Having run for 11 seasons, The Walking Dead also produced a plethora of spinoff shows that helped expand the universe and lore; however, this created a complicated timeline, leading to several plot holes and inconsistencies. The Walking Dead‘s timeline has never been an overly important aspect of the show, as, other than the changing climate, time hasn’t really played a critical impact on the story. The first eight seasons all took place within just a few years of one another before season 9 underwent a six-year jump, making it a little bit more difficult for audiences to keep up.

While viewers still had a rough idea of how much time had passed by the end of season 11, the spinoffs complicated things further. The Ones Who Live and Daryl Dixon‘s timelines seem to roughly line up, but Dead City takes place years in the future, meaning it doesn’t seamlessly fit in with the rest of the franchise. Unfortunately, the constant advancement in the timeline alongside several flashbacks and shows being set during different periods has led to the timeline having plenty of holes in it, creating several inconsistencies and problems that hurt the overall narrative.

10Variant Zombies Were Around In The Walking Dead’s Early Episodes, The Vanished Until Season 11

Variants Disappeared For A Decade In America Without An Explanation

One of The Walking Dead‘s biggest timeline problems is the inconsistency of variant zombies. Although unintentional, variants first appeared in season 1 as the undead were able to run, climb walls, and use bricks to smash glass, something that wasn’t seen again in the main show until the final season.

The reason behind this was the change in showrunners meant zombies operated differently, but this still created a massive timeline issue that has never been properly addressed. With these unique types of walkers simply disappearing for over a decade in the US, the return of variant zombies created a Walking Dead plot hole, as their absence was never explained from an in-universe perspective.

The decision to reintroduce variants so late into the series doesn’t have any real logical explanation behind it and makes their omission in previous seasons feel strange.

Many of the survivors saw the infected use objects or climb walls for the first time in the final season, but it isn’t a new concept given this happened in the opening few episodes. Therefore, the decision to reintroduce variants so late into the series doesn’t have any real logical explanation behind it and makes their omission in previous seasons feel strange.

9The Survivors Spent 8 Months Looking For The Prison

After Hershel’s Farm, The Group Spent The Better Part Of A Year Looking For Their New Settlement Despite How Close-By It Was

The Walking Dead‘s first major time skip happened between seasons 2 and 3 after the survivors left Hershel’s farm. With the group managing to flee the burning location before reuniting on the highway, Rick delivered his famous Ricktatorship speech during season 2’s closing moments, with the camera panning out to reveal the prison in the background.

However, despite the building seeming within driving distance and no more than a couple of days’ walk at most, the group took around eight months to find it. Season 3 opened with the survivors scavenging, and Lori was near the end of her pregnancy while the group talked about surviving winter.

As a result, at least half a year must have passed since the end of season 2, and still, no one came across the prison. T-Dog did mention they “spent the winter going in circles“, but given they had a map of the area, surely they should have found the prison much sooner, highlighting a key flaw with the timeline, or the group’s navigation skills.

8Maggie & Negan Not Mentioning Rick Grimes’ Return In Dead City

Rick Grimes Has Supposedly Been Back For Years By The Time Dead City Takes Place

Dead City is currently the furthest forward project in the entire Walking Dead TV universe, but despite Rick’s supposed return in The Ones Who Live, Maggie and Negan never mentioned it in their spinoff. Although their mission to rescue Maggie’s son may not have warranted Rick’s name being brought up, the two did talk about the past, particularly Negan’s time in charge of the Saviors, which feels like a strong reason for the franchise’s protagonist to be mentioned.

The spinoff never explained exactly why Negan left the Commonwealth, but Rick’s arrival could’ve been a pivotal factor, yet the show ignores it. Given The Ones Who Live aired after Dead City season 1, it’s understandable why the project didn’t spoil this massive moment, but it still doesn’t make sense from a timeline perspective. Hopefully, Dead City season 2 can retcon its Rick plot hole, but as of now, it feels strange he hasn’t been mentioned at all.

7Dead City Doesn’t Even Know Its Own Timeline

Negan’s Claim Of “12–15 Years Ago” Proves Dead City Doesn’t Know When It Takes Place

Alongside its failure to mention Rick, Dead City‘s inability to nail down its own timeline also feels like a glaring issue. At one point in the series, Negan mentions starting the Saviors “12–15 years ago“, suggesting even he isn’t exactly sure what year it is.

While this could be down to the survivors not having an easy way of keeping track of time, they have mentioned winter and summer on plenty of occasions throughout the franchise, meaning they should at least know the year, even if they can’t pinpoint the exact date. Negan’s comment isn’t Dead City‘s only timeline problem, as Hershel’s age means it is almost certainly closer to 15 years since the apocalypse started, rather than 12.

Dead City has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

If the show took place 12 years after the outbreak, it would mean it is at a similar point to the other spinoffs, which Hershel’s age contradicts. He looks to be in his mid-late teens, meaning Dead City could easily be set more than three years after The Walking Dead season 11, highlighting the inconsistencies in its setting.

6Daryl Dixon’s Mission At The End Of The Walking Dead Was Very Short

Daryl’s Emotional Departure At The End Of The Walking Dead Only Lasted 1 Month

Daryl Dixon‘s first season takes place roughly a month after The Walking Dead season 11’s flashforward ending, and while this doesn’t necessarily contradict the timeline, it does make Daryl leaving the Commonwealth pointless. Had he simply been abducted and sent to France in the spinoff, it may have made slightly more sense. However, Daryl told Carol “I’ll be there in about a week” before being forced to Europe, suggesting he already planned on coming home shortly after his departure.

His return to the Commonwealth may have just been a brief pit stop to check in on everyone, but it makes his emotional goodbye to Carol and the group in season 11 far less impactful. It was obvious Daryl would always return to the main group at some point, but considering he had spent years on his own previously, his mission lasting around a single month didn’t warrant all the commotion regarding his departure.

5The Whisperers Should Have Crossed Paths With The Main Survivors Much Sooner

The Main Survivors Spent Several Years Neighboring The Whisperers Without Ever Clashing

Given The Whisperers were located in Virginia during their time in The Walking Dead, it seems like they should have come across one of the show’s main communities much sooner. Alpha’s version of the group wasn’t formed until several years into the apocalypse, meaning the faction failing to encounter Alexandria, Hilltop, The Kingdom, or Oceanside is forgivable in the first eight seasons.

However, one of these communities surely would have clashed with The Whisperers during the six-year time skip. Understandably, it wouldn’t make much sense from an audience perspective if a new villainous group was introduced off-screen while the timeline was progressing.

However, the fact that all four communities miraculously avoided Alpha’s group for several years despite them all being located in Virginia seems like a potential plot hole. Of course, Virginia is a big area, but with only so many survivors left in the State, it’s hard to believe it took so long for this brutal war to start.

4The Saviors Uprising All Happened Within 2 Years

Negan Started An Entire Army & Took Over Multiple Established Communities In Just A Few Years

Whereas some factions in The Walking Dead took a long time to fully flourish, Negan managed to get the Saviors up and running very quickly according to the timeline. Season 10’s “Here’s Negan” gave the former villain a bit of an origin story and highlighted his struggles at the start of the apocalypse.

However, it clearly didn’t take long for the former high-school teacher to adapt to the new world, as he went from losing his wife to ruling the Saviors in less than two years. Not only did he manage to start the group, but he also stamped his authority over multiple other communities, including Alexandria, during his reign.

Considering how large his group was and how much influence they had, it’s wild to think all of this was achieved in just a few short years. Additionally, it makes sense he would be quick to adapt given how many popular Walking Dead characters Negan killed, but forming such a large and established group so quickly still feels a little swift when considering how his journey started.

3Major Walking Dead Character Deaths Happened Really Close Together

Only A Year Passed Between Lori & Carl’s Deaths Despite Occurring 5 Seasons Apart

When taking into account the weight and magnitude of the show’s biggest deaths, it feels all the more bizarre that many of them happened so close together. Rick losing his wife and son is often a major talking point when it comes to his character arc, but it feels even more bizarre that there was only a year between their deaths, especially when five seasons passed in that time. Likewise, there are probably only a couple of months between Maggie losing her father and sister.

To add to her trauma, Glenn’s death also happened a few weeks or months after Beth’s, showing just how brutal the timeline really is when it comes to frequent tragedy. Essentially, every major Walking Dead death from between seasons 3 and 8 takes place within about a year to 18 months if the timeline is to be believed, meaning many characters were quickly forgotten about by the survivors due to people dying one after the other.

2Carl’s Aging Compared To Chandler Riggs

Chandler Riggs Became A Young Adult While Carl Was Still Supposed To Be A Child

Carl’s age is arguably The Walking Dead‘s biggest timeline blunder, as he barely aged throughout the show, yet Chandler Riggs went from a child to a young adult during his time on the show. Riggs was 11 years old when The Walking Dead season 1 came out, and given Carl was supposed to be 12, he felt like the perfect fit.

Unfortunately, despite doing an excellent job with the character and showing his growth throughout the apocalypse, Riggs was 18 when filming his final season. In contrast, Carl was supposed to be around 14-15 given only a few years had passed in the timeline, meaning the actor no longer matched the character.

Recasting Carl would feel weird considering how synonymous Riggs has become with the role, but it can’t be denied that season 8 Carl looked a lot older than he should have. Ironically, Riggs would be able to perfectly portray Carl Grimes in The Walking Dead‘s current timeline if he was still around, given the character would have been in his early to mid-20s.

1Rick Grimes Spent More Time With The CRM Than The Main Group

Most Of Rick’s Post-Apocalyptic Journey Happened With The CRM Off-Screen

Rick Grimes has been part of several iconic Walking Dead moments, but despite the protagonist appearing for a little over eight seasons, he spent most of his time in the apocalypse with the CRM. Even after leading several communities and defeating various villain groups, Rick’s involvement in the show up until his departure all happened within just a few years of the outbreak, whereas he spent close to a decade with the CRM.

Given the protagonist spent such a long time trying to escape, it paints a picture of how miserable Rick’s Walking Dead journey has actually been.

That means his friendship with Daryl, romance with Michonne, and all the other relationships he formed were much shorter-lived than his time with the military group. Given the protagonist spent such a long time trying to escape, it paints a picture of how miserable Rick’s Walking Dead journey has actually been.

His spinoff did at least provide him with a more hopeful ending, but the franchise’s crazy timeline means he’s spent more of his life with the Civic Republic than his new family, which feels like an almost overlooked detail.