In season three, two huge things happen – Rick and the gang stumble upon the prison, and we meet the Governer. First, the prison. Even after clearing it and make it somewhat habitable, it still remains off-limits in certain areas – some corridors are still infected with zombies, etc. This, combined with the amount of time that the guys had at that stage had spent out in the wilderness, and the sheer size of the place, meant that keeping the women from using the guns was no longer viable.
Also, the addition of a whole host of new characters at the end of season two in the form of the Greene family, led by the irrascible Herschell Greene, helped. Herschel’s daughters – Maggie, and Beth – could both shoot, and through them the other female characters were trained and could also learn how to shoot. It sounds ludicrous now, right? But think back to season one, and how pathetic Lori was, or how completely helpless Carol remained up until the beginning of season four (when she began her metamorphosis into the show’s true hero and total badass).
We met the Governer through Andrea, but more importantly, we also met Michonne. Her appearance was immediately iconic with her hood and giant samurai sword, flanked by two armless (and lower jaw-less) zombies, carrying her stuff. Michonne and Andrea formed a great partnership for a year or so before stumbling across Woodbury, the town of which the Governer was, well, the governer – the town’s de facto leader. Michonne immediately distrusted him, way before Andrea (or we) realised what was going on. For the first time, possibly ever in the history, a female character had an inkling of what was going on. Andrea certainly didn’t, not until it was staring her baldly in the face. You could go into the specifics of how phallic Michonne’s sword is, but I don’t think it makes sense to in the context of the show as a whole – the men aren’t emasculated in any way, they’re as strong as they ever were, but the women are accomodated in a better way.
I think the appearance of Michonne, combined with the Greene girls and Carol’s transformation, has made the show what it is today. It’s more egalitarian, in that there’s room for somebody who isn’t male, and isn’t using a firearm of some sort. The discovery that Carol was behind the deaths of Karen and David was surprising, but only lends creedence to my theory – it’s just possible that a women could become the true centre of this show, against all the odds. The obsession with weapons remains, but it’s no longer the focus of The Walking Dead. There’s a much wider range of them now, with daggers for stabbing zombies in the head and Darryl’s crossbow sitting comfortably beside Michonne’s sword and Rick’s Colt. Is the change in attitudes a result of multiple showrunners coming and going? Maybe. All I know is that I’m all for it.