Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead.

With the final season of The Walking Dead now airing, there are very few survivors left from the original group. Those that have overcome walker and villain alike have had to assimilate to the new order of the world.

One of the biggest hit characters on the show has learned how to survive by trusting in herself and choosing who is the most trustworthy. Carol wasn’t always the most resilient of people, but she transformed into a woman capable of making immense changes and decisions that bettered her and the group of survivors.

Medical Training

Carol has changed in a lot of ways over the course of the show, and something she learned was that to survive the apocalypse, one must develop useful skills.

In season 3 of The Walking Dead, Carol begins to learn basic medical techniques to help aid the group of survivors. When Lori gets closer to her impending labor, Carol makes the decision to learn how to perform a cesarean in case it is necessary. She even goes as far as to practice on a walker. These skills are not only helpful during Lori’s pregnancy but during the apocalypse in general.

Teaching Defense

Carol is one of the best characters in the show, doing what she has to do to survive and ensure others she cares about do too.

One of her best decisions was going against the council’s wishes at the prison and teaching the children to defend themselves, fight back against enemies, and kill walkers. She cleverly conducted these training sessions under a ruse of storytime. She was well ahead of the other adults’ viewpoint on how children are going to be protected by protecting themselves.

Ending Lizzie

Carol has also made a lot of bad decisions that affected not only herself but other survivors. However, she made the difficult but right decision to end the child who murdered her own sister and was planning to turn her knife on baby Judith next.

There was always something concerning with Lizzie, right from the beginning when she was shown sympathizing with and humanizing walkers. While it was a terrible tragedy all around, there was seemingly little else Carol could do.

Not Giving Up On Daryl

While Daryl is one of the most loved characters to date, he wasn’t always the most likable. In the earlier seasons, he was often distant from the group, and most of them were content with letting him do what he wanted.

Carol never gave up on him, sticking by him even after he said terrible things about her and the loss of her daughter. It was her persistence in showing him she cared about him that inevitably led to her being one of Daryl’s dearest friends.

Her Weakness Act

At the start of the series, Carol was a scared character that quivered under her awful husband’s shadow. Even after Ed dies, it takes Carol a long time to find her inner strength.

She holds onto her previous personality, however, in the most tactical way, feigning the meekness she once had in the face of enemies so they wouldn’t perceive her as a threat. When she and Maggie are captured by Saviors, she uses this tactic until the opportune moment.

Her Wolves Disguise

Carol has also had her share of epic moments, using her smarts in instances when she needs to take control and do what needs to be done.

When the Wolves invaded Alexandria and tried killing all of the survivors in the community, Carol disguised herself as one of the Wolves to trick them into thinking she was one of their own, and she picked them off as she walked freely through the havoc without being spotted. Carol’s bravery and ingenuity were on full display for the audience during this episode.

Building A Family

Carol changes drastically from Season One, but she still often finds it difficult to fully become comfortable living with her friends and dealing with the loss of those she cares about.

It isn’t until Season Nine when she is shown in a dedicated relationship with Ezekiel that the audience sees how comfortable Carol has become in her current situation. She had one of the most unexpected character arcs in the show, eventually happily coupled with Ezekiel and raising young Henry.

Terminating Terminus

She also has a knack for saving people, and one of the most amazing rescues she conducted was saving the survivors when they were captured at Terminus.

Though the group could have made it out okay, considering the spectacular feats Rick had pulled off in the past, the gang was in quite a tough position before Carol stepped in. She goes in full force to the cannibals’ camp, igniting a propane tank and breaching the fence to let a hoard of walkers in to finish the Terminus citizens off.

Taking Lydia’s Hand

There was a moment of suspense when the audience was almost expecting Carol to go over the edge of the cliff with the hoard of the Whisperers’ walkers.

However, one of the final Season One survivors was saved by Lydia reaching out before she could go over the edge. While Carol fights back for a moment, she’s tough enough that she could have broken free. Instead, she chooses to accept the help and move forward in her journey.

Changing

For the first couple of seasons, the audience has a hard time rooting for Carol Peletier, who never fights back against what is happening to her.

Everything that occurred later in the series was due to Carol finally overcoming her past and choosing to survive by learning to take care of herself and choosing what really matters to her. If she had chosen to stay as one of the people that always needed to be saved, she likely would have never become one of the longest living survivors.