What does "Amina" mean in Fear The Walking Dead season 7, and how does it connect to a dead character from seasons past? Fear The Walking Dead bids farewell to an original cast member in "Amina," as Alycia Debnam-Carey's Alicia Clark separates from her fellow survivors and heads into the unknown alone (presuming she didn't die on the beach and this is some kind of afterlife, of course). Alicia's final episode - Fear The Walking Dead's 100th, incidentally - takes her away from the burning Tower... then back into the burning Tower hunting for a little girl that very obviously doesn't exist. After leaving the Tower with Victor Strand in tow, Alicia is maneuvered into a raft heading for parts unknown but changes her mind at the last minute and makes her way back to, you guessed it, the Tower.
Alicia's indecisive Fear The Walking Dead swansong is called "Amina," but the episode itself doesn't explicitly explain the relevance behind that title. The only acknowledgement comes when Alycia Debnam-Carey's heroine finds her mother's interview tape in the abandoned MRAP, and "AMINA" can be spotted on the label. The meaning of "Amina" in Fear The Walking Dead traces all the way back to the first half of season 4, specifically "No One's Gone."
In a flashback scene, Alicia's mother, Madison, encounters Althea - the zombie apocalypse's most persistent journalist. During their conversation, Madison remembers a distant summer when Alicia and Nick were children. A bird flew into their window and badly injured itself, but the Clark siblings refused to let this fledgling die and diligently nursed the bird toward a full recovery against all medical odds. Madison was left deeply impressed by her children's determination and heart, and the bird's name was Wilhemina... Amina for short.
Madison's recollection of Wilhemina (a clip of which briefly plays during season 7's Fear The Walking Dead farewell episode) explains why Alicia is constantly followed by a CGI bird as she darts back and forth from the Tower. More importantly, the almost-certainly-imaginary critter brings the spirit of Nick back to Fear The Walking Dead. Portrayed by Frank Dillane, Nick perished in Fear The Walking Dead season 4, but obviously played a major role in Alicia's life both before and during the zombie outbreak, so it's only fitting he should have some presence in her farewell episode - even if that presence is small and feathery. Saving Amina (the real one) was a joint effort between both Clark siblings, and demonstrated their refusal to give up in the face of insurmountable odds. Having the little bird fly around Alicia during her last stand almost feels like Nick guiding his sister from beyond the grave.
Fear The Walking Dead's "Amina" title reference works as a metaphor on two levels. On one hand, the bird's story of recovery is a parallel to how Alicia goes from a fever-addled wreck who falls over ever few steps to a healthy zombie apocalypse survivor flying away to help others. On the other, the young Clark siblings rescuing a bird's life through sheer force of will compares directly to how grown-up Alicia refuses to let her people down, and keeps fighting until she sees them to safety - despite losing the submarine, the Tower, and giving up all hope of finding PADRE. Watching her friends sail into the sunset must've surely reminded Alicia of seeing Amina fly away all those summers ago - except now she's carrying the "light" (as Madison puts it) of her and her brother.
Fear The Walking Dead continues Sunday on AMC.