Theory: The Walking Dead past lies in the Fear TWD present

The Walking Dead universe made quite a few time jumps in 2018, but finding out what happened in TWD might rest with Fear the Walking Dead.

Now that The Walking Dead is firmly planted some seven-plus years after All Out War, the show has once again leapfrogged over its companion series Fear the Walking Dead. Could the newly expanded universe offer a clue about future crossovers? Is finding out more about The Walking Dead’s six year past rooted in Fear the Walking Dead? What is the future of Fear given that six years now separate the two shows?

The keyword is “future.”

My theory: A Fear the Walking Dead crossover with The Walking Dead is now even more likely because the future of Fear includes a trip to Alexandria to reveal what happened in the early days of The Walking Dead six year time jump. In other words, the present-day story in Fear the Walking Dead is tied to the past (i.e. timespan within the six-year time jump) of The Walking Dead. Fear doesn’t have to move forward to catch up to TWD, rather it can remain in the past and connect with TWD during the time jump and that’s where fans will learn more about what happened after Rick’s disappearance.

Here’s how that works:

Morgan left The Walking Dead following the end of All Out War and his trip to Texas and the time he spent there, along with the time it’s going to take to get back to Alexandria, will add up to about the same 18-month time period between The Walking Dead 816 and 901. In fact, the hurricane from Fear might be responsible for the washed out bridge that Rick and the group were working on early on in season 9. Rick and Eugene mentioned a big storm, so it’s quite possible they’re the same weather systems.

At the end of Fear season 4 the newly formed band of trucker missionaries was headed for Alexandria so that Morgan could reunite with Rick. By the time they get there, Rick will already be gone.

It makes a lot of sense from a narrative standpoint to have Morgan arrive after Rick “died” because this will keep him from wanting to stay there. Enough time would have to pass so that Morgan doesn’t join the search for Rick (if there was one) and once Morgan paid his dues the group would move on. Magna’s group talked about other communities out there, so perhaps the future seasons of Fear will be spent exploring them.

The biggest benefit to Morgan arriving in Alexandria after Rick’s disappearance is that this would place them in the six year time jump period. This would be a chance for The Walking Dead to reveal what happened and what it all looked like after losing Rick, possibly including revealing a pregnant Michonne and Maggie prior to her eventual departure from the Hilltop. It would be a great way to reveal answers to the burning questions fans have without overstaying the welcome, given that the future is moving forward on the flagship series.

This Fear/TWD crossover is even more possible thanks to the new contracts that Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride signed that gives them carte blanche to move around all of the new content in the expanded universe, which presumably includes Fear the Walking Dead. Danai Gurira is exploring options for a similar contract, and the timing could coincide with Lauren Cohan’s availability, which would pave the way for at least a cameo. That means this is all at least feasible, much more so now than ever before.

The way the shows line up now unfortunately means that we would not be able to have Charlie meet time jump Judith, which would have been kind of awesome. Connie hasn’t arrived at Alexandria yet so she wouldn’t be able to meet Al (since they’re both journalists), but we would have Strand meeting King Ezekiel and that would be pretty darn cool. And who wouldn’t want the franchise’s two men of few words, Daryl Dixon and John Dorie, sharing a scene together?

Most importantly, a crossover in the early days of The Walking Dead six-year time jump would allow both shows to move forward simultaneously in both the past (Fear) and present (TWD). Even if the crossover only lasted a couple of episodes it would be enough to provide a glimpse of what life was like in the early days post-Rick. We don’t need to rehash all six years, but seeing those early days, say anywhere in Year One Post Rick, would provide a great deal of insight into what’s happening on the show now.

While all of this is just my theory, one thing is absolutely certain: The expanded Walking Dead universe opens up a whole new world of exciting possibilities.