Warning: spoilers ahead for Daryl Dixon season 2, episode 4.

The mystery of how the zombie outbreak started feels one step closer to being answered after a fresh clue dropped in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2. Robert Kirkman’s original The Walking Dead comics deliberately avoided revealing the cause of the virus responsible for spreading untold misery across the world, and AMC’s TV adaptation followed that lead for a long time. A few scientific details surfaced when Rick’s group visited the CDC in season 1, but The Walking Dead quickly backed off, never again approaching the topic of where the virus originated.

As the franchise continues to expand after The Walking Dead‘s ending, however, those big lore questions are once again coming into focus, with the outbreak’s starting point chief among them. As more time passes, communities grow more advanced, and scientists begin to experiment on the undead, the cloud of uncertainty over The Walking Dead‘s zombie virus is gradually starting to lift, and it rises a few inches further thanks to Genet in Daryl Dixon season 2, episode 4, “La Paradis Pour Toi.”

Daryl Dixon Season 2 Hints The Rich & Powerful Are Responsible For The Zombie Outbreak

The Walking Dead Brings A Whole New Meaning To “Eat The Rich”

While facing down Carol, Genet – a villain Daryl Dixon previously confirmed had worked as maintenance staff at the Louvre before the outbreak – embarks on a lengthy rant about the rich and powerful. She bemoans how the wealthy took refuge while ordinary families were left to die, and shows disgust at how French authorities protected the country’s artwork better than its people. The most fascinating part of Genet’s speech, however, comes at the end, as she remembers her husband being “devoured by the monsters THEY made.”

If any character in The Walking Dead has an inkling of what started the apocalypse, it’s Genet.

In the context of Genet’s monologue, “they” can only refer to the elite and influential – politicians, billionaires, corporate figures, etc. Without providing any firm details, Genet clearly believes the wealthy bear ultimate responsibility for The Walking Dead‘s zombie outbreak. This is a major reveal, as it paints the virus not just as a science experiment gone wrong, but as a reckless act of hubris committed by figures who were untouchable due to their financial or political sway. Immediately, the Wildfire virus begins to look more malicious, more deliberate, and a lot more avoidable.

Daryl Dixon has given plenty of reasons to take Genet’s accusation seriously too. The Walking Dead: World Beyond previously exposed how the virus started in France, and by Daryl Dixon‘s place in the Walking Dead timeline, most of the country is under Genet’s control. The villain would, therefore, be privy to any official documentation about pathogens and secret projects that was left behind after France’s government fell. Genet’s Pouvoir du Vivant group also boasts a scientist with extensive knowledge of how the zombie virus works, so if any character in The Walking Dead has an inkling of what started the apocalypse, it’s Genet.

The Walking Dead Suggested That Genet Knows How The Outbreak Began In Season 1 Too

Genet Made A Very Similar Reference To How The Virus Started

Curiously, Daryl Dixon alluded towards Genet possessing knowledge of The Walking Dead‘s zombie outbreak back in season 1, albeit via far more subtle means. During episode 4, Genet venomously stated to a Union supporter, “The weak, the submissive, the credulous… It’s people like you who got us into this mess.” At first glance, Genet’s quote from Daryl Dixon‘s first season does not align with her later comments in season 2, and might even appear to contradict them by blaming the general population. “Submissive” does not sound like a term one would use to describe members of the wealthy elite, after all.

Nevertheless, the two details can work in tandem. When Genet claims that submissive citizens “got us into this mess,” she could be referring to how ordinary, working-class people had the chance to stop rich folks creating a world-ending virus if only they had risen up and fought back against inequality sooner. In other words, the world’s elite were responsible for creating the virus itself, but Genet believes the world’s submissive population stood by and allowed it to happen. If this were true, it would perfectly explain the philosophy behind Pouvoir du Vivant, accounting for the group’s ruthless nature and why Genet herself refuses to tolerate any form of supposed weakness.

How Genet’s Clue Fits With Past Hints About The Walking Dead’s Virus Origin

Various Pieces From The Walking Dead’s Past Begin To Fit Together

The Walking Dead: World Beyond‘s ending very strongly suggested that the zombie virus began in a French science lab before spreading across the world, and a group called Primrose Team was specifically mentioned among those directly involved. These details perfectly complement Genet’s assertion in Daryl Dixon season 2 that the wealthy are to blame.

It is unlikely that France shoulders the blame for The Walking Dead ‘s apocalyptic landscape alone.

The French scientists might have been the ones handling test tubes and Bunsen burners, but they wouldn’t have taken it upon themselves to begin experimenting on such a lethal pathogen – not least because they would lack the financial means to do so. Logically, then, it makes sense that some powerful entity with plenty of money and resources instigated and bankrolled the program that ultimately led to The Walking Dead‘s zombie outbreak, commissioning the scientists to carry out their research.

The CDC’s Dr. Jenner is shown to be in contact with the French scientists shortly after the outbreak, but doesn’t appear to know they were responsible for creating the virus.

Despite signs to the contrary, it is unlikely that France shoulders the blame for The Walking Dead‘s apocalyptic landscape alone. According to World Beyond, Primrose Team traveled to Ohio shortly before the outbreak, potentially implying that the virus research was an international effort involving France, the United States, and other major world powers. If this were true, and leaders from across the world conspired to create a virus that effectively ended human civilization, Genet’s anger in Daryl Dixon season 2 would be even more justified.

The Walking Dead Needs To Fill The Gaps About How The Virus Started

The Walking Dead Can’t Go Back After Dropping So Many Hints

When it came down to explaining the zombie virus, The Walking Dead had two choices: follow the comics and leave the mystery intact, or provide a full account of how the outbreak began. AMC’s franchise currently occupies a murky middle ground between the two. Some details have been uncovered, but not enough to form a clear, complete picture of why the virus happened. Now that The Walking Dead has made a definite start down the path of solving the mystery, it needs to follow through and complete the story sooner or later.

The conversation cannot go ignored forever – especially after The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2’s new tidbit.

Genet’s clue about the wealthy being responsible raises two big questions in particular. Firstly, who first came up with and funded the experiments that led to The Walking Dead‘s virus, and what were their intentions? Some business tycoon with too much money might have been trying to cheat death, or the intention might have been to turn corpses into cheap soldiers. If Genet is right and the rich are to blame, The Walking Dead must explain what they were trying to achieve.

The next conundrum to untangle is how a secret virus began spreading across the world. The natural assumption would be that some clumsy scientist forgot to close an important door, or another mundane breach of safety protocol occurred, but without knowing why investors with bulging bank accounts were paying for the research, it’s possible the virus was unleashed deliberately. Genet is no longer in a position to answer such questions on account of her brains being spread across the floor of a French farmhouse, but the conversation cannot go ignored forever – especially after The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2’s new tidbit.

Episode
Release Date

“La Gentillesse des Étrangers”
September 29

“Moulin Rouge”
October 6

“L’Invisible”
October 13

“La Paradis Pour Toi”
October 20

“Vouloir, C’est Pouvoir”
October 27

“Au Revoir les Enfants”
November 3