'The Walking Dead' showrunner says she's not trolling fans with the show's latest reveal about Daryl

• Warning: There are huge spoilers ahead for season 10, episode 18 of "The Walking Dead."
• Angela Kang confirms to Insider that Daryl and Leah had "some kind of a romantic relationship."
• Kang hopes fans will "give the story a chance."

Sunday's "The Walking Dead" may have caught a lot of Daryl (Norman Reedus) fans off guard.

For years, many have hoped to either see Daryl and Carol (Melissa McBride) or Daryl and Connie (Lauren Ridloff) together. Others, have read him as asexual.

Instead, the show surprisingly introduced a new character, Leah (Lynn Collins), into the mix as a romantic interest for Daryl.

What's going on? Where did the idea of Leah come from?

Insider asked showrunner Angela Kang just that and she promised that she's not trying to rattle the fandom.

"Oh my God. I'd never try to troll the fans," Kang said via phone earlier this month while discussing the show's long-awaited return to TV.

"We had this giant jump of six years, after 'Rick's death,' and that's a long time and a lot can happen in that time," Kang continued. "We know that Daryl was off on his own."

The showrunner said there were other questions the writers room was grappling with, including the fact that Daryl "shows up with this dog. Where did the dog come from? Who was he turning to during his grief?"

Sunday's episode rewinds the clock a few years back to when Daryl was living on his own and searching for Rick after his disappearance on season nine. He has a few run-ins with Leah and meets her canine companion, Dog, giving everyone's favorite "TWD" pupper an origin story.

Grieving the loss of her own family, Leah and Daryl have major losses to bond over.

In a behind-the-scenes feature after the episode on AMC+, Kang explains that Leah is almost a mirror to Daryl, saying the two have the same trust issues and both are good at reading other people.

For anyone who may be wondering why the show wouldn't have shown Carol and Daryl potentially pairing off, the show had already established Carol had an existing partnership during that time.

"I think it's worth noting that during this time, Carol was pairing off with Ezekiel," Kang told Insider. "She was getting more and more involved with him. For all intents and purposes, they became partners at that time without having married because she's a little commitment averse."

"At the same time, here's this man who's completely alone out in the wild," Kang said of Daryl. "What happens when you're in the midst of that kind of grief? I think if there's anything that many of us have learned from the pandemic, it's the value of human contact. And so, we always set out to tell a complex story."

Kang said she knows "when it comes to Daryl, people have very strong feelings."

"I harken back to when there were Bethyl [Beth and Daryl 'shippers] versus Caryl [Carol and Daryl] fans that were really angry. There were people who were angry about the chemistry that existed with Connie," Kang said thinking of the many 'ships that fans have created over the years for Daryl. "There's people who are Darsita [Daryl and Rosita] fans. When it comes to some of these beloved characters, there's always going to be strong emotions."

Of whatever happens moving forward with Daryl and Leah's story, Kang said, "I hope that people will give the story a chance," later hinting that a lot of "interesting" storylines may come out of that relationship.

Kang added, "We're telling a story, but it's connected to the past and the present as well as the future in a lot of ways."

Sunday's episode very much feels like a backdoor pilot to AMC's previously announced untitled "Carol and Daryl" spinoff, which Kang will lead when it debuts in 2023.

We could see the two, at some point, set out on a journey to try and find Leah after "TWD" wraps up. After all, the show has been described as a road trip. The two have already joked about taking Daryl's motorcycle for a spin out to New Mexico.

We didn't have time to inquire about the spinoff with Kang during our 10-minute phone call. Instead, Insider asked if she could clarify whether or not Daryl and Leah's relationship is a romantic one.

There's a part late in the episode where it's seemingly implied that the two slept together at one point. We never see the two share a bed or be overtly physical, but we do see Leah take Daryl's hand and wrap it in hers as she starts to draw him towards her as the camera fades to black.

If you're watching the episode for the first time, it could be a bit unclear what audiences are supposed to make of that moment.

"There is some kind of a romantic relationship that existed," Kang confirmed to Insider.

What do you think of the introduction of Leah to "The Walking Dead"?

Let me, @KirstenAcuna, know or come join our Clubhouse conversation this Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET here where we'll be chatting this episode and more with Comicbook.com's Brandon Davis and Skybound's Johnny O'Dell.

As always, you can follow along with our "TWD" coverage here.