Warning: SPOILERS for Fear The Walking Dead season 6, episode 8.

Fear the Walking Dead season 6’s big reveal about Dakota (Zoe Colletti) disproves the fan theory about Madison (Kim Dickens) returning to the show. Madison died off-screen in season 4’s flashback story, but there was a belief that she could be brought back to the spinoff series.

Madison was one of a handful characters fans believed could be connected to Morgan’s survival. The Fear the Walking Dead season 5 finale ended with Morgan (Lennie James) badly wounded and surrounded by zombies. The circumstances made it at least appear that death was assured, but the season 6 premiere revealed that a mysterious character – with no prior connection to Morgan - rescued him and left him a note, telling him that he still had things left to do. He didn’t get another clue about who it was until the midseason premiere. Fearing that Morgan may either kill her or turn her over to the Pioneers for shooting John (Garret Dillahunt), Dakota explained that she was the one who saved him that day.

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Morgan initially thought that she was lying to save herself, but comments from showrunner Andrew Chambliss confirm that she was telling the truth [via Insider]. Chambliss acknowledged that some believed it was Sherry (Christina Evangelista), but she wasn’t the only existing character that was being discussed by the fans. Perhaps the most popular theory was that Madison saved him. It was thought that Kim Dickens’ character - who may have somehow survived the fire at the stadium - could have been tracking her daughter’s group and found Morgan after the season 5 finale, and that she would make a surprise appearance later on in the season (or possibly at the beginning of season 7).

Kim Dickens as Madison Clark in Fear The Walking Dead

The theory was fueled by the fact that the showrunner refrained from debunking it. Madison turning out to be Morgan’s savior certainly would have been a fun twist, but that’s not where the show is heading. While it may be disappointing to some that Fear the Walking Dead wasn’t cleverly setting up a return for the fan-favorite protagonist, the explanation it gave at the end of the episode made plenty of sense, more so than the idea that Madison somehow survived and hasn’t found Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) in all this time.

Dakota’s secret role in saving Morgan from the zombies fits perfectly into this plan that Dakota had for beating Virginia (Colby Minifie), and helped express how deeply she hates her sister. Apparently, she went to all this trouble just because she thought that Morgan could kill Virginia. But while it’s true that they have a common enemy, Dakota is far from an ally that they can trust in their battle with the Pioneers. Dakota, who has demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding of moral principles, is no better than the villain she’s trying to defeat. She killed Cameron just for telling Virginia that she was sneaking out of the compound, and used John to weaken her sister’s influence. Based on what the series has done with her so far, she could emerge as a major villain going forward. As for Madison, on the other hand, she may unfortunately not be a part of the show’s plan. Even so, new theories supporting her return could always pop up as Fear the Walking Dead continues.

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