The Walking Dead: 8 Unanswered Questions After The Time Jump Episode

Caution: Spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead.

After the dramatic departure of Rick Grimes last week, The Walking Dead continued with "Who Are You Now?" and delved headfirst into the show's future, leaving viewers with plenty of unanswered questions. The episode essentially acted as the genesis of a brand new show and focused primarily on re-orientating the audience with the characters of Alexandria and the Kingdom, as well as introducing some significant new faces.

Alexandria has advanced greatly in Rick's absence and is now run by a council, although Michonne still appears to be very much in charge, and Judith Grimes is following her older half-brother's example by bringing home Magna's group after she saved them from a horde of walkers at the end of last week's episode. Meanwhile, Gabriel continues his romantic hot streak and is now involved with Rosita, much to the annoyance of Eugene. Over at the Kingdom, Carol has grown her hair, married Ezekiel and adopted Henry as a son but anyone who thought that familial bliss would calm Carol's temper is gravely mistaken, as she revisited a preferred method of execution in this offering.

"Who Are You Now?" may have served as a general post-time jump overview of The Walking Dead season 9's new landscape but it still managed to tease several new plot threads and mysteries. Here are the biggest unanswered questions from this week's episode.

This Page: The Walking Dead's Big Unanswered Questions
Page 2: Questions About The Walking Dead's Time Jump

8. Why Were The Walkers Talking?

The climax of "Who Are You Now?" featured a scene that was previously shown in the trailer for season 9. Rosita and Eugene head out on a mission to set-up a radio booster but are quickly set upon by a large horde of walkers and, true to character, Eugene manages to make the situation even worse by both hurting his leg and scaring away the duo's horses. As they hide in the mud, Rosita and Eugene hear the zombies talking among themselves, uttering phrases such as "don't let them get away" and "where are they?" in a low deathly growl.

At first glance, it might appear that after years roaming the Earth, the undead are beginning to evolve and this certainly appears to be Eugene's hypothesis judging from recent trailer footage. The truth, however, is far grimmer.

As readers of the The Walking Dead comics will know, and likely many non-readers by now too, the voices are not coming from the undead, but from the show's next big villains, the Whisperers. Led by the intimidating duo of Alpha and Beta, this kooky bunch are dealing with the zombie apocalypse by regressing to a more primal lifestyle and dressing up in zombie skins, a disguise they use to integrate themselves with and manipulate the undead. This is almost certainly why the horde that attacked Eugene and Rosita wasn't headed in the direction it should have been.

7. Does Rick Have Another Child?

Danai Gurira as Michonne and Rick Jr R.J. in The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead's latest installment included a scene where Magna willingly hands a concealed knife over to Michonne in order to gain trust, but this moment was entirely overshadowed by the appearance of a mystery child in Michonne's house. As the youngster is never seen or spoken of again in the episode, viewers are left to wonder exactly where he came from.

Helpfully, The Walking Dead's showrunner, Angela Kang, gave same insight into this new character in an interview with EW. Kang revealed that the young boy is, as many would have suspected, the offspring of Rick and Michonne and went on to confirm that his name is R.J., short for Rick Jr. This bombshell perhaps wouldn't be entirely unexpected. In Rick's final episodes, he and Michonne certainly hinted at a potential bun in the oven, although it appears that the man himself had no idea that his partner was expecting.

Unfortunately, there could be a more harrowing explanation for this scene. Since no other character mentions or interacts with R.J., and with Michonne obviously in a fragile state of mind, it's entirely possible that the child is a figment of Michonne's imagination. "Who Are You Now?" leads viewers into thinking that when Michonne talks to herself, she's picturing Rick, but what if this is actually a way of coping after the pair's unborn baby tragically didn't survive?

6. Why Is Daryl Living Alone?

Walking Dead Season 9 Time Jump Daryl Norman Reedus

As was suggested by recent trailer footage, Daryl appears to be living separately from the other communities, although exactly why and when he began this nomadic existence is currently unknown. Throughout the beginning of season 9, Daryl repeatedly made it clear to Rick and other characters that he was uncomfortable with the thought of re-building society and would prefer to take a small group of trusted friends back out onto the open road, surviving day-to-day and not getting involved with strangers.

It's also worth remembering that Daryl's immediate reaction to Rick's "death" was simply to slink off into the forest alone. Perhaps the intention of that image was to suggest that Daryl retreated into the wild as a direct result of losing Rick and has been living there in the years since, only having sporadic contact with Carol, who apparently knows how and where to find him.

Due the popularity of Norman Reedus' character, it's highly likely that Daryl will re-join the main group at some point in the near future and if an army of murderous, skin-clad assailants threatening his friends doesn't do the trick, surely nothing will.

5. How Did Michonne Get Her Scar?

Danai Gurira as Michonne scar in The Walking Dead

Yet another subtle plot thread planted in "Who Are You Now?" was the presence of a large, X-shaped scar on Michonne's lower back. Considering both the fact that this blemish has never been mentioned before and the lingering camera shot that allowed the audience to get a good look at it, it's safe to assume that not only was this scar acquired during The Walking Dead's recent time jump, but that it has some kind of future importance to the narrative.

This story behind this scar might also help to explain why Michonne seems so guarded and is reluctant to let newcomers into her community. Both Rick and Carl were willing to give their lives to help rebuild a civilized place that sought to bring people together and so it seems odd that Michonne would close Alexandria to strangers. Perhaps her scar holds the secret.

While it's possible that Michonne could have suffered some kind of accident or that Alexandria has been forced to battle some unknown human enemies after last week's time jump, there could be a far darker explanation. If Rick and Michonne's child is indeed a hallucination, then the scar could be from some kind of surgery performed as a result of a pregnancy complication.

Page 2 of 2: Questions About The Walking Dead's Time Jump

4. Who's In Charge Of The Hilltop?

As reported previously, last week's episode was not only Rick's final bow on The Walking Dead, but Maggie's also, at least for now. This might partly explain why the Hilltop only featured in "Who Are You Now?" by way of passing references from other characters.

One such reference came from Michonne as she prepared to take Magna's group to Hilltop to ask if "she" would take the group in. Clearly, viewers are meant to assume that Michonne is referring to Maggie here, but if the reports of her exit are correct, someone else must be in charge. The only major female characters currently residing at Hilltop are Enid and Tara, and since she has essentially been Maggie's understudy in recent seasons, Enid is perhaps the leading candidate. However, The Walking Dead has yet to show Oceanside since the time skip; could one of their rank now be in charge of Hilltop?

Aside from the issue of Hilltop's new leader, there's also a question mark hanging over exactly what happened to Maggie. Recent episodes have arguably set Maggie up for a possible move to Georgie's community but an explanation is still required to account for why she would leave after initially refusing. Was it the trauma of losing Rick? Or is her exit connected to a currently-unseen event that occurred afterwards?

3. Why Are The Communities So Divided?

Walking Dead Season 9 Time Jump Michonne Danai Gurira

In the early days of The Walking Dead season 9, tension was beginning to brew between the various communities. Maggie's execution of Gregory put her at odds with Rick, Oceanside were secretly killing off former foes and the Saviors continued to be a thorn in the side of just about everyone. However, when Maggie finally gave up her revenge mission against Negan and Rick risked his life to protect his fellow survivors from an oncoming horde, it seemed as if many of those rifts would be healed.

Clearly, that has not happened. While there are still lines of communication and trade between Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom, Ezekiel claims that the settlements have never been more divided and mentions a "fair" that is in planning and intended to bring everyone back together.

After the comics' time skip, all of the communities start to get along famously, even the Sanctuary at first. As such, it isn't immediately obvious what could have caused them to grow apart on TV. Perhaps this surprisingly frosty dynamic ties into how Michonne got her scar, or why Maggie left Hilltop, but maybe it's simply meant to demonstrate how everything falls apart without Rick around.

2. What Happened To The Saviors?

"What Are You Now?" delighted The Walking Dead fans with the long-awaited return of Carol's savage mode. The Queen of the Kingdom was traveling with her adopted son when she was robbed by a group of Saviors. Naturally, she responds by burning them in their sleep.

Negan's former cronies didn't exactly part with Carol on good terms prior to the time skip so it perhaps isn't too surprising to see them at odds here. However, the Saviors' dialogue in this scene strongly implies that something has happened to their community, the Sanctuary, that has forced them to scavenge on the road and the group is later seen sleeping in a barn-like structure. There could be a simple explanation for this; perhaps the Sanctuary fell apart without any allies to trade with, or perhaps the community is still standing but has evicted its more troublesome members.

Alternatively, Rick's assumed death could have prompted an uprising from the Saviors against the other communities - a battle they ultimately lost - and this could provide an explanation for both Michonne's scar and the general sense of unease between communities. In the comic version of The Walking Dead, the Saviors do attempt a half-hearted sort of rebellion against Alexandria, but not until after the fight against the Whisperers. It's possible that the TV iteration has brought this arc forward to add some spice to the time skip.

1. What Is Negan and Judith's Relationship?

Walking Dead Season 9 Time Jump Negan Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Still locked up in jail, Negan didn't feature too prominently in "Who Are You Now?" but one scene did show the former Savior leader happily discussing mathematics with Judith. The youngster is clearly aware of Negan's crimes and knows that they can only communicate through a small basement window but the most interesting aspect of this sequence is how Judith doesn't appear to make any attempt to hide her conversation with Negan. Surely if any communication with Negan was banned, she wouldn't be talking to him in the middle of the day in plain sight.

This would seem to suggest that other Alexandrians, and perhaps even Michonne, are aware that Judith speaks to Negan and are allowing it to occur. If this is the case, then Negan must have earned a great deal of trust during the time skip years and behaved himself impeccably. Perhaps he even helped quell a Savior coup? Certainly, Negan appeared for more balanced in this episode compared to The Walking Dead season 9 so far (and he must have also ended his habit of going on hunger strike).

Alexandria may be planning to keep Negan locked up indefinitely but with a powerful new enemy on the horizon, could their captive former foe prove too valuable an asset to ignore?

"Who Are You Now?" represents the dawn of a new era for The Walking Dead and, to an extent, the start of an entirely different show and it therefore makes sense that the episode asked more questions than it answered. And while some mysteries can be cleared up immediately - the chatty zombies, for example - others likely won't be revealed until viewers gain a better understanding of what happened during the time skip.