Walking Dead theory: Is this how Rick Grimes appears in series finale?

The Walking Dead series will conclude its story on AMC and AMC+ on November 20, 2022. The finale episode title, “Rest in Peace,” seems to foreshadow deaths that will come in this episode. In a final season of a long-running series, it is shocking that more major deaths haven’t occurred. Recent promo photos seem to spoil some deaths but is AMC just throwing fans off to give them something special?

Walking Dead director and SFX master Greg Nicotero was honored with directing the final episode that showrunner Angela Kang wrote. In several interviews, Nicotero has stated that the last episode is something special, and fans are really going to enjoy it. Kang has talked about the emotional storytelling of the final episodes and Judith’s (Cailey Fleming) narrations at the beginning of the final eight episodes. She states that Judith’s thoughts mirror those of her parents and brother and the things they were fighting for.

In an interview with Deadline, Kang and Chief Content Officer Scott M Gimple discussed the penultimate episode, where Judith is shot, and the finale episode. When asked about surprises for the finale, here are their responses.

"Definitely surprises. I think there’s some surprises in there, and it’s also just incredible performances by our cast, like just some of the best work that some of them have done on the show, and that’s saying a lot because there’s such incredible acting from our cast like on a regular basis. -Angela Kang"

"Are we going to see some surprises, which is a wholly unsatisfying answer, yes. Yes, we will surprise you. I hope that any surprise we might have is about just achieving the emotional sort of conclusion to the show. -Scott M. Gimple"

The Walking Dead – Will Rick Grimes return?

When it was announced that season 11 would be the final of The Walking Dead, fans were sure Rick (Andrew Lincoln) would return. But with one episode remaining, it is looking more doubtful that this will happen, at least in the flagship series.

Fans know that Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) are coming back in their own series. This surprise announcement was made at the 2022 SDCC event.

The Walking Dead – Rick Grimes theory

Kang and Gimple promise some significant surprises, Judith has been shot, and the final episodes have made many throwbacks to characters and scenes in previous seasons.  Could this mean we see a glimpse of Rick in a dream sequence that Judith experiences while in and out of consciousness due to her gunshot wound?

Everyone knows Lincoln made a quick trip to Georgia in February 2022 and had sushi with Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon). Fans were excited that Lincoln was back in the states, sure that he was filming The Walking Dead. But he was soon after seen back in the UK.

His quick trip would have allowed him to film a short scene that could be featured in Judith’s dream sequence. This would be such a fantastic parallel to what her father and brother experienced. We have Judith with a gunshot wound, as her brother did, twice, and in a semi-conscious state, as her father did after blowing up the bridge, where he had many flashbacks.

In the promo photos that appear to spoil whether Judith lives or dies, her sweatshirt is absent the blood that should appear where the bullet wound is located. Instead of spoiling her fate, could these photos be of her dream where she will get a glimpse of her father?

I could be completely off on this theory, but it is fun to speculate as we anxiously await what will transpire in the last episode.

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