The rules established for Manifest’s disappearances prove that Captain Daly and Fiona Clarke can return before 2024. Based on the events that took place in a season 1 episode, it was assumed by Daly – and the fans – that he and Fiona wouldn’t return for another five years. If that’s the case, the two should come back into the picture toward the end of the series when the Flight 828 passengers finally face their Death Date.
In an attempt to prove that he didn’t cause what happened to Flight 828, Daly kidnapped Fiona and tried to recreate the events that led to their unexplained disappearance. While the military claimed to have shot down the plane, it was implied that Daly’s plan was a secret success. In his final scene in season 1, he said to Fiona, “see you in 2024”. Since it looks like Daly did indeed recreate the vanishing of Flight 828, many are under the impression that if and when the two make another appearance, it’ll be after another five-year absence. Daly seemingly showed up in the Manifest season 3 finale, but Fiona’s exclusion from the scene and the character wearing his pilot uniform indicates that this was actually a time-traveling Daly from the past. In other words, the Daly that disappeared in season 1’s “Contrails” is still unaccounted for.
The Manifest season 3 finale’s Captain Daly twist doesn’t mean that he came back early, but that scenario certainly can happen in the show’s future. How disappearances work in Manifest serve as evidence for this possibility. Al-Zuras vanished for ten years, Griffin was believed to be dead for four days, and Zeke went missing for one year. What these different intervals show is that there’s no way to predict how long a victim of this phenomenon will be gone. So far, the lengths of their absences appear to be random. In short, Daly and Fiona can come back at any time.
Back in season 1, Daly theorized that they’d return in 2024, but that was before the main characters learned from other developments that not everyone disappears for the same length of time as the Flight 828 passengers. Daly and Fiona returning at a much earlier point would actually make a lot of sense for the show, especially since Daly’s theory turning out to be correct would force the series to hold off on resolving this plotline until Manifest season 4’s last batch of episodes.
Looking at what happened to people like Al-Zuras, Zeke, Griffin, and the meth addicts, Manifest has an easy way of using Daly and Fiona again whenever the story calls for it. Their return would be a major event for the characters, as it would have the potential to provide much-needed answers about what people experience when they vanish and where they go. It could also tie into whatever is currently going on with the other version of Daly. Depending on if and when Manifest brings Daly and Fiona back into the lives of the passengers, there’s a chance that these two storylines could intersect in an interesting way.