[Sweetsister]

Many posters have mentioned the fact that Daryl could be a carrier and be immune or have potentially brought in tainted meat. If either is true and it is confirmed in some fashion Daryl would have gone from hero to zero in many of the survivors eyes. Many would blame him even if it was not done intentionally. The "hero worship" we saw in the season opener would soon turn.
Knowing Daryl he would be hardest on himself what an interesting spiral that would set him on. Would Carol stick by him? Could he survive living with himself and others ? It would be very interesting to see how it played out if Carl died from the meat how would Rick feel about Daryl. Of course this is all speculation and may come to nothing but it would be interesting.

[Creeper]

Carl won't die anytime soon. Him and Rick are pretty much the only 2 characters I would say that about!

But...I do think that they played up the Daryl hero-worship so much because they are setting him up to be figuratively crucified. I think everyone but the original prison group will turn on him. Like you said, I think Daryl will really struggle with that, he practically self-destructed over Sophia, and this will be even worse.

And I don't think it'll be because he did anything wrong, it'll all be accidental..but when thangs start going wrong, stuff gets blamed on whoever is in charge. Rick faced it too, and look at what the pressure did to him! The sad thing is, I don't think Daryl likes being in charge, he isn't an alpha like Shane was. He was just next in line, and obviously he has been doing a decent job. But...everything falls apart eventually..

I'm excited by that storyline, actually. I think it'll be fascinating to see that kind of emotional pressure being put on Daryl. If it happens. I just can't see any other option, otherwise why in the world would they think everyone licking Daryl's feet was a good thing to include?!

[Kikora]

I like this idea even more than the theory that Daryl might catch whatever is going around, because it really contrasts with the hero worship thing which is going around.

I would think that Carol would stick by Daryl if people turned on him because they have history together and she has enough medical knowledge and basic common sense to know that disease carriers aren't to blame for outbreaks. Anyone can get sick, anyone can carry a disease, anyone can grab the wrong meat - especially in an apocalypse setting where there is no sort of regulation.Besides that, I think Daryl being his own worst enemy in this regard is far more in-character and poignant than long-time friends turning on him for not mystically knowing about a disease no one was prepared for.

Seriously, though, I think that Daryl is a red herring anyway, someone that people might blame but not be responsible outright. The reason I say this is I think the illness is one of two things, either the bubonic plague or a hemorrhagic fever, the later less likely. I think this because there are two main symptoms we have seen so far - a /very/ fast progression of symptoms, and bleeding from the orifices. The kid was fine in the afternoon and dead by nightfall, meaning whatever it was killed him in less than twelve hours. Both can cause bleeding in the eyes, nose and mouth, though I would kind of expect a lot more bloodloss from hemorrhagic fever. Secondly ebola - the most well known strain, takes roundabout a week, but bubonic can take as little as three hours. Lastly while bubonic plague isn't common in America it does still occur, while hemorrhagic fever really is found primarily overseas. My only hesitation is that Ebola and other similar viruses are known to affect both pigs and dogs, while the association with pigs isn't as well documented with the plague.

If on the rare chance it is Ebola, it'd be in the water, if it's the plague its in the rats. Also if its Ebola everyone is dead, if its the plague they need antibiotics. (Moldy rye bread and onion/garlic might help too, in a pinch.)


My point being, the two main culprits really aren't something that Daryl would bring in, one would be from the contaminated creek and rain water they use, while the other would be caused by the rat infestation. I think it'd be a great plotpoint to have this witchhunt against Daryl for bringing in the pestilance, before ultimately learning it is just the result of the very poor hygiene which the group is forced the live with.

[Sweetsister]

Well stated Kikora the "red herring" would be great. The survivors could come up with different theories on others as well leading to people not trusting one another, people killing each other convinced they know who the "host" is even small lynch mobs forming to take out a person or people.
Ultimately learning the truth as you stated

[wingchun]

I think the Daryl hero worship key group member is the set up to kill him off. The loss of the groups number one survial guru would be devastating and would provide Angst surpassing anything done so far.

[leegreenman]

I think the illness will prove to be the kind of thing that could be dealt with if there was a modern healthcare system in place, which of course there is not.

[Judari]

While I do think that a lot of these theories are possible, I didn't read too much into Daryl's hero worship scenes more than fan service/showing us that he is still having trouble with, but getting more used to, being personable with people. Also that he is starting to open up more and care about more people than Carol as he was clearly upset that the kid Patrick died.

I don't see them blaming Daryl if the meat is tainted with some disease. Obviously if the pig died too then whatever it was already had been introduced in their environment and it would only be a matter of time before they ate a tainted animal. I mean they can have him feel guilty for it but it would be a pretty lazy cop-out of the writers imo for everyone to turn on him for that as it could have been anyone. Rick himself was checking traps as well.

[Roamer2]

I could see them locking up Daryl and then they all die. Carol afterwards releases Daryl and he walks out to an area littered with bleeding corpses.

[Lioness]

I don't think they will blame Daryl. He will probably blame himself though.

[Macilly]

I could see them starting to quickly quarantine anyone who got sick, touched Patrick or ate the food that he prepared that day. A lot of the main group was out during that time and wouldn't have eaten what he prepared (a stretch, I know, but possible). Daryl actually touched Patrick (via handshake) which many others didn't so he would have to be quarantined as well. Idk - just tossing out ideas.

I do think Daryl would drown in self imposed guilt if he brought back tainted deer though it was not his fault at all.

[d2daybreak]

I could see them starting to quickly quarantine anyone who got sick, touched Patrick or ate the food that he prepared that day. A lot of the main group was out during that time and wouldn't have eaten what he prepared (a stretch, I know, but possible). Daryl actually touched Patrick (via handshake) which many others didn't so he would have to be quarantined as well. Idk - just tossing out ideas.

I do think Daryl would drown in self imposed guilt if he brought back tainted deer though it was not his fault at all.

I would have two quarantine areas--one for those sick and those possibly exposed. Those only exposed may not get sick, but further exposure to sick people could change that.

[BeauL83]

If daryl was the cause, everyone would just say "Awwwwwwww, poor daryl he didn't mean it, everyone else on this show is stupid".
But it would a good thing to see.

[GirlsDeadMonster]

It's not hard to believe that this is just a virus that is going to make it's way through the prison. Even with modern medicine viruses spread like wild fire. In the ZA and the poor environment conditions like rotting corpses, no running water, lack of general hygiene a virus could easily spread even with the human population devastated. I think the Daryl hero worship is letting us know how involved Daryl has become with the group. He has a place and a responsibility. He even said when telling Beth her boyfriend died that he's tired of losing people. This may prove to be too hard on Daryl in the future.

[Drunktard]

The way I see it, the hero-worship scene was the way the writers decided to show us how Daryl was coping with grief and loss over the time lapse between seasons. They want to show us that after he lost Merle he started caring a lot more for people, bringing in survivors and constantly hunting for food, as opposed to Michonne whose way of coping with the loss of Andrea was to go hunting for the Governor by herself.

There is a good chance that the virus has spread to Daryl though. On the scene where they shake hands, Daryl was about to eat something using his hands so depending on how the virus spreads it is very possible that Daryl got it from Patrick.
Although...

Spoiler

We've seen from trailers that Daryl is not going to die anytime soon, and the virus seems to kill in 1 or 2 days max. So it's less likely he was infected.

I do like the idea of people turning against Daryl. But I think it would be even more interesting if they started turning on each other. Someone coughs once and then later at night when they are asleep someone splits their head open with an axe "just to be safe".

[Watty]

I think if this were to be true Daryl would leave on his own behalf. Would be sad to see him out there on his own especially without Merle

[Lioness]

I think if this were to be true Daryl would leave on his own behalf. Would be sad to see him out there on his own especially without Merle

Carol would go with him.