Some viewers are convinced that Morgan (Lennie James) will meet his end in the Fear the Walking Dead season 6 finale. The character, who has been around since the very beginning of the Walking Dead franchise, has been headlining the AMC spinoff for three seasons now, but talk about his possible death has continued to linger. Speculation about Morgan being killed off reached its pinnacle after the airing of Fear the Walking Dead’s season 5 finale when the character was left in dire straits by Virginia (Colby Minifie).
After the Pioneers took away every member of his group (except for him), Virginia shot him and left him for dead. Being badly injured and surrounded by zombies, the finale left little hope for Morgan’s survival. But just as many suspected, the AMC series saved him from the brink by revealing in the season 6 premiere he was rescued by a mystery character (who later turned out to be Zoe Colletti’s Dakota).
Now, there’s a new theory the series is preparing to kill off Morgan – specifically, in its next episode. What’s driving these discussions is the events of Fear the Walking Dead season 6, episode 15, titled “USS Pennsylvania”. While trying to stop Teddy (John Glover) from succeeding in his plan to unleash the submarine’s nuclear arsenal, Strand (Colman Domingo) tried to use Morgan as a distraction by knocking him into a group of zombies. What happened was left unclear, until Morgan reappeared in a later scene, furious with Strand over his actions. The implication was that despite the precarious situation Strand put him in, Morgan was able to overcome the odds and walk away unscathed. However, there are suspicions this isn’t what happened at all.
The idea is that Morgan’s fight with the zombies occurred off-screen so that viewers wouldn’t know right away he was bitten by one of the zombies. If that’s the case, the bite could be revealed at some point during the finale. One detail that has reinforced these theories is that Morgan was looking worse for wear, sweaty, and tired at the end of the episode, which are often symptoms of the zombie infection.
Considering how this scene in the submarine was framed, the zombie bite theory would make a lot of sense – if it concerned anyone but Morgan. Though Fear the Walking Dead has been willing to kill off its shows’ core characters in the past (like Madison or Travis for example), it’s hard to believe the Walking Dead universe is ready to let go of a character as popular or integral to the show than Morgan Jones. So unless the franchise pulls off the most shocking twist since the death of Carl (Chandler Riggs) in The Walking Dead season 8, it seems likely Morgan isn’t going anywhere. If so, this would be the latest instance where Morgan has avoided what appeared to be certain death.