7 Biggest Ways Walking Dead Has Already Retconned The Main Show's Ending

Introduction

The Walking Dead ended with many characters already set to embark onto spinoffs, which has caused quite a few instances of retconning to the flagship show's series finale. In The Walking Dead's final episode, a hopeful overtone was present with Alexandria, Hilltop, and a new Commonwealth rebuilding, Daryl heading off to search for Rick, and characters finding stable roles in new jobs. In terms of threats, The Walking Dead thwarted the main antagonist group with a takeover and all communities were seemingly defensible from walkers.

Daryl Dixon holding his crossbow in The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon episode 5

However, with subsequent spinoffs such as The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and Dead City, survivors were shown in new locales that challenged some of the established lore of the franchise. Retcons in The Walking Dead universe aren't new. For instance, Alpha's origin story was altered in Tales of The Walking Dead, changing her from the creator of the Whisperers to someone who overthrew the original leader and took over. Therefore, whether undoing an individual character's arc or re-calibrating the core zombie lore of the franchise, The Walking Dead's retcons are often blatant.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan and Lauren Cohan as Maggie in Walking Dead

Daryl Dixon's Disappointing Excursion

Daryl reveals he didn't find out anything new while away from Alexandria In Daryl's final moments on the main show, he said goodbye to Judith and that while he's gone he'd find Rick and Michonne and bring them home. This was in addition to Daryl's reason for leaving The Walking Dead to go to France, namely Maggie asking him to scope out the wider areas to learn more. However, in the pilot of Daryl's spinoff, he said, 'I went out looking for something, and all I found was trouble.' This suggested that his excursion away from Alexandria and the new Commonwealth was pointless from a story perspective and only a means to get him to France for the spinoff.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan and Lauren Cohan as Maggie in Walking Dead Dead City

Maggie & Negan's Feud Wasn't Settled After All It's no secret that Maggie and Negan have a long-running feud since Negan brutally bludgeoned Glenn in the season 7 premiere. However, over the course of the rest of The Walking Dead, Negan slowly became a part of Alexandria and even helped take down Alpha during the Whisperer War. Additionally, he saved Judith during a snowstorm and helped rescue Hershel from the Commonwealth. All this led to Maggie extending hospitality to Negan and his wife Annie in the finale by admitting that he 'earned [his] place.' She also stated she didn't want to hate Negan anymore.

Negan and Maggie in The Walking Dead: Dead City

Variants Don't Exist (According To Dead City) Variants were first introduced in The Walking Dead The variant confusion in The Walking Dead universe has been around since season 1 when Morgan's turned wife showed signs of intelligence, such as remembering her home. From then, the show ignored this seemingly until season 11 with the aptly named episode 'Variant,' where a climber zombie variant was shown. These zombies showed much greater critical thinking skills, such as when one grabbed Lydia's weapon to prevent her attacks or when one climbed over a fence instead of into it like typical walkers.

Negan and Maggie in The Walking Dead

Controversial Retcons

To add to The Walking Dead's inconsistencies created by variants, Daryl Dixon's variants were all modified by humans. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon also revealed how zombie variants are made, namely by using their decapitated heads. While Genet's villain plan involved injecting walkers with some kind of scientifically altered serum to transform them into stronger and speedier variants, The Walking Dead suggested traits like this simply evolved over time. After Aaron and the others' encounter with the climbers, it became clear that walker variants could differ. Their differences seemed linked to abilities, such as dexterity, intelligence, speed, and strength. Daryl Dixon's enhanced walkers coincided with The Walking Dead: World Beyond's reveal where one French person accused French scientists of creating the virus that caused the outbreak and the different 'variant cohorts'.

Negan and Maggie walking together in the forest on The Walking Dead.

Negan Abandoned His Family (Despite His Season 11 Promise) Annie and Joshua are not present in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 1 In The Walking Dead season 11, after Annie was introduced and her pregnancy revealed, Negan expressed excitement about being a father and a deep desire to keep his family safe. Additionally, Negan also made a promise to Annie that he would never do anything to risk her and their child's lives. However, his abandonment of Annie and Joshua in The Walking Dead: Dead City didn't align with this. While Negan explained why he and his family were separated, it had holes. Negan recounted how Annie was brutally attacked by a group of men, so he sought revenge and became a fugitive on the run from the New Babylon marshals. He sent his family to Missouri so they could avoid a life on the run. However, he didn't seem to prioritize returning to them and ended up caring for Ginny, an orphaned girl.

Walking Dead Dead City Variant Zombie

Hilltop's Recovery After The Whisperers Was A Lie The Walking Dead ending showed Hilltop rebuilt The Walking Dead season 11 ending showed Hilltop as rebuilt after the fire during the Whisperer War. However, at the beginning of Dead City, Maggie confirmed that Hilltop was rebuilt elsewhere. This raised why a rebuilt Hilltop was shown in its original location in the main show's finale if the Whisperer War justification was still being used. While it's possible the damage to Hilltop was worse than originally thought, this change seemed more for the sake of convenience. Moving Hilltop was more logistical for Maggie and Negan's spinoff, since it's in New York and not Virginia, where the original Hilltop was located.

Zombie variant being secured in The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon