Fear the Walking Dead Theory: Do the Stalkers have Madison?

Madison Clark is returning to Fear The Walking Dead, but where has she been? Do the Stalkers have her captive? In this theory, I try to find out.

Not long ago, I asked how Madison survived her “death” in Fear The Walking Dead season four, where she’s been, and why she hasn’t tried to find or contact Alicia or Strand. How Madison survived still escapes me, and I’ve thought more about where she’s been and about why she hasn’t contacted Alicia or Strand since Dell Diamond Stadium fell. I started asking myself another question: What if she can’t?

Think about it: Alicia and Strand have been talking over radios all across Texas for more than a year since Madison “died.” It seems unlikely that she never heard either of them at least once since then, and yet, she’s never tried to reach out to them or find them. Doesn’t that seem odd?

The next question from this original one is this: If Madison can’t contact Alicia or Strand, what, or who is stopping her?

That’s when it hit me…

Fear the Walking Dead theory: The Stalkers have Madison

While it hasn’t been touched upon much this season, Arno and the Stalkers are the last vestiges of Teddy Maddox’s death cult. They may not preach his philosophy openly, but it should not be assumed that they don’t adhere to it. If we recall from Alicia’s flashback in the midseason finale, one of the first things the survivors inside the Franklin Hotel’s fallout shelter did was attempt to sacrifice Alicia to Senator Vasquez’s walker to make her into “fresh compost.” Arno, recognizing Alicia as the one Teddy foretold would lead them into the future, stopped his cohorts from killing her.

Unlike the follower who tried to kill Alicia, who was dismissive of Teddy’s ritual of asking recruits what they saw when looking at a walker strapped to a tree, Arno spoke about Teddy with respect and seemed to believe in his vision of the future. He even accepted Teddy’s belief that Alicia would come around to lead them into that future (Which, coincidentally, turned to be at least partially true). Arno believed in Teddy and, presumably, his philosophy, meaning that he would possibly carry it out even after Teddy’s death.

As we would learn, the whole reason that the Stalkers were stripping walkers in the wasteland was in the hope of confusing Alicia if she were to lose Senator Vasquez’s walker, preventing her from finding PADRE and trying to reignite civilization.

The point of all of this is Arno’s enough of a believer in Teddy’s warped outlook that, if he found someone he thought could or would attempt to aid Alicia in her quest (Someone like Madison, per se), he’d try to prevent them from getting to her, to ensure those rebuilding efforts do not get off the ground.

You see, I’m starting to think that the reason Madison hasn’t contacted Alicia or Strand isn’t that she doesn’t know they’re around or doesn’t want to contact them, but rather, I think at some point after the nukes fell, she tried to find them, and wound up finding Arno and the Stalkers instead.

During this encounter, either Madison realized Arno and company were weirdos and pretended to be like-minded to avoid getting attacked by them and maybe let them lead her to Alicia, or Arno realized that Madison was the kind of person who’d help Alicia or Strand and decided to hold her hostage to stop her. Either way, I think it’s possible that when we finally see Madison again, it’ll be in the custody of Arno and the last of Teddy’s death cult.

Additionally, I wonder, if Arno should realize who Madison is to Alicia and Strand, will he try to use her as a hostage or bargaining chip against them? Will this be what brings Alicia and Strand together?

But, what do you think? Do you think that Arno and the Stalkers have nabbed Madison? Do you think she’s infiltrating them? Do you believe if Arno realizes who Madison is, it will end the war between Alicia and Strand? Let me know! I’m curious! 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!