‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Theory: Rick Grimes Gets Rescued By Anne And Her Mysterious Group

SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses Episode 4 (titled “The Obliged”) of AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 9. If you have not yet viewed this episode and wish to avoid major spoilers, please proceed with caution.

It has been established for some time now that series regular and main character, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is set to leave AMC’s The Walking Dead in Season 9. In fact, AMC made this perfectly clear when it announced after Episode 3 that Rick Grimes only had two more episodes left. Now, with the end of Episode 4, fans are able to see what is the likely outcome for Rick. However, is Rick really going to die?

As viewers saw at the end of Episode 4, Rick was bucked from his horse and impaled on a piece of rebar. Hordes of walkers were approaching on two fronts, making it pretty clear that Rick was set to become zombie food in Episode 5 of The Walking Dead.

However, considering there is a helicopter flying around and at least one mysterious group, is it possible that Rick Grimes might actually be rescued?

Most outlets — along with fans — are saying that Rick Grimes will die. Furthermore, the network has stated that Andrew Lincoln is leaving The Walking Dead. There have been some pretty wild insinuations that make it appear like Rick will be dying as a result. However, a lot of the official wording doesn’t actually use the terms associated with Rick dying.

In fact, even Andrew Lincoln is not using the “D” word. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor had this to say about his character’s departure from The Walking Dead.

“There was a certain sense of, how do you exit a show that is going to continue? I thought long and hard about it, and I came up with an idea that hopefully is going to work. We’ll see how it goes.”

So, if Rick is leaving and not dying, how could this occur?

As Fansided points out, Anne/Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) has been on the search for an “A” which will, apparently, get her into the community that has the helicopter seen occasionally flying overhead in previous episodes of The Walking Dead.

In the last couple of episodes, Anne was seen talking to someone via walkie-talkie in relation to “A’s” and “B’s”. It was also revealed that she traded people previously when Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) confronted her. Deciding that Gabriel was considered an “A’, she then set a walker on him. Unable to continue, though, she ended up letting Gabriel going.

So we know that Anne is out there, potentially looking for another “A” to get her into this mysterious community. In fact, one of the promotional stills for Episode 5 of The Walking Dead Season 9 even shows Anne with her walkie-talkie. From what has been said by Anne, it is possible Rick is considered an “A”. So if she were to come across him while injured, the potential is there that she will take him to this mysterious community and Rick will be saved as a result.

However, it is unclear what would happen to Rick when he got there, as the implication set by Anne leaving Gabriel behind rather than taking the man she had become emotionally involved with, is that being an “A” is not a fun thing to be in this community. As a result of this, Rick may appear to be gone, much in the way that Heath (Corey Hawkins) disappeared and was never seen again, and not actually dead.

However, viewers will just have to tune into Episode 5 of The Walking Dead to find out the true fate of Rick Grimes.

Season 9 of The Walking Dead returns to AMC with Episode 5 (titled “What Comes After”) on Sunday, November 4. The synopsis is below.

“Rick is forced to face the past as he struggles to maintain the safety of the communities and protect the future he and Carl envisioned.”