Remember Shane? He hasn't been on The Walking Dead for a while, but a key part of the latest episode of the show brought his memory back to the forefront in a big way, along the way answering a major question fans have held for multiple seasons now.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead below!

That question is, of course, who exactly Judith's father is. If you remember way back to the first season, Rick's best friend Shane and Rick's wife Lori hooked up, with the two of them believing Rick to be dead. Rick eventually meets up with Shane, Lori and a group of survivors, after which Lori gets back together with Rick. It's later revealed that Lori is pregnant with a daughter they eventually name Judith.

So is Rick or Shane Judith's dad? Most fans have long assumed Shane to be the father, and the latest episode of The Walking Dead season 7 outright confirmed it in a conversation between Rick and Michonne.

In the episode, Rick attempts to explain to Michonne why the survivors of Alexandria are bowing down to Negan by relating it to how Rick chose to accept Shane's daughter by Lori as his own. Rick eventually had to come to terms with the fact that Lori and Shane were intimate.

Accepting that fact, and choosing to love and raise Judith regardless, was Rick's way of moving on with his life. Rick is essentially telling Michonne that, in order for them all to move on with their lives, they have to accept the hard reality of letting Negan have his way.

Now, there is no definitive way to know that Judith is 100 percent Shane's daughter. It's not like he can go have a DNA test done, after all. But it seems safe to assume that Lori told Rick that Judith wasn't his, and she would probably know.

'The Walking Dead' TV Series vs. Comic Series

It's yet another way the show and The Walking Dead comic series have diverged. Not only do Shane and Lori die far differently in the comics than on the show, but creator Robert Kirkman has never outright said in the comics whether or not Judith was Shane or Rick's child.

Comic readers assumed Judith to be Shane's daughter, but it's not an issue that kept many fans up at night considering Judith actually dies alongside Lori in the original source material.

That obviously didn't happen on the show, where Judith continues to be a major factor in Rick's life. While many fans likely felt they already know who Judith's daddy was, it's nice for the show to state it outright. Even if it took five seasons to do so.

The Walking Dead airs on AMC Sunday nights.

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