TWD World Beyond Theory: The Ultimate Weapon Of Mass Destruction

The revelation of the Civic Republic Military’s experiments may mean they have the ultimate weapon of mass destruction in The Walking Dead universe.

At the beginning of this week’s episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, we watched Dr. Leo Bennett do some tests on the contents of the vial that Felix stole from Dr. Lyla Belshaw’s secret laboratory full of gas canisters and frozen walkers. Dr. Bennett concluded that the liquid inside the vials was chlorine.

However, Hope Bennett questioned the fact that the liquid was green when liquid chlorine is supposed to be clear, something Leo also noticed and deemed worth more examination.

At the same time this was going on, we watched what Dr. Belshaw was doing with the chlorine. She uses it to kill people to see how long it took them to turn into zombies. Her goal with these tests was to achieve a test where a subject didn’t reanimate.

While her intent might have been noble, the methods of achieving that end weren’t. But, what might have been less noble was how she was conducting these tests. I’m not talking about chlorine, but rather, what might be in it.

The Walking Dead World Beyond theory: The CRM wave weaponized the virus

Something occurred to me today while writing about Leo and Hope saying that the chlorine shouldn’t be green for my Connecting The Walking Dead article. When Felix was investigating Belshaw’s lab, the gas canisters he found read “Biohazard.”

We saw Lyla using the chlorine gas to kill off test subjects to see how long until they turned, so it stands to reason that the canisters’ contents were the chlorine gas, right?

Well, I’ve looked it up: Chlorine gas is not considered a “biohazard.” That term is specifically for microorganisms dangerous to humans and animals, so why would chlorine gas be labeled a biohazard? Answer: If it was laced with a harmful microorganism, like the one that causes the zombie virus.

Now, you might think the CRM creating something which causes the zombie virus is somewhat redundant; after all, chlorine gas, a.k.a. mustard gas, has been a deadly weapon of war going back to World War I if they just wanted to make zombies, that alone could do the job.

However, the CRM is trying to find a cure for reanimation. It is, in fact, the very reason for their experiments. But, what if, that’s only half of why they’re doing it? I don’t mean that they’re looking for a cure (They probably are, but I think that, at this point, would be a bonus for them), but rather, that they’re looking for a means to control when someone turns.

Over this season of World Beyond, we’ve learned that the CRM uses massive herds to destroy other communities, so the idea of using the dead as a weapon of mass destruction is not beyond them by any means. However, it leaves them with a big mess afterward. Look at all the effort they have to put into clearing the dead; the team Silas is now part of is just one of the culling centers the CRM has. Don’t you think they’d like a simpler way?

I think the CRM hopes that if they can figure out a way to prevent reanimation, they can control it.

Imagine how much easier things would be for the CRM if they could create a version of the virus which, after a set number of hours, could just shut off whatever reanimates the dead, kill them instantly, and then cut the clean-up they’d have to do after using a herd to destroy another civilization in half. Instead of killing or collecting all of the walkers they used to destroy that other community, they could wait a few hours and then clean up the walkers of the community they killed. Who knows? Maybe their new version would spread to the people their walkers have bit, meaning they could wait them out, too. With their aim to make themselves the only game in town and slowly start reclaiming New York (If not other parts of North America), this would make their job a hell of a lot easier.

On top of that, having this would net them the same kind of results that Teddy Maddox was trying to achieve in Fear The Walking Dead. The mass death of another community without worrying about long-term hazards, like black plague or radiation, could come around and bite the Civic Republic later down the road.

That, to me, sounds like the recipe for the ultimate weapon of mass destruction—the kind without any of those pesky drawbacks. Just the sort of thing a megalomaniacal and ruthlessly pragmatic entity like the Civic Republic Military would love to use.

But, what do you think? Do you believe that the CRM is planning to find a way to weaponize the zombie virus? Do you think they could find a way to shut off reanimation? Or do you think I’m crazy with this one? I’m curious to hear! And, if you enjoyed this and want to learn how to stay alive in a zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can also get it at Amazon here, on iTunes here!