Caution: spoilers ahead for Fear The Walking Dead season 7
Fear The Walking Dead's timeline problems only get worse after hearing the story behind season 7's mysterious Stalkers. When Fear The Walking Dead season 6 ended on a massive nuclear strike that turned half of Texas into a wasteland, most viewers anticipated season 7 would incorporate a time jump. Those predictions proved correct, but Fear The Walking Dead's season 7 timeline has so far staggered around like an inebriated zombie on a windy day. The premiere begins several months on from Teddy's nuclear launch, but subsequent episodes simultaneously cover that in-between period and advance the timeline, with Morgan crossing narratives like a post-apocalyptic Doctor Strange. Fear The Walking Dead's timeline problems are exemplified by Strand's Tower community, which must've been built in a mere 2 months, according to June's chalkboard from episode 3.
Now heading toward its winter break, Fear The Walking Dead has finally explained the mysterious Stalkers that have popped up throughout season 7. As Morgan Jones learns, the nomadic wanderers are led by Alicia Clark, meaning her Stalkers must be the Franklin Hotel community Will mentioned in Fear The Walking Dead season 7's opening episode, plus some stragglers she picked up along the way. This answers 2 pressing questions - who the Stalkers are, and where Alicia is. However, the dramatic reveal also adds a whole new layer of confusion to Fear The Walking Dead's timeline.
Understandably, Morgan asks why Alicia's Stalkers were peppering Strand's tower with radioactive zombies. The Alicia Fear The Walking Dead fans know and love wouldn't be so careless as to endanger innocent people in such a haphazard way. However, Alicia replies, "Those aren't my people... not anymore," confirming the existence of 2 separate Stalker groups in Fear The Walking Dead season 7 - one commanded by Alicia, and one led by Arno. Both have exactly the same multi-layered fashion sense, making them indistinguishable to the eye, and Alicia doesn't reveal when Arno's Stalkers splintered from her own, which retroactively makes Fear The Walking Dead's recent history even more muddled.
Having already asked its audience to keep up with an erratic non-linear narrative that even Doctor Who would think twice about, Fear The Walking Dead now casts doubt over every single Stalker appearance in season 7 thus far. Those who picked up the dud nuke obviously followed Arno, and the Stalkers who accosted Dwight, Sherry and Mickey were clearly Alicia's people. But did the group that attacked John and June's bunker follow Alicia or Arno? What about the Stalkers Strand and Will fought in the premiere? Even more confusing, did either of those attacks happen before the Stalkers split? Could either event have been the final straw that made Alicia kick Arno out? Without more information, it's impossible to say.
The Walking Dead generally makes every effort to visually distinguish one group of survivors from another, so by revealing the Stalkers are actually 2 separate (but near-identical) groups, Fear The Walking Dead is already inviting confusion. But dual Stalkers wouldn't have been quite so problematic if Fear The Walking Dead wasn't already giving viewers headaches over season 7's chronology, and the audience had a clearer idea of when Arno split from Alicia. Instead, Fear The Walking Dead compounds existing befuddlement over season 7's timeline sequencing by also raising questions over who was actually involved along the way.