in fish tanks is a great idea, but most of his season is talk.
The moment that stayed with us is Lori’s death. Carl having to shoot his own mother, minutes after his baby sister is born, is one of the hardest scenes the show ever did, and it changes both him and Rick from then on.
Quick answers
Who dies in The Walking Dead season 3? The biggest deaths are Lori and T-Dog (episode 4), Merle (episode 15) and Andrea (the finale). Several inmates, Woodbury residents and Milton die too.
Who is the villain in The Walking Dead season 3? The Governor, the leader of Woodbury, played by David Morrissey.
Is season 3 Michonne’s first season? She appears hooded at the very end of season 2, but season 3 is her first full season.
How many episodes are in The Walking Dead season 3? Sixteen, aired from October 14, 2012 to March 31, 2013.
More Walking Dead on Lazybatman: season 1, season 4, season 5, season 7, season 8, and how to watch The Walking Dead in order.
One question to end on: in Rick’s place, would you have handed Michonne over to save the prison? Comments are open.
Sources: Wikipedia, The Walking Dead season 3, Wikipedia, list of The Walking Dead episodes. The Walking Dead is an AMC series based on the comic by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard; all rights belong to AMC and the show’s producers.
Discover more from Lazybatman
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
