Sakina Traoré

**Sakina Traoré** is a Bambara pureblood witch of Burkina Faso, mother of Ayanda Mawela and wife of Sanele Mawela.

## Personality

She is a shrewd businesswoman. She keeps her cards close to her chest, knows what she wants, and goes for it with confidence and certainty.

### Michonne Hawthorne

Michonne is both a tough and a good hearted survivor. She tends to work alone and keeps much of her past secret, but possesses a keen sense of intuition. Michonne once said that she "trusts her gut" when it comes to other survivors. It was revealed that she likes art and/or sculptures as she looted a cat sculpture and claimed that it was "too damn gorgeous" to leave behind. When she first comes to the group she is very quiet. As time goes on, however, she gradually opens up to the group, specifically Rick and Carl, and becomes accepted by the whole group.
Michonne appeared to have an aversion to babies, as she vehemently refused to hold Rick's daughter Judith until Beth Greene forced her to, and, while looking at Judith, shed tears, before hugging Judith close. Michonne later establishes that this is a manifestation of the guilt she feels for losing her own son, Andre.
Toward the end of the fifth season when the group is presented the offer to join Alexandria, unlike most of the group, Michonne is confident of Aaron's good faith, showing an optimistic attitude contrasting with Rick's irrational distrust. Michonne assures Rick that they can't let that opportunity go if they want to stay sane, and encourages everyone to try and integrate in their new lifestyle, arguing that spending so much time without a sense of safety had nearly stripped the group out of their humanity. As part of this, she decides to "live again" and in response, hangs up her sword on the wall.
When she next goes outside the walls again, for the first time in days, she starts to feel uncomfortable and is internally struggling with the want or need to be on the outside, and at the same time, finds solace the the fact that she did not reach for her sword. When she later sees Rick having his tantrum after beating up Pete, she quickly steps in and knocks him out to avoid the risk of the group being kicked out. Later, Michonne reluctantly agrees with Rick in the fact that Deanna's leadership approach puts the community at risk. After Pete finds her sword and tries to kill Rick with it, ending in Reg's death, Deanna allows Rick to execute Pete, tacitly admitting that killing is necessary in some cases. Due to this, Michonne debates putting the sword back on the wall. She decides to put it on her back again, indicating she's reached a balance between wanting to try and never wanting to forget.
Eventually, Rick decides to confront the tyrannical rule of Negan and The Saviors, resulting in Alexandria's subjugation, Glenn and Abraham's deaths, and Rick's complete loss of confidence and hope. Upon his decision of obeying Negan's abusive rules, Michonne tries to make Rick understand that that kind of life is no life at all, and that they should fight the tyranny to give everyone a better future, showing her optimistic outlook once again. Rick undestands Michonne's vision once Aaron is nearly beaten to death due to a simple misunderstanding with a Savior, making him admit that his judgement was clouded by the guilt, and starting to plan their insurrection against Negan.
By Season 9, and 18 months after the end of the war against the Saviors, Michonne has adopted a more peaceful and democratic way of leadership and is seen trying to unite all the communities to accomplish Carl's vision of rebuilding a civilization for the future.
Six years later after Rick's supposed "death", Michonne has started to be hardened, colder, distrustful and cautious to newcomers, and is distant from other communities, mostly Hilltop. She is extremely suspicious of outsiders such as Magna's group, refusing to let them settle in Alexandria but relenting to take them to the Hilltop at the insistence of Judith. Michonne's attitude towards Magna's group softens overtime and she later tells Daryl that while she started helping them because Judith vouched for the group, Michonne is now willing to vouch for their trustworthiness herself. Due to the events of Jocelyn and her kids, Michonne has become distant from her oldest friends who treat her coldly to the point that Michonne feared what Maggie would do to her if they met again. She also refuses to mend bridges with the other communities in the way that people would like. However, the threat of the Whisperers has helped Michonne begin to reconcile at least somewhat with her friends, expressing her appreciation for Daryl's search for Rick's body and earning her the warm thanks of Tara for Michonne's help with the situation that had erupted. While initially angry at Aaron for his stance of keeping up communication with the other communities, Michonne later apologizes to him for her reaction.

## Etymology

* Traoré is Dyula name meaning "will call Tara".
* Sakina means "peaceful" and comes from Arabic.