Season 2 of
The Walking Dead wrapped in a blitz of zombie mayhem on Fox FX on Tuesday night with the series delivering the biggest surprise yet: a mystery hooded babe who slashed a zombie to a pulp to save Andrea.
She only appeared for a few moments but she'll be back in Season 3 for more meaty moments because she's a pivotal character in The Walking Dead comics.
If you're familiar with the comics you'll know that her name's Michonne and that she's close with Rick. She's a protector of the survivors who feels alone in her experiences and perspective, in much the same way Rick feels.
News about who'll be playing her has been a tightly held secret which was only revealed on Sunday night immediately after the finale aired in the US.
Each episode of the series has been followed by a special companion show called The Talking Dead - which I really wish we could have seen here too. I have no clue why it hasn't aired here - I'm going to investigate for us.
It includes discussions about various aspects of each episode and on Sunday night executive producer Robert Kirkman announced that Danai Gurira has been cast as Michonne:
Danai was born in the US, in Iowa, and her parents are Zimbabwean. They moved back to Zimbabwe when she was five and then returned to the US where Danai went to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Her most notable TV role to date was in HBO's
Treme, where she played Jill - it aired on Mzansi Magic in September last year. She's also had guest roles on
Lie To Me,
Life on Mars and
Law & Order and she's had roles in various movies including
The Visitor.
Even though Michonne's made her debut on Walking Dead, Danai hasn't been on the show yet. The series was so determined to keep the casting hush-hush they only decided who would play her
after filming the scene so it wasn't her playing the shadowy figure in the finale.
As for the gruesome twosome she's dragging on each side of her ... they're her ex-boyfriend and his pal, with their arms chopped off and without their teeth. She's obviously into women's lib big-time and will be sharing various tips on what to do when men turn.
Luckily there isn't an epic wait until we meet her properly - Season 3 premieres in late September. To pass the time between then and now, check out The Talking Dead online here:
The Talking Dead. The site doesn't have the actual companion shows that aired on TV but features various bonus discussions and cool snippets.