Valentine’s Day can’t come fast enough this year, and it has little to do with love — and everything to do with the undead. New artwork for the midseason return of The Walking Dead has me swooning hard over the heart-shaped holiday!
More:The Walking Dead: 11 Questions we need answered ASAP after the break
What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic. So, here’s what (else) we know. Season 6 resumes on Feb. 14 and AMC just released an intriguing new composite poster promoting what will surely be one hell of a second half.
But what do all these little glimpses mean for Rick Grimes and the rest of our beloved ragtag band of survivors? Let’s speculate. After all, we’ve gotta find some way to pass the time until the midseason premiere.
1. Rick’s gnarly face
A set of companion images show our fearless leader’s face, bearing a bit more wear and tear, thanks to recent events at Alexandria. The first is captioned with a quote from Rick, saying, “I thought living behind these walls was possible…”
“… I was wrong,” finishes the second. Unless they discover some other walls in the latter half of Season 6 we’ve yet to learn of, it’s safe to assume Rick is talking about Alexandria. Since the last time we saw the gang they were fleeing in meat curtains, this isn’t exactly a surprise. However, perhaps it’s important because it implies that they do make it out and that they return to the nomadic ways of their past.
2. Billowing smoke
Hmm, curious. Logic would seem to dictate the smoke could be coming from the ruins of Alexandria. Did our heroes set it on fire as they left to torch the throngs of walkers? Do the survivors find their way to a new home only to see it burn to the ground? Or could this be a smoke signal (albeit a ginormous one) coming from someone trying to alert Rick and his crew to their location?
3. Rosary beads
We already know that our favorite characters will come across other survivors sooner rather than later — Negan’s lackeys showed up during the winter finale, after all. And since the promo poster teases “A Larger World,” it’s a possibility the hand clutching the rosary beads belongs to a newcomer. Specifically, I’m going to guess it belongs to Paul “Jesus” Monroe, who earned his nickname not for any spiritual fortitude but rather for his bearded likeness. The other possibility is that the rosary beads belong to Father Gabriel and they were yanked from him during some sort of struggle. (Can he be killed off already?)
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4. Familiar jewelry
I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but it certainly looks as though we’ll be seeing Deanna again — as a walker. We can be nearly sure of it, given the delicate gold necklace and wedding band this walker is wearing. However, it looks as though a non-zombie hand is clutching walker-Deanna’s arm. Does Michonne do Deanna the service of keeping her from killing one of her still-living friends?
5. Morgan on horseback
So, Morgan’s alive. Here’s hoping that means Carol’s OK, too, after the pair tangled in the winter finale. Him riding through a seemingly deserted town on horseback is puzzling, though. Perhaps he got banished by the group for his behavior. Or maybe — seeing as this image hearkens memories of Rick riding into Atlanta during Season 1 — it means Morgan is taking more of a leadership position moving into 6B. Heck, maybe he just decided to go it alone (except for the horse, of course).
6. A super satellite
This must have some significance, although your guess is as good as mine. It appears to be a satellite dish of gargantuan proportions, and surely there aren’t a lot of those just hanging about. So that got me thinking that maybe this is a clue as to where Rick and the gang end up next. After a little sleuthing, I found that, of the 10 largest satellite dishes in the world, only two are located in the United States — and they’re both in California. That can’t be right… or can it?
7. Handcuffed walkers
Michonne might be up to her old tricks, y’all! Or, at the very least, someone is. Unless these walkers were survivors who’d been handcuffed before being bitten, in which case it just means they were still wearing the cuffs when they turned and wandered off. Po-tay-to, po-tat-o.
8. This RV
Memories, in the corner of my mind. Yes, seeing this rickety ol’ RV makes me feel all kinds of feels, because it reminds me of Dale. RIP, friend. Sure wish you didn’t have to die. Of course, Dale did die, and he did so a long, long time ago. So is this the RV Rick memorably used earlier in the season to wipe out some Wolves? I spy what appears to be a moving truck behind it, which — if you remember — Darryl was driving with Sasha and Abraham in tow. This could very well be a caravan in search of the next Alexandria.
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9. Jessie and Rick, joined at the hand
If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. And if it looks like a flannel-shirt-wearing woman and a man holding each other’s bloody hands, it’s probably Jessie and Rick, taking their post-apocalyptic love public. Aww. See, I told you I was a hopeless romantic.
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