‘Walking Dead’ Trailer Confirms Major Fan Theory

We finally have a trailer for Season 8 of AMC’s The Walking Dead, and it seems to at least hint at a major fan theory.

The  WTF moment is the last few seconds, when we see a brightly lit room, some flowers, a walking stick, and a very old Rick lying in a bed.

What in the name of King Ezekiel is going on with that?!

Option 1: It was all a dream

The first big conclusion to jump to is that Rick is back in Atlanta. Like pre-apocalypse Atlanta. As in, the entire show did not happen and Rick has been in a coma the entire freaking time.

As out there as this may seem, it’s actually been a theory that’s been circulating for a while now, especially with comic audiences.

But this turn would be especially screwed up, even for The Walking Dead. It would mean that Rick Grimes dreamed about his wife sleeping with his best friend and then both of them, along with far too many other people, dying horribly. And also his kid lost his eye. And a whole bunch of other messed up things happened along the way, all of which would make Rick a terrifying human being.

It would be a very questionable turn for the show, and what would that even mean for the spinoff show Fear The Walking Dead? Did Rick dream that, too?

But there is a reason why these images were framed the way they were.

Robert Kirkman likes to intentionally mislead readers at conventions and in the “Letter Hacks” section of each comic issue, in which he and editor Sean Mackiewicz answer messages from fans. They love to drive people wild by lighting fires under insane theories.

It seems like the creators of the show has gotten into that spirit by teasing us with a setting that is astoundingly similar to Rick’s hospital room where he woke up to hell on earth way back in Season 1. They clearly knew that people would draw parallels and panic.

They almost got us, but upon further inspection, we can see what’s actually going on.

Option 2: We’re about to jump forward in time

After the comic storyline All Out War – which this season will most likely be based on – the books jump in time an undetermined amount of years.

The comic’s writer and creator, Robert Kirkman, has mentioned that it could be five or more years of time that we skipped, though he hasn’t been clear about the specific break.

It’s very likely that what we’re seeing is years after this war has happened. Rick was injured during the war with the Saviors and, just like in the comic, he’s let his beard grow.