According to “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” season two finale, the virus originated at a biomedical facility in France.
Robert Kirkman purposefully withheld the origins of the TWD zombies when he wrote his comic book series, and he never even comes close to unraveling the mystery throughout the entire narrative.
Kirkman’s philosophy has been carried over to AMC's The Walking Dead TV adaptation, which consistently avoids teaching the audience a science lesson. The CDC episode from season 1 of The Walking Dead was the closest the series has ever come to revealing the show's biological secrets; Kirkman later regretted this episode.
The post-credits sequence from The Walking Dead: World Beyond season 2 finale provides an answer to the query that has been asked by viewers for more than ten years. Though the scene didn't exactly give a detailed explanation, it still provided a much awaited answer.
What happened in the TWD: World Beyond post-credits scene?
The post-credits scene from The Walking Dead: World Beyond is set in a biomedical facility in France, which is where the Walking Dead zombie virus appears to have originated. One of the lab's former researchers has returned despite the fact that it has long since been abandoned, in an effort to carry on with her research and find a cure, but she is confronted by an unidentified survivor who is smoking a cigarette.
When the scientist declares her determination to put an end to The Walking Dead's zombie apocalypse, her assailant responds, "End this? You started this." Also written on the wall is the rather ominous phrase "Les Morts Sont Nés Ici." This roughly translates to "The Dead Are Born Here" for non-French speakers.
There is only one logical conclusion that can be reached in light of these two enormous hints: the Walking Dead zombie virus originated in a French laboratory. The facility, according to The Smoking Man, housed numerous teams, including the Violet and Primrose teams, that worked on a project that eventually became TWD's virus’ origin. It's possible that other nations participated in the study as well, rather than France bearing all of the blame, given that the Primrose team visited the U.S. just before the outbreak.
In addition, it is hinted in the World Beyond post-credits scene that the researchers did not intend to release the virus and infect the world, suggesting that the virus managed to escape. The scientist makes a vague accusation, saying, "When it [the outbreak] happened... when you did what you did," while the smoking man accuses the Primrose and Violet teams of creating the virus.
Was revealing TWD’s virus’ origin a bad idea?
The biggest mystery surrounding The Walking Dead has been effectively solved by the discovery of the virus's source, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing for television's longest-running zombie drama. There will always be some controversy associated with breaking one of the time-honored traditions of the zombie genre: keeping the origins of the zombies a mystery, even though viewers are still divided on whether or not it was a good choice for the conclusion of The Walking Dead: World Beyond.
The revelation goes against the goals of The Walking Dead's creator, but it's a necessary risk that sets up the franchise's upcoming few years, during which time several spinoff series will be released. The death of the show's central mystery only raises new questions that can help inform upcoming plots.
The fact that the Walking Dead virus was created by humans is just one piece of a complicated puzzle, and additional pieces will be revealed in spinoffs like the Daryl Dixon series, the Negan and Maggie-starring The Walking Dead: Dead City series, and the Rick Grimes-starring Walking Dead miniseries. Maintaining the emphasis on human nature rather than biological mysteries is in line with the franchise's overall direction because The Walking Dead has always been about the sacrifices and moral conundrums that go along with a catastrophe of global proportions.
The Walking Dead is raising the stakes, ruling out extraterrestrial or natural phenomena, and possibly hitting a mark that is closer to home for most viewers as the reveal suggests that pre-apocalyptic medical and military institutions are to blame for the fall of humanity.
Will The Walking Dead’s spin offs’ cover the outbreak?
Since it has been confirmed that the Daryl Dixon spinoff series will take Norman Reedus' character to France, the location of the first zombie outbreak, it is likely that the investigation into the TWD zombie virus will start there.
Daryl was a totally original creation made exclusively for the TV series, and as a result, his storylines, unlike many of the characters on The Walking Dead, are original creations made for the TV series. Following the conclusion of The Walking Dead, Daryl will embark on a voyage across the Atlantic to continue his journey in whatever form a post-apocalyptic France may take, and given that France is where the virus originated, it is likely to be a much more dangerous location.
The series will feature a number of characters, including Isabelle (Clémence Poésy), a religious person, and Quinn (Adam Nagaitis), a nightclub owner and underworld figure. These characters give the impression that France is functioning at a much higher level than North America.
The solo Daryl show is expected to go much further in examining the origins of the zombies depicted in The Walking Dead, and according to Norman Reedus at the San Diego Comic-Con, it will be "epic in scale."
FAQs
Q. How did the virus outbreak happen in the TWD?
A. The details of it are still vague, however, it originated in a biomedical laboratory in France, as per The Walking Dead’s World Beyond season two finale.
Q. What is the net worth of Norman Reedus?
A. Norman Reedus’s net worth is estimated to be $25 million as of 2022.
Q. How much does Norman Reedus make per episode?
A. The salary of Norman Reedus is $1 million per episode.
