The Walking Dead: Why Rick's Admission About Judith Is So Important

[...] this is The Walking Dead, where misery reigns supreme, and the most miserable situation for Rick would be to risk life and limb for the product of his wife's infidelity with the friend he ultimately had to murder.

[...] that we have the answer, we can look back at what's happened with Rick and Judith and underline some dark themes of the show and character motivations that become chillingly clear.

[...] we'll look at Rick.

[...] Rick is a decent human being! "I had to accept that" signifies that this isn't a recent revelation for Rick, and that he's likely known that Judith was Shane's for some time now.

Compare that to his risky decision to invade Negan's compound last season -- he was willing to make that sacrifice.

If you notice that last time Rick went off the deep end in Seasons 4 and 5 -- which really hit a dark spot when Rick tore out Joe's jugular with his teeth -- it was when he wasn't with Judith, who was in the care of Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) and Carol.

Will I test speeding up through that yellow light if my daughter is in the car with me?

A repeating theme of The Walking Dead is how to rebuild after this disaster, and what kind of future our children will be left with.