| ||
|---|---|---|
| Declan O'Day | ||
| Status |
Deceased | |
| Theme |
| |
| Age |
29 | |
| Origin |
Southern United States | |
| Relations |
Gillian Shamp (ex-fiancée) | |
| Season(s) | ||
| Flashback episode(s) |
"D.O.C." | |
| First seen | ||
| Last seen | ||
| Death |
Shot repeatedly by Eddie, reanimated and face smashed in with a rock by PJ ("You Won't Like Tomorrow") | |
| Appeared in |
22 episodes | |
| Portrayed by | ||
| “ |
It’s obvious I have no place in this group. I’d like an opportunity to be alone. By the time we meet again, I’ll be a changed man. I just want to prove it to everyone. |
” |
— Declan, to Tom, Equivocacy | ||
Declan O'Day was a main character in Eden Rising. Declan was a mysterious outsider with a dark past and a will to redeem himself for his past mistakes. He was a prisoner when the outbreak unleashed, in jail for his involvement in a gang rape while he was a teenager. After stumbling upon the town of Glenley, Declan became a farmhand, responsible for providing Glenley of its crops and main food source. It seems to be a common theme of Declan's character that he tries to open up to people by taking care of them, children in particular, as he attempts to fill the empty void in his life left by his fiancée Gillian and her son, who he hoped he would one day be reunited with.
After his past as a prisoner was revealed to the group, Declan decided to go on his own and try to find his own path to Eden, hoping to reunite with them at the bio-dome paradise as a changed man. They did reunite, but not in the way either party expected, as Declan became a member of the religious group known as the Last Chance Society. After reuniting with his friends and learning that the Last Chance Society's hierarchy was corrupted, Declan was reunited with Gillian's son PJ. He learned of Gillian's death, but was able to recreate a relationship with the boy he helped raise. Tragically, after finally getting the relationship with PJ he always wanted, Declan was shot dead right in front of PJ during Eddie's shooting rampage throughout Eden.
Personality[]
Peer pressure resulted in Declan making bad decisions in his younger days, but he always did his best to atone for those mistakes. The only thing Declan had ever asked for in his life was forgiveness, and he only wanted it from two individuals; her fiance and her son, the only two people he ever really loved in his entire life. Declan felt confident in their ability to stay alive all these years, looking forward to the prospect of reuniting with them once more. This was because their presence was the only thing that ever made him truly happy.
A humble soul, Declan was aware of his flaws but never liked to wear them on his sleeve. However, he was always willing to carry the weight of his own mistakes on his shoulders. He also had an appreciation for nature and the beauty of the world.
History[]
It was revealed that Declan was once engaged to a woman named Gillian Shamp, who had a child named PJ from a previous relationship, whom he helped raise. However, as a member of a gang rape when he was a teenager, Declan was wracked by guilt of the situation and went to prison in order to pay penance for what he did.
After the outbreak occurred, Declan was freed from prison by The General, who stormed the prison in order to recruit people to be part of his elite army known as the "Jugulators". Declan, instead, fled on his own and attempted to find his family to no avail. He then stumbled upon Glenley and took refuge at an elderly man named Bart's farm, where he learned to appreciate nature and the wide open space and work as a farmhand.
Despite the importance of his job in Glenley, the townsfolk didn't know much about him, considering he wandered upon the town on his own and was just taken in by the resident farmer Bart to work on the farm and help him out. After the death of Bart, Declan was forced to take over the farm, with Gwen of New Venice stepping in to help him. Declan and Gwen had drunken sex after encountering each other in the town's bar and Gwen being allured by the "mysterious outsider" thing Declan has going on, though neither shows interest in taking their fling to the next level.
After The General storms over Glenley, Declan fled with the others. Shortly after the group started to hit their stride and figure out what they're doing and where their ultimate destination will be, Declan's past came out in the form of one of his fellow prisoners showing up, a man named Jasper. Declan began to question his position in the group, feeling further guilt as Gwen admitted to him that she was once raped. When she was attacked by Jasper and he flees, Declan felt it's responsibility to find and take care of him. Jasper was found dead, ripped apart by a biter inside a mansion he took refuge in. Upon clearing out the mansion, Declan decided it would be a good place for the group to stay and the others agree with him.
The next day, young Joey went missing. Declan stays behind to contemplate his position in the group, and soon decided to abandon them and go on his own to prevent further conflict. He wanted to find himself and decided to take a different path, to a different "pick-up station" than the others, in order to maybe one day reunite at Eden. He headed off on his own, to parts unknown.
Sometime after leaving, Declan was discovered by John Smith and his gang at the Last Chance Society. He admitted his past to them immediately, and Smith allowed him to join the group, having a great deal of respect for Declan's honesty. Declan began to take care of a young girl named Chrissie, the daughter of an insane woman named Maude, who was recently banished from the group for her obscene and disturbing behavior.
A few weeks after leaving Tom's group, Declan and Bray were out hunting, when he reunited with Kelvin in the forest. Bringing Kelvin alongside Gareth to the Last Chance Society, he introduced them to the religious group. Declan's devotion to Chrissie was seen as a form of redemption and trying to set things right in his life by helping her. She replaced the void left in Declan's life by PJ, finding a way to father another child.
However, when Chrissie was murdered along with the town's other children four months later, Declan fell into a dark place again. He and Ivy, a fellow resident of the Last Chance Society, began to suspect John Smith and his regime, and the pair went behind the back of Kelvin and Benedict's investigations for their own. They discovered nothing except for a conspiracy behind the birth of John Smith's baby with poster girl Libby.
Later, when more of Tom's group arrived in the Society, things started to blow up in a civil war between John Smith and Father Warden, and Declan got caught in the middle. He and Ash were locked up in the 'Red Zone' by Kelvin, who claimed it's only for their protection, but they were later set to be executed under orders of John Smith. Kelvin interrupted the execution, sacrificing himself to save Declan and Ash.
Declan ended up leaving the Society and heading to the airport with the other survivors, where he finally reunited with PJ. The reunion was not quite as emotional as he expected, realizing the young boy he helped raise was now a teenager he can barely recognize, a teenager who barely remembers him at all. Along with the others, Declan boarded a rescue plane to Eden.
In the near-year since the season 2 finale, Declan had since agreed to joint custody with Manila Shea, the woman who had been taking care of PJ since his mother's death. Manila's sudden disappearance threw everyone for a loop, including Declan, who became convinced something was wrong. Declan went to Simon Boyle, a former photojournalist, with this information and hoped that Simon would help him. Simon needed proof, however. Declan found PJ one night fixing up a classic car that he and Manila had always wanted to fix up. He found a note nearby that read:
"I WAS WARNED. IT WAS ALL MACPHERSON."
Declan gave this note to Simon, who decided to finally look into Manila's disappearance.
Declan heard rumors of Rory preparing to propose to Kitty, and gave the engagement ring he's had from when he was engaged to Gillian all of those years ago, to Rory. He decided that he'd pass it on to someone who needed it instead of hogging it. Rory thanked him.
Later, PJ and Ash were announced to have been kidnapped by The Serpent and an angry Declan joined Tom, Leigh and Touch Star employee and "chaperone" Victor in the rescue mission to recover them. Upon rescuing Ash and PJ, Declan also reunited with Gwen on the island. On the boat ride back to Eden, Declan asked Gwen out for a drink and a picnic. Finally putting things behind her, Gwen accepted his request.
Back at Eden finally, Declan and PJ were walking to the suites. They discussed their dates, and PJ's upcoming reunion with Darla. While Declan struggled in his advice with sex for PJ, bullets ripped through the air. Eddie, a disgruntled citizen who just lost his brother and was manipulated by Chandra MacPherson to shoot up the dome, claimed Declan as one of his victims. Declan's body fell on top of PJ, shielding the traumatized boy from being shot by Eddie too. But when Eddie walked away and PJ looked into Declan's eyes, he realized the only dad he knew was already dead.
Declan reanimated, and PJ put him down by using a rock to smash in his head, mirroring the death of PJ's mother and Declan's fiancée Gillian.Killed Victims[]
- Numerous counts of infected
- Hiro Kim
Trivia[]
- Declan was the fourth main character to die.
- Declan appeared in seven episodes per season, except for his single season four appearance, which was in the form of stock footage.
- Three of them in the third season were post-death, as a corpse for one episode and in flashbacks for the latter two appearances. His fourth post-death appearance in "Let's Deal the Cards Again, Part II" has him surpass Kate and Sidney (both with a total of three) for the most appearances of a main character post-death.
Appearances[]
| Season One appearances | ||||
| Every New Beginning Come from Some Other Beginning's End | Next, or: How I Learned to Start Worrying and Love the Back-Up Plan | Cacophony | Cutthroat Jugulators and Crying Little People | Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (As We Know It) |
| D.O.C. | Equivocacy | Birthday | Death March, Part I: Tunnel of Love, and Dismembered Limbs, Among Other Gory Things | Death March, Part II: Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them? |
| Season Two appearances | ||||
| Home | Friendly Cards Turn and Back Again | There Was No Calm Before This Storm | Thank You for Coming to Cut-throat Creek (Please Don't Overstay Your Welcome) | No Peace |
| Moccasin | A Spy in the House of Love | Wedding | You Want to End This Once and For All? | The Second Coming (That Which We Have Wrought) |
| Season Three appearances | ||||
| Snapdragon | Jiang Shi | Let's Go to Commercial, or: How I Got Laid in a Pretty Pink House | Where in the World Have You Been, Manila Shea? | You Won't Like Tomorrow |
| Tomorrow | It's Turtles All the Way Down and the Bottom Is Oh-So Close | Funeral | The Mourning After | Serpentine Fire |
| Season Four appearances | ||||
| Let's Deal the Cards Again, Part I | Let's Deal the Cards Again, Part II | Halcyon | Bury the Hatchet | |
| Converge | 'Tis Pity She's a Dead Whore | Our Mutual Friend | The False Knight on the Road and the God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues | |
| Show Me Your Teeth | Shadowboxing | I Just Wasn't Made for These Times | Mad World | |