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The Walking Dead's zombie apocalypse might mean freedom, endless downtime, and no jobs or taxes to pay, but there’s also a lot of fighting involved to stay alive. In the beginning, it was just a fight against walkers and the elements of nature. That was even hard enough for people still reeling from society’s downfall and adjusting to a life that was out of their control. As time went on, walkers and nature were still an uphill battle to defeat, but with the added struggle of humans being the enemy as well.

Some of the best fights in The Walking Dead’s history were the ones that were never expected. The Governor ambushing the prison in Season 4 of the main series saw the death of Hershel Greene and the destruction of the group’s home that they worked hard to upkeep. Troy Otto sending a horde of walkers to his own ranch as retaliation for his exile proved that humans would stoop to using the walkers as weapons to betray their own kind, all to demonstrate a point. When it comes to 

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, fights between humans were to show one’s strength, only for Daryl or Carol’s enemies to underestimate their abilities. Nothing in recent years, however, has quite lived up to the recent fight sequences between Solaz del Mar and the Primitivos, executed on a Game of Thrones scale that The Walking Dead has never achieved before.

The Walking Dead Almost Always Fell Short of Game of Thrones' Standards

The Walking Dead tried to go full 

Game of Thrones in Season 10, Episode 11, "Morning Star," though it didn't exactly live up to the potential that it was teased to have. The episode takes place at the Hilltop, where the Coalition fights against the Whisperers' attack to protect the community. Airing not long after Game of Thrones' final season, the battle was heavily compared to the Battle of Winterfell, only shorter and with better lighting. For that, The Walking Dead did win brownie points over Game of Thrones. To note, the episode wasn't bad whatsoever. It was actually quite entertaining and tense, but it's no Game of Thrones. And the fact is, that's okay. The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones have completely different tones, the former being more gritty on a smaller scale and the latter being more cinematic on a larger scale.

However, when it's asked to compare a television battle sequence to those of Game of Thrones, it will more than likely be underwhelming. Game of Thrones had its flaws in its final season, but it broke barriers in the television industry by bringing bold greatness often seen in film to the small screen. Its battles were a spectacle people looked forward to. Fans made watch party events out of them. The episodes featuring the Battle of the Bastards, The Battle of Blackwater Bay and Hardhome are considered some of the greatest television episodes of all time. A 

Walking Dead episode with a massively lower budget that doesn't even feature the entire battle (the episode cuts from the pinnacle of the fighting to the aftermath) will fall below its expected standards.

The Walking Dead tried to imitate another show's identity that doesn't quite fit its mold. The Coalition soldiers were choreographing their own formations with shields, medieval swords, axes and spears, just like any army would've done on 

Game of Thrones. It didn't fit the style and tone The Walking Dead had established for several seasons. The archaic armaments were silly for a show based in the 2010s. The display of the Dark Ages would've perhaps been more appropriate had the show been set many more decades into the future as society slipped backwards in time.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Finally Figures Out the Art of a Battle Sequence

After "Morning Star," The Walking Dead struggled with finding its own identity when it came to large-scale fight sequences. Whether in the main show or spinoffs, nearly every battle seemed like it belonged in another series. But even in old age, 

The Walking Dead proves that new talents can be discovered. In Season 3, Episode 4 of Daryl Dixon, the survivors of Solaz del Mar are ambushed by the Primitivos, a nomadic group of barbaric enemies thirsty for turmoil. The unexpectedness of the attack puts the community into a state of urgency. People are panicked and shuffling to safety. Soldiers don't have time to put on suits of armor for protection. All they have is their wits and weapons.

Most of the weapons are applicable to the time the show takes place, as well. A couple of exceptions include a pretty old gun that Fede uses and the slingshots of burning walkers, which was a cool addition. It's refreshing to see The Walking Dead stick to modernity rather than relying on medieval practices to appeal to that type of genre.

The disorderly conduct of the battle (which goes on for a good length of time) is the essence of what makes the best Walking Dead fight sequences remarkable. Under these literal and metaphorical masks, these are ordinary people who once had jobs to get to, laundry to clean, and groceries to buy. They're as ordinary as they come. The apocalypse threw them into survivalist situations that they weren't prepared for. Several years later, they're still improvising in life-and-death scenarios because it's not ingrained in their DNA.

The attack on Solaz del Mar will probably come to be one of the most memorable moments in The Walking Dead history, and not because it "copies" Game of Thrones. It's just as great as a Game of Thrones battle, but Daryl Dixon makes it unique to the world of the undead. The fight choreography, direction, stunts and props are all authentic to The Walking Dead's grounded, modest tone. Is it too late to grab people's attention to tune into more of Daryl Dixon? Who knows. But The Walking Dead flaunting that it hasn't lost its magic touch will impress the current viewers enough to stick around for more.

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