The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live confirmed that Gabriel was keeping a massive secret, which could explain an unanswered question from season 11.
Gabriel’s secret, revealed in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 5, could provide the answer to a question created by The Walking Dead season 11. Gabriel’s surprise return in Rick and Michonne’s Walking Dead spinoff yielded some interesting discoveries about Jadis and her link to Alexandria. As Jadis’ flashbacks in The Ones Who Live have confirmed, she maintained a connection to the community through Gabriel, whom she contacted years after trading Rick Grimes to the Civic Republic Military.
Apparently, unbeknownst to all other Walking Dead main characters, Gabriel met with Jadis at three different points in The Walking Dead timeline after her departure from the series. This not coming up in any of The Walking Dead’s final seasons isn’t a plot hole, though, as the episode did end up accounting for why Gabriel never mentioned Jadis to the Alexandrians. Jadis explicitly told Gabriel to keep her presence a secret, and made it abundantly clear that the CRM would offer no help to Alexandria.
Jadis May Have Secretly Caused Gabriel & Rosita’s Break Up In The Walking Dead
Gabriel had multiple reasons to be conflicted
The secret that Gabriel had to keep, combined with his romantic history with Jadis, could connect in some way to the end of his relationship with Rosita. The two never had an onscreen break-up, but it is understood that Gabriel and Rosita – who started a relationship during season 9’s time skip – ended their romance before The Walking Dead’s ending. Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang confirmed that the couple broke up before The Walking Dead season 11 part 3, which was set after a time jump. Due to it not being shown, it was never clear why it happened.
Though Jadis wasn’t exactly close to any of the characters in Alexandria at the time other than Gabriel himself, it’s not hard to see why her secret return would have been a heavy burden for him to bear. Her visits to the area were especially relevant to the final season when taking into consideration Alexandria’s lack of food and shelter. Alexandria seemingly had no one to turn to, which understandably put more pressure on Gabriel. Because of Jadis, he had a potential solution to their problem but couldn’t mention it. The frustration this caused Gabriel was evidenced by his stressed-out behavior in the second flashback.
The sort of inner turmoil that Gabriel experienced could have had a lot to do with what happened between him and Rosita. Having to hold back the fact that he knew someone with connections that may have led to Alexandria’s salvation (at least from his perspective) could have created a distance between them. Plus, Gabriel seemed to still have feelings for Jadis, which most certainly would have contributed further to his moral dilemma. In Gabriel’s mind, it may not have felt right to continue his relationship with Rosita if he couldn’t be honest with her. Otherwise, he might have worked harder to preserve it.
Jadis Breaking Up Gabriel & Rosita Would Fix A Walking Dead Season 11 Mistake
Gabriel and Rosita’s breakup seemed to come out of nowhere
Jadis being the root cause of Gabriel and Rosita’s breakup would make perfect sense of The Walking Dead’s decision to end their relationship without explanation. Though Gabriel and Rosita’s relationship had propped up rather suddenly, it did become an important part of the show, with the two sharing scenes often in the show’s last three seasons. For that reason, there was a sense that it needed a proper ending if The Walking Dead wasn’t going to keep them together. Much of their relationship was explored onscreen, so skipping the breakup initially came across as an odd move.
But now that Jadis has been added to the equation, The Walking Dead not fleshing out the story with Gabriel and Rosita may have actually been necessary. On account of Jadis’ role in Rick Grimes’ life within the walls of the CRM, The Walking Dead wouldn’t have been in a position to go into detail at that point if she was what motivated their breakup. Jadis being a factor in it would make The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live the appropriate story to reveal what ultimately split the couple apart.
Rosita’s Death Becomes Even Darker If She Never Found Out About Gabriel & Jadis
Whether Rosita was ever told is unclear
The idea that Rosita and Gabriel drifted apart partially because of Jadis carries sad implications for the former’s ending in The Walking Dead series finale. Though Gabriel and Rosita’s romance didn’t last, they still had a strong relationship and clearly cared deeply for each other. They also shared an emotional farewell in the finale shortly before Rosita’s death. What was already a heartbreaking moment for the series would be made even more tragic by the notion that Rosita never knew the truth about Jadis and Gabriel.
Rosita never knowing about it would mean that she died with important things left unsaid between her and Gabriel. It is possible, though, that prior to Rosita’s death, Gabriel wound up coming clean to her about his secret meetings with Jadis in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. He was willing to keep her secret, but what happened in the third flashback may have altered his approach a bit. Since Jadis came very close to killing him, Gabriel might have deemed it necessary that he at least warn his community about the threat Jadis’ community could present in the future.