Summary

The Walking Deadended with many characters already set to embark onto spinoffs , which has caused quite a few instances of retconning to the flagship show ’s series finale . InThe Walking Dead ’s final installment , a hopeful overtone was presentwith Alexandria , Hilltop , and a new Commonwealth rebuilding , Daryl heading off to search for Rick , and character finding stable role in newfangled jobs . In terms of threats , The walk Deadthwarted the main antagonist chemical group with a putsch and all communities were seemingly defendable from walker .

However , with subsequent spinoffs such asThe Walking Dead : Daryl DixonandDead City , survivors were shown in novel locales that dispute some of the establish lore of the enfranchisement . Retcons inThe Walking Deaduniverse are n’t new . For example , Alpha ’s bloodline tale was altered inTales of The Walking Dead , changing her from the creator of the Whisperers to someone who overrule the original loss leader and took over . Therefore , whether undo an private fictitious character ’s arc or re - graduate the core zombi lore of the franchise , The Walking Dead ’s retcons are often blatant .

Dead City confirms many change , some major and some less important , that happened after The Walking Dead ’s end and before the spin - off started .

Events Between Walking Dead Ending And Dead City

7Daryl Dixon Leaving The Commonwealth Achieved Nothing

Daryl reveals he didn’t find out anything new while away from Alexandria

In Daryl ’s final consequence on the independent show , he aver goodbye to Judith and that while he ’s gone he ’d find Rick and Michonne and convey them family . This was in add-on toDaryl ’s reason for leavingThe walk Deadto go to France , namely Maggie asking him to scope out the wider surface area to see more . However , in the pilot of Daryl ’s spinoff , he tell , " I went out looking for something , and all I launch was trouble . " This suggest thathis excursion away from Alexandria and the new Commonwealth was unpointed from a story perspective and only a means to get him to Francefor the spinoff .

6Maggie & Negan’s Feud Wasn’t Settled After All

Their feud is a core element of The Walking Dead: Dead City

It ’s no secret that Maggie and Negan have a long - running feud since Negan brutally bludgeon Glenn in the season 7 premiere . However , over the course of the balance ofThe Walking Dead , Negan slowly became a part of Alexandria and even avail take down Alpha during the Whisperer War . to boot , he lay aside Judith during a snowstorm and helped rescue Hershel from the Commonwealth . All this guide toMaggie extending cordial reception to Negan and his married woman Anniein the finis by acknowledge that he " gain [ his ] place . " She also stated she did n’t want to detest Negan any longer .

However , from the very outset ofThe Walking Dead : Dead City , Maggie was angry and vengefullike she was when shereturned after leavingThe walk Deadin season 9 . While this was a blatant undoing of the slow procession to get to a detail where Maggie would be even more or less ok with Negan survive in her community , it was necessary given the angleDead Citytook . If Maggie ’s aversion for Negan was purpose , the Croat would n’t have been able-bodied to leverage it to get her to covertly bring Negan to the ex - Savior in exchange for Hershel ’s dependable income tax return . This would ’ve made Negan and Maggie ’s team - up unlikely .

5Variants Don’t Exist (According To Dead City)

Variants were first introduced in The Walking Dead

Thevariant confusedness inThe Walking Deaduniverse has been around since season 1when Morgan ’s turned wife prove signs of intelligence operation , such as remembering her home . From then , the show ignored this apparently until season 11 with the aptly named sequence " Variant , " where aclimber zombie variantwas shown . These zombies showed much greater critical thinking skills , such as when one grabbed Lydia ’s weapon to prevent her attack or when one climb up over a fence instead of into it like distinctive footer .

Additionally , The Walking Dead : World Beyondpost - deferred payment scene express the main show ’s Dr. Jenner explaining that edition start from France by means of science . However , Dead City ’s mutant sewer zombierefuted this . When Maggie and Ginny were in the sewers , they come across this monstrous amalgamation of numerous zombies . The explanation there was thatthe " hotboxing " of the dead to sustain Croat ’s walker - fuel methane superpower provision dissolve the undead bodies together . By deny any variant in the show so far , The Walking Deadconfused its own pedestrian rules by indicating walkers can not acquire , despite the intelligibly advanced one seen in season 11 of the principal show .

The Walking Dead ’s zombie are so often lumped into one category , but there are a few distinctions between the undead . Here ’s every type .

Andrew Lincoln and The Walking Dead Zombies

4Daryl Dixon Proves Variants Are Man-Made

The Walking Dead suggested variants evolved and weren’t made

To add toThe Walking Dead ’s mutual exclusiveness created by variants , Daryl Dixon ’s variants were all change by human being . The Walking Dead : Daryl Dixonalso revealedhow zombie variants are made , namely by using their decapitated head . WhileGenet ’s villain plan take injecting walkers with some kind of scientifically altered serumto transmute them into stronger and speedier var. , The Walking Deadsuggested traits like this only germinate over clock time .

After Aaron and the others ' confrontation with the climbers , it became clear that footer variants could differ . Their differences seemed linked to abilities , such as dexterity , tidings , f number , and specialty . Daryl Dixon ’s enhance walker coincided withThe Walking Dead : World Beyond ’s reveal where one Gallic person impeach French scientists of creating the computer virus that make the outbreak and the different " variant age group " . While this did n’t excuse how all variants were made , Daryl Dixonall but confirmed that zombie variant traits get createdand are n’t products of phylogenesis .

The Walking Dead ’s novel zombie variants do n’t just attack human race , but also each other . Daryl Dixon ’s finale play up the cause they act this way .

Variant zombie and Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in Walking Dead

3Negan Abandoned His Family (Despite His Season 11 Promise)

Annie and Joshua are not present in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 1

InThe Walking Deadseason 11 , after Annie was introduced and her pregnancy break , Negan show excitement about being a father and a inscrutable desire to keep his fellowship safe . to boot , Negan also made a promise to Annie that he would never do anything to endangerment herand their tiddler ’s lives . However , his desertion of Annie and Joshua inThe Walking Dead : Dead Citydidn’t align with this . WhileNegan explained why he and his kin were split , it had holes .

Negan recount how Annie was savagely assail by a group of man , so he sought revenge and became a fugitive on the run from the New Babylon marshals . He sent his family to Missouri so they could avoid a life on the streak . However , he did n’t seem to prioritise returning to them and ended up caring for Ginny , an orphaned missy . Either Negan believed Annie and Joshua were good without him , or he was ashamed of the brutal act he committed , even if only in reaction to the harm done to Annie . Both options undermined Negan ’s season 11 promise to avoid risking them and his desire to be a father .

2Hilltop’s Recovery After The Whisperers Was A Lie

The Walking Dead ending showed Hilltop rebuilt

The Walking Deadseason 11 stop showedHilltop as rebuilt after the fire during the Whisperer War . However , at the root ofDead City , Maggie support that Hilltop was rebuilt elsewhere . This raised why a rebuilt Hilltop was shown in its original locating in the main show ’s finale if the Whisperer War justification was still being used . While it ’s possible the damage to Hilltop was worse than in the beginning thought , this change seemed more for the sake of convenience . Moving Hilltop was more logistic for Maggie and Negan ’s spinoff , since it ’s in New York and not Virginia , where the original Hilltop was located .

To make item around Hilltop even more contrived , the optimistic ending about community - construction and the future tense was undercut byHilltop being moved to The Bricks , an abandoned factory in either New Jersey or New York . In the main show ’s close , Maggie told Carol and Daryl that she was opine about the future and that " there ’s a lot out there to find out about . " This could excuse her move her residential district to The Bricks , but it undermined the theme of togetherness infuse by the end of the master series between the community of interests , make a more incorporated alliance more challenging for the future .

1Negan’s Savior Days Were Reframed In Dead City

Negan retcons some aspects of his Savior era in The Walking Dead: Dead City

There ’s no denying that Negan ’s redemption inThe Walking Deadwas genuine . However , all his sincerely adept deeds after his incarceration in Alexandria did n’t erase what he had done while leading the Saviors . Granted , some of the brutality inflicted by the Saviors was n’t at his own hands , like Simon having Jadis ' hoi polloi killed , but he was still the leader of the group . to boot , in season 11 , Negan told Maggie he regretted not kill all of her group that night in time of year 7 , episode 1 , as it could ’ve protected his people . This indicated that , give the modification to redo , he would ’ve drink down more than Glenn and Abraham .

However , The Walking Dead : Dead Cityhad Negan admit he was a freak only when needed and put on a show to protect his people . Excusing his actions as a room to protect the Saviors and eliminate all enjoyment seemed like a forced style to rewrite his defective actionsas sustain positive intentions . In moments like when he gutted Spencer or test Rick to cut off Carl ’s arm , he exercised control and showed sign of enjoyment . Diminishing his spoiled action as solely something he had to do also muddy his own redemptive arc . It ’s intriguing to see how any succeeding retconning altersThe Walking Dead ’s established account .

The newest spinoffThe Walking Dead : The single Who Livepremieres on February 25 , 2024 , on AMC and AMC+ .

Custom image of Daryl in front of various walkers in The Walking Dead

Daryl Dixon holding his crossbow in The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon episode 5

Walking Dead Dead City Variant Zombie

Negan with his hand on Annie’s back in a scene from The Walking Dead

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in The Walking Dead and Dead City

The Walking Dead Season 11 Poster

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead: Dead City