Warning: spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 3.
After Negan explained the Saviors to the Manhattan group in The Walking Dead: Dead City, it became clear that, after over a decade, The Walking Dead timeline is so convoluted that even the show isn't quite sure what year it is. The Walking Dead: Dead City is the latest spinoff from The Walking Dead franchise, following Maggie and Negan on a quest to find her kidnapped son, Hershel. The pair travel to post-apocalyptic New York and soon meet the Manhattan survivors and their twisted villain, the Croat.
In Dead City season 1, episode 3, Negan tells the Manhattan group about his past with the Saviors. He vaguely explains that the group was established around "12, 15 years ago." Considering the importance of the Saviors to Negan's life, it's interesting that he offers such a vast span of time for the event. In fact, the difference between twelve years and fifteen is fairly significant to the story. More importantly though, this line infers that maybe even The Walking Dead creators are unsure of how everything rests on a single timeline.
The Walking Dead: Dead City's Timeline Is Confusing
All in all, Negan's line in episode 3 confirms that the timeline of The Walking Dead: Dead City is highly confusing. From the start of the show, it's pretty unclear what year the series is supposed to be set in, and Negan's uneasy answer only blurs this more. The series begins with Maggie living in her new The Walking Dead community the Hilltop with Hershel when the Croat, a former Savior, arrives and kidnaps Hershel. Maggie hesitantly seeks out help from Negan, who is on the run, and the two travel to New York.
A clearer, yet still confusing, indicator of Dead City's timeframe is Hershel's age. Hershel first appeared in the franchise as an ultrasound in The Walking Dead season 6. He was then born two seasons later in "A New Beginning," The Walking Dead season 9, episode 1. In Dead City, Hershel reappears, clearly much older than he was in the original franchise. Though it's unclear what age he is exactly, he seems to be around fifteen. Though the answer to Hershel's age isn't entirely obvious, it helps significantly in placing the timeframe of Dead City.
How Much Time es Between The Walking Dead's Ending & Dead City
According to an interview with Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie, Dead City takes place "five to six years at least," after the end of The Walking Dead. The original show had its series finale in 2022 with season 11. This would sort of align with Negan's estimate on Dead City, however Cohan's assertion implies that fifteen years would be the minimum rather than twelve. This also aligns with Hershel age. If Hershel is fifteen and was conceived around the same time that the Savior plotline kicked in, then a fifteen-year estimate would make sense.
Broken down more fully, The Walking Dead timeline begins in the year 2010. By season 6, the show has progressed to 2012, the year Hershel is born. Then, The Walking Dead season 11 ends around 2020. Based on both Negan and Cohan's guesstimates and Hershel's apparent age, it would make sense that Dead City takes place around 2027. This would be fifteen years after season 6 and seven years after season 11. In fact, the time span could be even more than fifteen years, and could be revealed later based on Hershel's age.
Other Walking Dead Spinoffs Will Make The Timeline Even Worse
Unfortunately, with more The Walking Dead spinoffs, it's likely that the already fumbled timeline will grow worse. The Walking Dead: Dead City is only the most recent spinoff in The Walking Dead franchise with two more on the way: Daryl Dixon's The Walking Dead spinoff and Rick and Michonne's respectively. When these shows eventually come out, it wouldn't be surprising if the timeline continues to blur. This will also only be made worse by the different locations being introduced such as Maggie and Negan's New York and Daryl's .
Although The Walking Dead timeline isn't entirely indecipherable, Negan's comment in Dead City episode 3 implies that the age of time isn't totally clear, even for the show's writers. Furthermore, it seems as though the continuing stream of The Walking Dead spinoffs could only make this timeline issue much worse. However, for now, it seems that The Walking Dead: Dead City is around fifteen years past The Walking Dead season 6, and hopefully, this guesstimate can become more concrete in later episodes.
The Walking Dead: Dead City continues Sunday on AMC.