Top 10 'The Walking Dead' Season Three Moments

We're just under a week to go until the fourth season premiere of The Walking Dead. When we last saw Rick and his band of survivors, there seemed to be some hope, but to get there, there was a lot of bad that had to happen first. Season three saw a slew of new characters introduced, including comic book favorites Michonne, the Governor and Tyreese. Last season also saw the return of Merle, Daryl's thought-to-be-dead racist older brother, in a much larger role than he had in season one. In preparation for the new episodes, let's take a look back at some of best moments from last season:

10. Morgan's Return, "Clear"

While readers of the comic knew Morgan would make his return eventually, those who only watch the show had to have been surprised to see Rick's savior from the beginning of it all back in one piece, physically if not mentally. Rick, Carl and Michonne head back to King County to collect guns for the upcoming battle with the Governor when they run into a masked man who immediately begins shooting at them. Carl shoots him, but he's wearing a vest, so it just knocks him out. When Rick gets the man, who turns out to be Morgan, into his apartment, we learn that Duane, Morgan's son, was bitten and turned by his mother, and now, Morgan's sole purpose is to clear the world of walkers. His mental state is gone, and when Rick leaves, even though he has problems of his own, he feels good about his situation because he's not alone.

9. The Governor Slaughter's Soldiers, "Walk With Me"

Much like Michonne's intro showed what she was going to be like for the rest of the season, when the Governor was introduced in the season's third episode, we knew immediately that Rick was in for a collision course that he'd never encountered before. The moment that captures the Governor's sheer evil is the slaughter of the soldiers, then blatantly lying about it to the residents of Woodbury. And then there's the whole wall of fish tanks with heads in them, so there's that too.

8. Glenn's Interrogation, "When the Dead Come Knocking"

Up until this point, Glenn had generally been the guinea pig for whatever the group needed, whether it be dropping into the well to hook the walker or making runs into walker infested towns. This time, Glenn is at the mercy of the Governor and Merle, and after being tortured in an attempt to give up the prison, Glenn is left tied down to a chair and left in the room with a hungry walker. In the ultimate survival move, Glenn breaks free, kills the walker, then uses it's bones as a weapon later on.

7. Andrea's Death, "Welcome to the Tombs"

For most of the season, Andrea fluctuated from being somewhat likable to a "why is she still on the show?" level. As viewers, we wanted to her to be helping Rick and the group, but she kept going back to the Governor, especially early on, like when she didn't let Michonne finish him off after their fight. Though, when she did finally kick the bucket, at the hands of walker Milton, and then the mercy suicide while Michonne watched, it was sad to see Andrea go.

6. Michonne's Introduction, "Seed"

Those who read the comics knew who the hooded figure was that saved Andrea at the end of season two. The rest of the viewing public got their official introduction to Michonne in the season opener. Following an excellent opening scene, one which showed the desperation of the group perfectly, we see Michonne heading into a pharmacy in a small town. There are some walkers inside, but that's not a problem for her at all. With her trusty sword, Michonne dispatches the walkers in graphic fashion. This set the table for all the awesome violence to come.

5. Daryl Kills Merle, "This Sorrowful Life"

Right after Daryl first found out that his brother was still alive during the assault on Woodbury, he was nearly forced to kill him in the Governor's gladiator arena. They escaped, and Daryl eventually convinced the group to allow Merle to join them at the prison. Rick, after his meeting with the Governor, agrees to give up Michonne, a task that Merle takes on as his own, despite knowing it's going to be an ambush. Merle lets Michonne go, then goes to the meeting place to take out as many of the Governor's men as he can. The Governor gets the drop on Merle, shooting him multiple times in the stomach. When Daryl gets to the meeting place, he sees plenty of dead bodies and a few walkers, one of them who happens to be his brother. Daryl is hesitant at first, but then, through tears, puts down his brother for good.

4. The Assault on Woodbury, "Made to Suffer"

Rick and the group had been part of some man on man violence before, namely the group they encountered in the town outside the farm in season two, but nothing comes close in scale to their assault on Woodbury in the attempt to save Glenn and Maggie. Michonne led them in, with her own agenda of course, then Rick, Daryl and Oscar open fire to save their friends. Two main things that came out of this, besides Glenn and Maggie being saved and the Governor losing his eye, was the loss of Oscar and Daryl's realization that his brother is still alive.

3. The Governor's Final Attack on the Prison, "Welcome to the Tombs"

The Governor's second attack on the prison came in the season finale. This one started off with a bang, literally, as someone blew up the guard tower with a grenade launcher, and then a bus full of walkers was dropped off inside the prison gates. Not only did the Governor try to kill Rick and all of his people, he succeeded in killing most of his own as well, furthering the notion that he's completely off his rocker.

2. Lori's Death, "Killer Within"

Lori dying, by the gunshot of her own son no less, is one of the most profound moments of the series so far. Not only did it count as another main character that was killed off (RIP Shane, Dale, Sophia, and the Farm), but it also served as the catalyst for Rick completely losing it for the rest of the season. The fact that this episode occurred only four in was an awesome sign for things to come.

1. Michonne vs. the Governor, "Made to Suffer"

The act that drove the Governor from "He's a little crazy, but he's still OK to be around" to "Ok, now he's a full blown psycho out for vengeance," the Governor seeing Michonne stab his zombified daughter sent him to a bit of a rage. The two fought all over the Governor's "trophy" room, even knocking down the wall of fish tanks. Michonne finishes off this bout by using a piece of broken glass to stab the Governor in the eye. Cue trendy eye patch.

Season Four premieres October 13 on AMC.

images: AMC