Why Walking Dead: World Beyond is important to The Ones Who Live

The Walking Dead: World Beyond is one of several spinoffs of The Walking Dead series. This limited series is a coming-of-age story set in the same apocalyptic world as the main series. The story begins in the Midwest and follows a group of teens who must learn to navigate the outside world after living behind walls for most of their lives. This series has direct ties to The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live spinoff.

World Beyond occurs ten years after the outbreak at the Campus Colony in Nebraska, located at the former Nebraska State University grounds. Walls surrounded the community keeping it very well protected. When the teens embark on a journey outside the walls, they must quickly learn to defend themselves.

Campus Colony is a satellite of Omaha, part of the Alliance of the Three, which also includes Portland, Oregon, and the Civic Republic, located in Pennsylvania. This series revealed much about the Civic Republic Military (CRM) and its operations. The information will be important to the upcoming The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live series featuring the return of Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and MIchonne (Danai Gurria).

World Beyond ties to The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

The CRM is the organization where Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) was traded by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh). She used him as her ticket to gain entrance, where she would climb the ranks, becoming Warrant Officer Jadis Stokes. She is featured in World Beyond and has drastically transformed from Anne/Jadis in the main series.

The Ones Who Live will see a significant focus on the CRM as that is likely where Michonne will be required to gain entrance to rescue and reunite with Rick. The coda scene of The Walking Dead series finale confirmed that Rick escaped the CRM only to be caught again and that Michonne has never stopped searching for him.  During their time apart, neither has given up hope of being reunited.

In World Beyond, the characters would arrive at the CRM Research Facility, where experiments were being conducted on alive and undead people, which is where the A and B designations come in. There they would uncover a web of corruption.

Under Elizabeth Kublek’s (Julia Ormond) command, not only was the Campus Colony and Omaha destroyed, but she had plans to do the same to Portland. This would lead to her arrest for treason by Jadis. But it wasn’t Kublek who orchestrated it all. Jadis and a more powerful figure were behind it all.

Although never seen in World Beyond, Major General Beale is obviously an authority figure who commands respect and obedience. He was behind the arrest warrant for Kublek, even though he and Jadis conspired to move up the timeline to see Portland destroyed. He will play a significant role in The Ones Who Live, with actor Terry O'Quinn portraying the leader.

While it appears Rick is vital to the CRM for some reason, as they don’t usually recapture but instead kill those who escape, it is still a dangerous place. Corruption is rampant even in the higher rankings, so it will be interesting to learn more about his role within the organization.

These experiments could also explain the sudden appearance of the variant walkers at the end of The Walking Dead series. Will more variants be seen in The Ones Who Live? 

If you haven’t watched The Walking Dead: World Beyond, you should do so ahead of The Ones Who Live premiere on Sunday, February 25.

Follow Undead Walking on Twitter and sign up for the once-daily Undead Walking newsletter to avoid missing out on everything in The Walking Dead universe.