The Walking Dead: Wait, Who Is Morales Again?

In Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) reunited with somebody that he used to know back in the day. Like, "the fifth episode of Season 1" back in the day. That was the last time we saw Morales (Juan Pareja), who was with the group in Atlanta back then.

In modern times, Morales got the drop on Rick inside of a Savior outpost while Rick was feeling sad about what a brute he's become after killing a man who was protecting his infant daughter. Morales snuck up on Rick and pointed a gun at him, and as Rick turned around they recognized each other.

Like the rest of us, it took Rick a moment to remember where he knew this guy from, but then he remembered that his name was Morales and he was part of Rick's Atlanta crew.

Rick didn't have time to fill in the full backstory, but it goes something like this: Morales and his family were part of the group in Atlanta who was there before Rick came out of his coma. He was a nice enough guy. His weapon of choice was a baseball bat (sans barbed wire, but maybe he's added it now in tribute to his new leader). After their camp was overrun, he and his wife and two kids decided not to follow Rick to the CDC and instead head to Birmingham in search of other family members. Rick and Shane (Jon Bernthal) didn't think it was a good decision, but they gave Morales a gun and a box of ammo and instructions to call for help if he needed it. It was a sad goodbye, and Morales' daughter gave Sophia Peletier (Madison Lintz) her doll to remember her by.

Now all these years later, he seems to have lost his family and Rick's gun (and a lot of weight! Looking good, Juan!). Like Rick, he's not a nice guy anymore. At one point in Morales' last episode all those years ago, Rick said "we don't kill the living." They're not the men they used to be.

"That was a long time ago," Morales said when Rick remembered that they used to be friends. "It's over, Rick. I called the Saviors back and they're coming."

Maybe next week we'll hear about what he's been up to in the years since we last saw him. Surely nothing good has happened. It's pretty wild that The Walking Dead is finally answering a question superfans have been pondering for all these years.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.