Warning: spoilers ahead for Fear The Walking Dead season 8, episode 1.PADRE serves as the newest villain group in The Walking Dead's fictional universe, and Fear The Walking Dead season 8 drops major details about how this child-stealing community operates. First mentioned in Fear The Walking Dead season 7 as a mythical haven that offered shelter from both the zombie apocalypse and the nuclear wasteland that covers half of Texas, PADRE has provided much intrigue. The return of Kim Dickens as Madison in the Fear The Walking Dead season 7 finale revealed that PADRE was actually a group of post-apocalyptic child-catchers, manipulating adult survivors into becoming "collectors" who nab kids from their parents.
Since PADRE keeps its collectors at arm's length, Madison could only offer limited information about Fear The Walking Dead's final villains. Fortunately, Fear The Walking Dead season 8's "Remember What They Took From You" lifts the veil, finally giving a full and frank account of what PADRE is. These revelations cover PADRE's location, philosophy, resources, and goals, and already it seems perfectly clear that this new villain group is unlike anything seen in The Walking Dead before.
7 PADRE's Goal Is To Rebuild The Walking Dead's World (With A Twist)
Walking Dead villains broadly fall into two camps: those who look after their own interests, such as the Saviors and Whisperers, and those deluded enough to believe their existence will benefit the wider world, such as the CRM and Commonwealth. Fear The Walking Dead's PADRE sits firmly in the latter category, and its main goal is to rebuild civilization. This comes with a caveat, however. Rather than just restoring the world that fell when the outbreak started, PADRE believes it can create something better, arguing, "What we had got us into this mess."
Whether PADRE's intentions are simply misguided or a sinister fabrication designed to control and oppress residents is a question Fear The Walking Dead is yet to answer. PADRE may trumpet a desire to rebuild the world, but has currently done precious little to rebuild anything outside its own few square miles of territory. While PADRE's rhetoric sounds suspiciously similar to other villain groups with big ideas, PADRE is talking the Walking Dead talk more than its walking the Walking Dead walk.
Through Mo's perspective, Fear The Walking Dead season 8's premiere does show PADRE training youngsters in areas of survival. Perhaps PADRE's intention is to retake the world with an army of ready-made soldiers trained and indoctrinated from childhood - once these youths are finally old enough. Until that time, PADRE seems content to sit tight and make preparations within its totalitarian environment.
6 PADRE Is A Man - Not Just The Group's Name
Although the term "PADRE" serves as the name of Fear The Walking Dead's final villain community, season 8's premiere tacitly confirms PADRE is a specific individual too. At several points in "Remember What They Took From You," characters such as Morgan and Mo refer to PADRE as "he." This appears to be in reference to the mysterious unseen voice that addresses Morgan and Madison at the beginning of Fear The Walking Dead season 8's premiere, then chastises Mo during the ending sequence. Although he remains obscured, this confirms PADRE does have an overarching leader, giving Fear The Walking Dead one final big bad.
It is intriguing that Fear The Walking Dead deliberately hides PADRE's face. The subterfuge suggests PADRE's identity is part of a larger secret. Perhaps the villain is an existing Walking Dead character, someone famous in-universe, or maybe their physical appearance is the opposite of what PADRE's citizens - as well as his enemies - would expect.
5 Fear The Walking Dead's PADRE Is Situated On An Island
PADRE's location was a running mystery initially, but Fear The Walking Dead season 7's ending showed Madison and Morgan heading toward a boat. "Remember What They Took From You" reveals that PADRE is actually based on an island. The exact location of said island has not yet been specified, but given where Morgan and Madison were taken from at the end of Fear The Walking Dead season 7, PADRE is likely sitting somewhere off the Louisiana coastline, close enough to shore to make short boat trips across the water.
Fear The Walking Dead confirms that neutralized zombies were taken from the mainland for Mo's training, which implies PADRE's watery defenses are 100% effective in keeping zombies away. Moreover, Mo's walk around the PADRE camp confirms facilities for farming and bullet-making, subtly demonstrating how the community is entirely self-sufficient. This does beg the question of why almost no one in The Walking Dead considered moving to an island before. The setting also accounts for why no one could find PADRE during Fear The Walking Dead season 7.
4 PADRE Has Been Taking Madison's Blood For Zombie Experiments
One of the most troubling PADRE reveals in Fear The Walking Dead season 8 is the repeated taking of Madison's blood during her seven-year captivity. PADRE would not need such frequent samples if its doctors were merely testing Madison for illnesses, which means Kim Dickens' returning protagonist has either been given experimental drugs and used as a guinea pig, or PADRE believes something within Madison's DNA is useful. The truth remains unknown at present, but PADRE's ability to conduct such experiments speaks to their immense resources - and the even more immense volume of secrets buried beneath the surface.
One potential explanation is that PADRE believes it has crafted a cure for The Walking Dead's zombie virus - similar to the fungal solution from The Walking Dead: World Beyond - and since Madison is merely a prisoner, she gets the privilege of testing it. Alternatively, Madison may have repeated her daughter's feat of surviving a bite infection against all odds, and now PADRE wishes to know exactly what makes her so resistant to zombification. Either way, Fear The Walking Dead season 8, episode 1 sees PADRE order Madison's execution, so whatever experiments have been taking place, that research was either useless, or has already been completed.
3 PADRE Repeats A Walking Dead Villain Trope Negan & Alpha Both Used
Throughout Fear The Walking Dead season 8's premiere episode, PADRE's subjects are insistent on using code names, with Mo known as "Wren" and Morgan referred to as "Nightingale." This is a tactic ripped straight from the textbook of villainy Negan and Alpha both worked from in The Walking Dead, with the Saviors introducing themselves as "Negan" and Alpha using the Greek alphabet as a substitute for proper names. Even the Commonwealth stripped its prisoners of their monikers as a means of removing individuality and encouraging obedience.
There is an obvious avian theme running through PADRE's code names, with every member of Fear The Walking Dead's final villain group named after a bird. An explanation for this theme remains elusive, beyond the ironic connotation between birds and freedom. Nevertheless, the motif feels too specific to be random and must have a deeper meaning that Fear The Walking Dead season 8 has not yet unveiled.
2 PADRE Isn't The Military Group Fear The Walking Dead Season 7 Teased
The PADRE hints provided in Fear The Walking Dead season 7 all pointed toward a militaristic villain group, with Senator Vasquez told to rendezvous at PADRE immediately after the outbreak began, but finding himself unable to make it. Certainly, there is plenty of evidence in Fear The Walking Dead season 8's premiere to suggest PADRE was once a military establishment, from the stamped crates and cargo nets to the abundance of sandbags on display.
Alas, it would appear that whatever connection PADRE might once have had to the U.S. military is now lost. None of the adult inhabitants show signs of military experience - especially when compared to the likes of Leah's Reapers from The Walking Dead season 11. This could mean PADRE has undergone some kind of takeover during The Walking Dead's timeline, or that the original inhabitants died and were replaced by a new band of settlers obsessed with stealing children.
1 Why PADRE Separates The Kids From The Adults
PADRE's evil comes not just from stealing children and manipulating others into doing the dirty work, but from then lying and manipulating the kids under their jurisdiction. Children such as Mo are fed stories about how their parents failed them, and constantly encouraged to avoid direct interaction with the island's adults. PADRE's grown-up residents serve only to assist and pass on knowledge to the children, and even when Mo trains in zombie combat, she receives tuition from one of PADRE's older kids. The adults nearby merely assist in the preparation and cleanup.
Even stranger, the vast majority of adults in PADRE wear masks at all times, even while teaching or going about their daily duties. Although the purpose is not explicitly stated, this is likely to create a barrier between the community's adults and children, preventing youngsters from forging bonds or seeking parental role models. PADRE's entire philosophy is strictly designed to ensure its children remain as independent as possible, showing devotion only towards PADRE and his grand vision for Fear The Walking Dead's future.
Fear The Walking Dead continues Sunday on AMC.