Walking Dead First Look: Where Has Merle Dixon Been All This Time?

Merle Dixon is back!

The Walking Dead's racist and hot-tempered brother of Daryl (Norman Reedus) is back in action for Season 3, as evidenced by this first-look photo AMC released on Wednesday. The last we saw of Merle (Michael Rooker), he had unceremoniously chopped his own arm off when he was handcuffed to a pipe on an Atlanta rooftop, lest he be eaten by the horde of zombies heading his way during Season 1.

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As we can see in the photo, Merle has a very interesting device now in place of his missing arm. Does he use it as a weapon? The more important question: Where has Merle been all this time? Presumably, Merle would want to join other vicious and bloodthirsty leaders, and with the introduction of The Governor (David Morrissey) on the horizon, it seems all too likely we'll find Daryl's brother in the town of Woodbury, where at least part of Season 3 will take place as we follow The Governor's exploits. The other part of the action, that we know of, will be at the prison, nearby where Rick & Co. were last seen at the end of Season 2.

Still, Merle could be any number of places, including, but not limited to: Hanging out in the prison commissary, safe and sound in some other CDC, following Michonne (Danai Gurira) around, or part of Randall's (Michael Zegen) group of friends who have come looking for revenge. Suffice to say, Merle probably won't be too happy with T-Dog (Irone Singleton) since he was the one who dropped the keys to the cuffs, a mistake that resulted in Merle amputating his own arm. Ouch!

Where do you think Merle has been all this time?