Rick then tried manufacturing more justification by assuming that Carl helped Siddiq for the latter’s medical skills, but Carl again chipped it all away by telling Rick he saved Siddiq because the man needed help, plain and simple.
Though shocked and saddened, Michonne seemed to instantly understand the magnitude of the situation, while Rick did the normal Rick thing by laying the blame at others’ feet.
But Carl’s sincerity made Rick accept that his son’s tragic death isn’t one to be instantly avenged with more mass murders, and that Carl’s own selfless attempt to save another survivor is what doomed him.
Those two empathy-heavy concepts will likely be bouncing around Rick’s noggin for the remainder of the All Out War, too, as he begins allowing his mercy to overtake his wrath.