‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Theory: Is ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ The Reason Michonne Doesn’t Trust Strangers?

A new theory for Season 9 of The Walking Dead sees fans speculating over whether characters from Fear the Walking Dead are the reason Michonne (Danai Gurira) doesn’t trust strangers anymore.

SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses Season 9 of The Walking Dead as well as Season 5 of Fear the Walking Dead. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed both series and wish to avoid spoilers.

Since the six-year time jump after Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) departed The Walking Dead, Michonne has developed an aversion to strangers. This was seen directly when Judith (Cailey Fleming) welcomed a new group of people into Alexandria’s folds in Episode 6. Since then, many hints have been dropped about a potential incident at some point during the time jump that saw Michonne develop this fear.

There have been some theories over why Michonne no longer will allow strangers into Alexandria. Some fans wonder if the Saviors had something to do with it. And, considering Carol (Melissa McBride) hunted down and killed some remaining Saviors stragglers, this seems like a pretty good theory.

Other fans of The Walking Dead wonder if an unknown group is responsible. If this is the case, it will likely be revealed in flashback episodes.

In Episode 7 of The Walking Dead, it was also suggested that Michonne and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) had a run in and that might be part of the issue. Leading up to that episode, and considering fans knew that Lauren Cohan was no longer appearing in any more episodes leading up to the mid-season finale on Sunday, there was some suggestion that a new leader would be in control of Hilltop. So, perhaps that could be the reason Michonne seemed to have an aversion to Hilltop.

Comic Book speculated that perhaps a character from Fear the Walking Dead had managed to take control of Hilltop. However, when Episode 7 aired last Sunday, it was revealed that Jesus (Tom Payne) was now the leader of that community. However, that hasn’t stopped fans continuing to wonder about the potential for a crossover between the two series.

After all, Morgan (Lennie James) has crossed over from The Walking Dead to Fear the Walking Dead. So, there is the potential for him to come back, bringing some of the characters from Fear with him. In fact, Andrew Lincoln, who played Rick Grimes, has even suggested to Entertainment Weekly when talking about Morgan’s departure, that Morgan and Rick still had more story to tell.

“But there was a sort of sense, certainly, with Lennie, that it’s until we meet again,” Andrew Lincoln told EW in February.

“It’s always been that way with Rick and Morgan. I don’t know, there’s something in the air, that I feel that it’s not quite the end yet for Rick and Morgan.”

While Rick has since left the series, the potential is that Morgan could return, bringing newcomers with him. If this is the case, it leads to the potential of these strangers causing the conflict that has led to Michonne not trusting anyone.

However, as per usual with these sorts of theories, fans will just have to continue to tune into future episodes of the series to find out if there is any truth or not in the latest Walking Dead theory.

Season 9 of The Walking Dead returns to AMC with the mid-season finale, Episode 8 (titled “Evolution”) on Sunday, November 25. AMC lists the following synopsis for this episode.

“A small rescue mission braves a dangerous herd in their hunt for a missing comrade, only to discover a surprising threat that could doom them all.”