Top 10 Fan Theories of How The Walking Dead Will End
Rick and company have been fighting to survive for years, but what sort ofconclusion are they heading towards? Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we're counting down our picks for Top 10 Fan Theories of How “The WalkingDead” Will End.
For this list, we're looking at some of the most inspired, plausible or tantalizingly original hypothetical endings to this hit AMC series.
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#10: It Was All a Dream
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This theory has been circulating for quite some time, and experienced a boost in popularity when the season 8 teaser featured an old-looking Rick awakening in a pristine-looking white bed - you know, kind of like in a pre-Apocalypse hospital? Basically, the concept is… what if Rick never actually woke from that coma? What if this entire adventure took place only in his mind? The “it was all a dream” approach would feel like quite a cheap shot, especially considering all the emotional abuse we’ve suffered as viewers over the years. But hey, the guy did start off in a coma, so there was plenty of setup to justify it.
#9: The Next Generation Is Immune
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This is another long-running theory that has a lot of supporters, but there remains disagreement as to how it could play out. The central hypothesis: Couldn’t the generation of children born to infected parents develop an immunity to whatever turns the dead or bitten into walkers? Some optimistic viewers think this will be revealed by Judith getting bitten and NOT turning. Others think that this game-changing revelation will come at a higher cost: Judith will die, but then NOT come back. Others have argued that it’ll be little Hershel. Either way, it would certainly be very dark, but would end the show on a note of bittersweet hope for the future.
#8: The Walkers Evolve
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The Walking Dead is far from the first franchise to take a deep dive into theworld of a zombie apocalypse. Could Robert Kirkman’s narrative be following the trajectory set out by the grandfather of all zombie extravaganzas, George A. Romero, by having the undead begin to develop some form of intelligence? If the Walkers were to become legitimately intelligent, they could become the new dominant species, and humans would be nothing more than a step on the path to zombie maturity. Of course, their intelligence could be rudimentary enough to see them enslaved as a workforce, but wouldn’t that make the humans themonsters? So far, this seems unlikely, but anything’s possible!
#7: The Walkers Decay, But Conflict Continues
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In the early seasons of “The Walking Dead,” the walkers were the only thing on anybody’s mind. But over time, they’ve slowly begun to take a backseat to theconflict between humans. The reality is, there aren’t nearly enough people around to endlessly maintain the walker population, who are slowly rotting away. A world where the only walkers are those who have just died sounds pretty sweet, but it wouldn’t be the end of the horror; it would just be the start ofanother, more devastating chapter. Many believe that the zombies were just an excuse to let humankind’s darker inclinations resurface, and that the show willend with the zombies disappearing, but little else changing.
#6: There’s a Walker Wipeout
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Of course, while the scale of the conflicts has gotten larger from season to season, so has the number of people working together. Over time, Rick, as well as his allies and enemies, have all become proficient killers of the undead. Thewalker population remains vast in terms of numbers, but a well-coordinated, properly equipped and united human front could act as a mobile army/clean up crew, traveling the country and systematically ridding it of the undead. After so many seasons of conflict, it would be heartwarming to see the series end with humankind coming together to save the world.
#5: They Find a Cure
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“Cure” - it’s a word most have given up on. We haven’t really heard it spoken about seriously since the first season, when the visit to the CDC went to hell. True, Eugene’s cover story was all about a cure, but in the end, all that did was inspire distrust in the concept. But what if they actually DID manage to come up with one? Obviously it’s not going to come from any of the current characters - they simply aren’t equipped for that level of scientific experimentation. However, they’re always finding new groups, and one of them could very well be a group of scientists who’ve made serious strides. It sure would make for an unexpectedly happy ending.
#4: It’s Only Ever Been the Americas
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Early on, viewers began to speculate that, due to our complete lack ofknowledge of the outside world, the undead epidemic might be contained to theU.S. (with Mexico and Canada enforcing their borders). However, as shown in “Fear the Walking Dead,” Mexico has also been hit hard. They still have a military presence at the time of the show, but things are far from under control. Still, we could discover that the effects were limited to North America, or North, Central and South America, leaving other continents either untouched, or having better handled the initial outbreak. The question is… would the secure nations save Rick and company, or would they come to wipe everyone out?
#3: Rick Finally Turns
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Both in the comics, and on TV, this has always been Rick’s story: while friends and family die around him, he always finds a way to survive, overcoming physical and emotional beatings that would have destroyed anyone else. But as he continues to push himself to ever-greater limits, you have to ask yourself… how long before this guy’s luck runs out? In a series that’s always stared death straight in the face, it seems like an almost inevitable conclusion that we’ll eventually have to see Rick die. In “The Walking Dead,” everyone dies eventually. So, if this is how the show ends, who do you think will put him down?
#2: Everyone Dies BUT Rick
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Then again, maybe it’s Rick’s destiny to see everyone he cares about die. It raises a tough philosophical question: what’s the point of surviving if you’ve got nothing left to live for? Rick’s willpower seemingly knows no bounds. He managed to keep going after his wife died, and the idea of him soldiering on even after the death of one his children isn’t unfathomable. There are certain characters who seem un-killable, but if we’ve learned anything over theseasons, it’s that NO ONE is safe in this world. Some online speculators suggest that the series will end with Rick having outlived literally everyone, a lost, miserable embodiment of raw survival. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions - Rick Is Insane and Never Found His Family; He’s Just a Lunatic Murderer - They Find an Island Paradise - It’s a Game Being Played by Neighborhood Kids; Every Death Is Someone Going Home for Dinner
#1: It’s All Being Told By Carl
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What if the adventures of Rick and company weren’t being told in the present day but after the fact, like one long campfire story? Or even as a book? In the end, we could discover that this entire narrative is being told by an aging Carl, who’s retelling the story of his youth and how his father fearlessly led their group through the end of the world. It explains the pedestal that Rick has been put on throughout the series as an overly competent, almost indestructible figure.
