The Walking Dead -- Season Three "One Nation under Rick !"

[sherlockbones]

i am not really impressed with merle so far. his big moment will be the confrontation with daryl

[Phil Clark]

Ok. I haven't seen last weeks episode yet, but I did just see an international promo for Sundays Mid Season Finale episode.

spoilers:

Looks like everyone who was riding me over the Laurie issue is going to owe me a HUGE apology. If what I saw was correct, well then... I TOLD YOU SO!

end of spoilers

[goof]

i am not really impressed with merle so far. his big moment will be the confrontation with daryl

I think he will have an even bigger moment as zombie Merle.

[Alex]

I agree here...if you have the means, why wouldn't you try and figure things out?

Because your number 1 goal should be killing them, not studying them, unless said study leads directly to killing them more effectively.
This idea that it's safe and he has the time...find a way to kill them better, finding out if they remember things from before they died in no one helps anyone. It might make the scientist feel better, because he learned something, but when the zombies they aren't killing build up outside and he gets fucking eaten, the knowledge that he found out he won't remember anything isn't going to help the situation.

[Vibranium]

Because your number 1 goal should be killing them, not studying them, unless said study leads directly to killing them more effectively.
This idea that it's safe and he has the time...find a way to kill them better, finding out if they remember things from before they died in no one helps anyone. It might make the scientist feel better, because he learned something, but when the zombies they aren't killing build up outside and he gets fucking eaten, the knowledge that he found out he won't remember anything isn't going to help the situation.

or finds a new way to distract or pacify them...you should always strive to learn from your enemy

[GrifterWC]

Merle has been great thus far but I don't see him lasting past this story arc.

[Alex]

or finds a new way to distract or pacify them...you should always strive to learn from your enemy

They aren't an enemy you need to learn from, the entire process of tactical battle goes out the windows with zombies because they never change, they don't learn, they don't develop tactics and do things to overcome advances you made.
They always do the same thing in a given situation. They should be killing them, and killing them, and killing them.
What would what he was doing, in anyway, lead to a advantage in a battle situation? Were they going to find out something each of the billion zombies liked before it died and then use all of these billion different things to make the zombies turn their heads?

[GrifterWC]

They aren't an enemy you need to learn from, the entire process of tactical battle goes out the windows with zombies because they never change, they don't learn, they don't develop tactics and do things to overcome advances you made.

Didn't the doctor in "Day of the Dead" sort of train Bubba to be more docile and showed that they had some recognition of using things before they turned.

I know this is a different universe but who's to say that can't happen here.
After all the goal should be to re-establish humanity and if you can't destroy all the zombies you need to find away to at least keep them in check so civilization can begin to thrive again.

[Alex]

Didn't the doctor in "Day of the Dead" sort of train Bubba to be more docile and showed that they had some recognition of using things before they turned.

I know this is a different universe but who's to say that can't happen here.
After all the goal should be to re-establish humanity and if you can't destroy all the zombies you need to find away to at least keep them in check so civilization can begin to thrive again.

Yes, it was a different universe, the difference here is, kirkman has never once shown the zombies to be intelligent, in the show or in over 100 issues of the comic.
Why wouldn't they be able to destroy all the zombies?

[kalorama]

They aren't an enemy you need to learn from, the entire process of tactical battle goes out the windows with zombies because they never change, they don't learn, they don't develop tactics and do things to overcome advances you made.
They always do the same thing in a given situation. They should be killing them, and killing them, and killing them.

Well, the problem with that approach is that the zombies appear to outnumber the non-zombies by a pretty significant factor. Overwhelming force is a great strategy when you're in a position to apply it, but the small pockets of humans surrounded by hordes of monsters don't really have that option. Anything they could find out about the zombies that might help even the odds is to their advantage. And not just in killing them. If they can find more effective ways to mask their presence from them or divert them, that would help too.

Now, all that being said, it certainly appears that the Governor and his pet Igor are actually operating under the notion that they can in train/cure/save them, which is almost certain a fruitless pursuit doomed to fail. But that doesn't mean there's no value to gathering information, just that they're gathering the wrong information.

[Dreadstar]

Why wouldn't they be able to destroy all the zombies?

Because in this universe everyone who dies becomes a zombie. Even if you kill the millions of existing walkers, the infestation could start up again when someone like the hermit dies.

[Phil Clark]

Yes, it was a different universe, the difference here is, kirkman has never once shown the zombies to be intelligent, in the show or in over 100 issues of the comic.
Why wouldn't they be able to destroy all the zombies?

Not quite true. In the early episodes with the man and his son who choose to stay home because the wife who was a walker was still around, the wife kept coming back to the house. Their house. So if there is no intelligence to a walker, why wouldn't the wife just wander off with a herd and look for something to eat? No, that shows at least a rudimentary memory and an intelligence. She even knew to try the door handle.

[Phil Clark]

Because in this universe everyone who dies becomes a zombie. Even if you kill the millions of existing walkers, the infestation could start up again when someone like the hermit dies.

I have an interesting theory that they are free to explore now that they didn't in the comic. Since the baby is alive, maybe we will find that newborns in the world since the infection are immune to the infection. So THAT becomes what they pin the hope of the human races survival on. The remaining humans be fruitful and multiply and as the walkers die out, the contagion dies with them, and future generations never have to deal with Walkers ever again. Crisis averted, if humanity can hold out that long. It will take a couple of generations to really rid the world of the hazard. Assuming it doesn't mutate into something even worse.

[kalorama]

I have an interesting theory that they are free to explore now that they didn't in the comic. Since the baby is alive, maybe we will find that newborns in the world since the infection are immune to the infection. So THAT becomes what they pin the hope of the human races survival on. The remaining humans be fruitful and multiply and as the walkers die out, the contagion dies with them, and future generations never have to deal with Walkers ever again. Crisis averted, if humanity can hold out that long. It will take a couple of generations to really rid the world of the hazard. Assuming it doesn't mutate into something even worse.

Except there hasn't been any real indication that the walkers just die off. They have to be killed off and there may not be enough of humanity left to handle that job. Plus, there's still the issue of the currently existing multiple generations of living people who will turn into walkers when they die. Given the apparently small numbers of humans and the dangerous environment in which their living, it's a pretty good bet that people will die at a faster clip than they'll be born, making the goal of pumping out enough kids to stay ahead of the curve extremely ambitious. And then there's the basic problem of keeping children alive in a world that really doesn't foster their growth. Honestly, I have a hard time seeing people having too much enthusiasm for intentionally bringing new life into the hellhole the world has become.

[Phil Clark]

I would agree with you if things stand as they are now. But should new children prove to be immune, then the enthusiasm for bringing new life into the world goes through the roof. Because the human race can and will survive if that were to prove to be the case. It wouldn't be easy, don't get me wrong. But it would be possible. And it could well give people hope for the future, where now there is only the drive to survive. And that drive is being stretched to the breaking point without any hope of an end to this problem. And end that could be represented by immune offspring.

But hey, it's just a theory. No evidence to support it yet. Just hope that they will come up with a reason for these people to keep on keepin' on.

Oh, and as for the walkers dying off, it is being suggested they can starve to death. If they really can, then that would provide hope of them dying off if they can just be kept from killing more live people. So eventually their numbers would dwindle naturally. Plus, more and more people left alive are learning how to put down the walkers. So there is also that factor.