Rick Grimes is ready for action and I'm fully behind it. When the second half of The Walking Dead Season 7 premiered on Feb. 12, no crazy deaths happened, but it was for the best. Instead, the series and Rick focused on creating an alliance to take down Negan and the Saviors. The leader of Alexandria seems like he's back to being his best self and that's a mighty good sign for the rest of Season 7 since when Rick is at his best, the AMC show usually benefits. Yet, that doesn't mean that only positive things will go down in Season 7b (Negan and zombies still exist after all) and these theories about The Walking Dead Season 7 indicate that fans are expecting the good, the bad, and the ugly from the show.
With Negan killing Glenn in the Season 7 premiere (oh, and Abraham), it seems like the major characters will be safe from a similar fate for the rest of the season. (Although, if Carol keeps pissing people off, I wouldn't be surprised or too upset if her time ran out.) Of course, others will die as Rick attempts to unite Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and that new mystery group (who the hell are they with their weaponized walkers?!), but the second half of Season 7 seems like a time for smart planning — and also, some really cool zombie killings if Michonne and Rick's car wire trick in the midseason premiere was any indication. Yet, with this planning comes plenty of questions — and hypothesizing — from fans.
If the midseason premiere left you with more questions than answers, here is what the internet believes will happen during the second part of The Walking Dead Season 7. These theories might not solve all of your queries, but they'll certainly get your non-zombified brain thinking.
Eric Will Die
Were you concerned about the fate of Eric when he got some serious screentime in the midseason premiere after a significant drought? Well, you weren't alone. Eric and Aaron's scene about their domestic bliss could mean that Eric is next on the chopping block. As the above Twitter user noted, "RIP in advance, Eric."
The Person With The Boots Is A Familiar (& Scarred) Face
The person who watched Rick and Aaron raid the houseboat and the person who was spying on Gabriel in the midseason finale is one and the same. So, who is this mysterious booted person? As ComicBook.com covered, the person wearing boots could be Dwight if this Savior plans on secretly sabotaging Negan. That would mean he was perhaps the reason Gabriel was lured away from Alexandria and directed Rick to the boat. I think it's a long shot that the person is Dwight, but viewers might know the answer as soon as "New Best Friends" on Feb. 19.
Rick Had A Good Reason To Smile
A simple explanation for Rick smiling after being surrounded by a group of people in the final moments of "Rock in the Road" would be that he is excited to see so many able bodies with weapons. Greg Nicotero confirmed as much to ComicBook.com when he said Rick was smiling since he found his army to battle Negan. However, the smile caused speculation as Rick could be smiling that Gabriel was with the group. IGN offered up another theory in the above video that Rick could have seen someone else he knew, like Heath (meh, Corey Hawkins is currently a bit busy), Dwight (if he is the person in the boots), or even a blast from the past — the Morales family — who left the group in Season 1 (always worth throwing out there, I suppose). For now, I'm gonna stick with the Nicotero-approved answer though.
The Mystery Group Is New To The 'TWD' Universe
Whenever a new character or group appears, many fans go back to the source material of the comics to see how it connects. While the Whisperers are the next group that comic fans have been anticipating to show up, they don't appear until later in the comics, so I'm inclined to think the mysterious gang introduced at the end of the midseason premiere are not the Whisperers. Based on roundups of theories from sites like Mic and TheWrap, I think the most likely scenario is this group is brand new for the show. Before "Rock in the Road" aired, showrunner Scott Gimple spoke to TVLine and made it sound like the boots person belonged to this new group (there goes that Dwight theory). "That character and the world to which they belong ... is a whole different flavor on the show," Gimple said. Hm, does "whole different flavor" mean "not in the comics"? One other thought is that it's Oceanside, but the group Tara encountered was notably all female.
Oceanside Might Return
Speaking of Oceanside, this reddit thread points out that it would be odd for The Walking Dead to devote an entire episode to the reclusive community and not have them ever appear again. While Tara could go back on her promise and reveal their existence to Rick, Cyndie seemed poised to break out and go looking for Tara's group. Before Season 7 is over, many fans think that we'll see some people from Oceanside again. Nicotero hinted as much to Entertainment Weekly by saying, "... in the storytelling fashion of The Walking Dead, we always like to introduce these communities so that later they play a bigger part" and then directly referenced the group Tara had met.
Someone Will Betray Rick & Alexandria
After Morgan actor Lennie James told NME that, "There are some people who go to the dark side who are going to take you by surprise" about the second half of Season 7, speculation understandably followed. Movie Pilot theorized it could be Heath, Eugene, or Rosita (this Twitter user also nominated Rosita). Uproxx offered up Carol or Gabriel to be the betrayers, but also noted there might be a major reason why it's not Carol (more on that next). The betrayer's identity isn't for sure yet, but what's definite is that someone is gonna screw over Rick. Maybe it could even be Morgan!
Carol Will Be At The Center Of A Love Triangle
To end on a lighter note, Ezekiel, Morgan, Daryl, and even Richard seem like they could be vibing on the loner Carol. Despite the show offering Daryl and Carol 'shippers absolutely nothing for quite some time now, the series appears to be ready to reunite these characters and possibly reignite their spark (yes, please). Yet, Daryl is living in King Ezekiel's Kingdom and Ezekiel most certainly has a soft spot for Carol. A love triangle seems in the cards and as long as it makes Carol step up and stop being so damn difficult, I'm for it.
If you peruse the internet for The Walking Dead theories, you'll find that plenty more ideas from fans will come up. With seven more episodes in store, anything could happen, but I'm just happy to see Rick Grimes back with focus and a thoughtful vengeance to fight Negan — and that will help me get through whatever occurs in the rest of Season 7.
