WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 2, Episode 10, “The Last Night,” which aired Sunday on AMC.
The World Beyond’s final episode is in the books, and for the most part, it wrapped up nicely. Multiple characters could still be used in upcoming shows like Fear the Walking Dead or the Rick Grimes movies, but there weren’t any major, nagging questions that the series refused to answer. That is, until the post-credit scene, which showed a development that could literally change the face of The Walking Dead.
Over the years, there have been nearly eleven seasons of The Walking Dead and multiple spinoffs. During that time, the zombies have received all kinds of different names. “Roamers,” “biters” and “empties” are some examples, but “walkers” has always been the most frequently used and accepted term. Frankly, calling the zombies "walkers" makes sense because it best describes them. However, after World Beyond’s post-credits scene, the name may no longer be applicable. Here’s what happens.
Somewhere in France, a scientist walks into a Biomedical lab, transfers files from external hard drives onto her laptop and starts watching a video. To everyone’s surprise, the video was of Dr. Jenner – the CDC scientist from Season 1 of The Walking Dead. Suddenly, someone is in the room with the scientist, and what he does and says is very important.
The man said that the scientist and her colleagues started everything and then made it worse. She knows that she is in trouble, but she doesn’t make a move and actually mentions being tired of running. Suddenly, he shoots her in the back, and we soon see what he meant. Seconds later, the scientist reanimates, stands up and starts to shuffle, then runs after the man who shot her.
In the video that the doctor is watching, Dr. Jenner talks about something called “variant cohorts,” saying that he hasn’t seen anything like that in America. So, maybe the shooter is correct; maybe the scientist’s team accidentally made things worse, while searching for a cure. The apparent result of their work is that the dead, that could previously only walk, can now run.
Overall, the scene doesn’t link to the World Beyond, and that does make it seem out of place. There isn’t any context in the scene, and Dr. Jenner is the only connection to the universe. However, there may be a connection. If the CRM’s secret city is actually in France, then Rick Grimes is probably there. So, maybe, when his movies eventually come out, they will be set overseas, where zombies are far more dangerous because they can run and fight. That’s far from confirmed, but it would be a waste to introduce a new type of walker – maybe "runner" is the better word – with no intent of using them at some point in a future storyline.