Summary
The Walking Dead: Dead Cityseason 2 has the perfect opportunity for a much-needed retcon that would iron out the biggest timeline wrinkle currently making the franchise look scruffy. If Rick Grimes grabbed a zombie, cut it open, removed its innards, spread the various guts and organs on the ground at random, then sprinkled spaghetti over the top, the resulting mess would still be easier to comprehend thanThe Walking Dead’s timeline. Even before expanding into a multi-show franchise,The Walking Deadchronology became tricky thanks to actor Chandler Riggs growing up noticeably faster than Carl Grimes.
With AMC tossing no less than five canon spinoffs into the mix,The Walking Dead’s timeline has become harder and harder to make sense of. Taking a cue from Robert Kirkman’s original comic series,The Walking Deadtypically attempts to keep its calendar as vague as possible, mitigating any continuity issues. As storylines from different shows bleed into each other, however,The Walking Deadhas been forced to drop that ambiguity, and the resulting sequence of events doesn’t quite line up. Rick Grimes' return gives rise to an especially confounding inconsistency, but it’s one thatDead Cityseason 2can address.
Dead City Season 1 Ending Explained - Negan’s Future & Walking Dead Universe Setup
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 1 ends by raising huge questions over Negan’s future, Maggie’s regrets, new franchise villains, and much more.
How Could Maggie & Negan NOT Mention Rick?
As much asThe Walking Deadattempts to obscure its timeline,The Ones Who Liveclearly takes place beforeDead City. Based on how long Rick served the CRM, Michonne’s confirmation that RJ is eight-years-old, andThe Ones Who Live’s proximity toWorld Beyond, Rick and Michonne must return to Alexandria relatively soon afterThe Walking Deadseason 11’s ending.Dead City’s exact timeline placement may not be crystal clear, but it’s almost certainly later thanThe Ones Who Live. And that’s odd, becauseneither Maggie nor Negan ever mention Rick’s survival.
Maggie’s plan to find Negan and trade him to the Croat in exchange for Hershel’s safe return does - on paper, at least - look far riskier than simply co-leading a rescue mission with Rick Grimes.
Maggie actress Lauren Cohanhas mentioned an inter-show time jump anywhere between “a few years” to “five or six years, at least” (viaOUCH), which chimes with both Hershel being played by an older actor inDead Cityand Negan’s reference to the Saviors existing up to “15 years” earlier. Maggie and Negan share almost the entirety ofDead Cityseason 1 together, often discussing past events at length, but never do they mention Rick’s return from the dead or allude to his presence in Alexandria, which is a topic that would surely come up over the course of an entire season.
A bigger question arises: why didn’t Maggie enlist Rick Grimes' help rescuing Hershel from the Croat? After years of military training with the CRM, Rick rose to the rank of sergeant major while gathering vast amounts of tactical knowledge, and by the timeThe Ones Who Liveends, the CRM is an ally to Alexandria. Maggie’s plan to find Negan and trade him to the Croat in exchange for Hershel’s safe return does - on paper, at least - look far riskier than simply co-leading a rescue mission with Rick Grimes and some troops.
The Walking Dead: Dead Citycan easily rectify season 1’s Rick Grimes plot hole by having Maggie drop a reference to Andrew Lincoln’s character early in season 2. Maggie might even make some passing justification for not involving Rick in Hershel’s retrieval - maybe revealing that she would have felt too guilty asking Rick to put himself in danger for Hershel’s sake after the entire CRM ordeal.
Perhaps, for example, Maggie mentions that actually only 18 months or two years have passed since the Commonwealth became an allied community.
None of that, however, solvesThe Walking Dead: Dead City’s underlying timeline problem. Season 1’s Rick Grimes plot hole was merely a symptom caused by the bigger issue of Negan and Maggie’s story taking place so far ahead ofThe Ones Who LiveandDaryl Dixon. AMC airing threeWalking Deadspinoffs simultaneously, but with one set way further into the future than the others, was always going to rub awkwardly, as any significant events from the earlier shows would need to be reflected inDead City.
Rick’s return to Alexandria is one example of this, but withDaryl Dixonseasons 2and 3 in development andThe Ones Who Liveseason 2also still possible, plot holes will continue to emerge.The only proper solution is forThe Walking Dead: Dead Cityseason 2 to slyly wind back its clock, making a reference that brings itself chronologically closer toDaryl DixonandThe Ones Who Live. Perhaps, for example, Maggie mentions that actually only 18 months or two years have passed since the Commonwealth became an allied community.
Doing so would giveThe Walking Deadroom to pull as many massive twists in other spinoffs as it deems fit - without those twists then needing to be factored into the more future landscape ofDead City. As a consequence,The Walking Dead’s timeline would feel a lot less like Rick Grimes' aforementioned metaphorical guts mural, and a lot more like a cohesive story.
A Special Case Demands A Special Solution
Retcons can often feel clumsy and contradictory, carving out an even bigger plot hole than was already there.Dead Cityseason 2, however, has enough narrative wiggle-room to get away with it. When Negan commented about “15 years,” for instance, he actually said “12, 15 years” as if he hadn’t been keeping track, giving enough leeway forDead Cityseason 2 to reveal it actually takes place much closer toThe Walking Dead’s ending than previously thought. Maggie’s son looking older would still be somewhat jarring, but no more so than Chandler Riggs' Carl onThe Walking Dead.
If season 2 relocatesThe Walking Dead: Dead Cityto shortly afterThe Ones Who LiveandDaryl Dixon, the franchise’s future plans would be considerably easier to map out.
Dead Cityhas become restrictive for otherThe Walking DeadTV shows. Even the simple knowledge that Oceanside still exists inDead Citymeans no otherThe Walking DeadTV show can do anything to destroy the matriarchal community. Likewise, no otherWalking Deadspinoff can visit New York City, or feature Negan, or do anything else that would contradict the world as seen inDead Cityseason 1. The benefits of removing that problem would far outweigh Hershel having a surprisingly rapid growth spurt or Negan’s poor sense of time.
Rick Grimes' Spinoff Ending Made A Future Walking Dead Crossover Way More Likely
The conclusion of Rick Grimes' spinoff set the protagonist up for a permanent return, making the chances of a Walking Dead crossover much more likely.
As a bonus, condensing the overallWalking Deadtimeline would make a crossover between shows far easier to pull off. If a reunion betweenThe Walking Dead’s various cast members ever occurs, Maggie and Negan will inevitably be involved. The crossover would then face the dilemma of whether to place itself pre-Dead Cityand sacrifice some jeopardy because viewers already know Maggie and Negan survive, or jump beyondDead Cityand potentially need to recast the likes of Judith Grimes. If season 2 relocatesThe Walking Dead: Dead Cityto shortly afterThe Ones Who LiveandDaryl Dixon, the franchise’s future plans would be considerably easier to map out.
Sources:OUCH
The Walking Dead: Dead City
A spin-off/sequel of the dramatic horror series, The Walking Dead: Dead City follows two significant characters from the main series - Maggie and Negan.
