Summary
- The Walking Dead Universe has multiple interconnected shows with complex timelines, causing confusion for viewers.
- Fear The Walking Dead Season 1 leads directly into The Walking Dead Season 1, with minimal time passing.
- The Walking Dead Season 9 introduces major time jumps, setting the stage for a convoluted timeline across the entire universe.
While it's not talked about as often, The Walking Dead has its own interconnected universe the same way comic book fans have the MCU and the DCU. While the main The Walking Dead series is both at the center of and makes up most of the universe, more and more shows are coming out that branch off from the first series' timeline.
There are enough shows in this The Walking Dead universe now that things can get a little confusing. Crossover characters like Morgan pop up and it's hard to know just where they fit in and where they entered. This sort of stuff becomes especially confusing considering that every show in The Walking Dead Universe has a time jump at some point. Whether you're new to the series and want to watch in chronological order or a veteran of the franchise and just want a better way to tell what happens when we've got you covered with this timeline that encompasses everything that's been released so far.
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Fear The Walking Dead Season 1
It should come as no surprise that in the canon of the franchise, Fear the Walking Dead's first season actually comes before the first season of the original The Walking Dead. The first few episodes of this spinoff series that didn't debut until five years after The Walking Dead dealt with the country still trying to hold itself together after the zombie plague first started spreading.
The entire first season of Fear the Walking Dead takes place over just two weeks from August 25 to September 9, 2010, despite being six episodes long.
Fear The Walking Dead Season 2
Season 2 of Fear the Walking Dead picks up right where Season 1 left off and takes place from September 9, 2010 to September 30. Yet again, very little time passes in this show as the show covers just three weeks in 15 episodes.
It's possible that while this show takes place on the West Coast, Rick Grimes has likely been shot and is resting in the hospital, being left alone as Atlanta and the rest of the world fall into chaos.
Fear The Walking Dead Season 3
Once again, the third season of Fear the Walking Dead picks up almost exactly where the previous season left off. It's believed that this season officially crosses timelines with the original The Walking Dead as action starts to unfold on the other side of the country.
The season, which picks up on October 1, 2010, sees the Clark family separated by a dam explosion which is October 27, 2010. This is a momentous occurrence in the franchise as Rick Grimes wakes up, and Fear the Walking Dead will officially jump forward in time as the shows start to run concurrently.
The Walking Dead Season 1
Season 1 of The Walking Dead is similar to its spinoff in that it takes place over a very short period of time. Rick wakes up, meets Morgan and then goes looking for his family.
Once he finds them, they are start to form the group or survivors that will be a team for so many season afterwards. However, this first bunch of episodes are said to only take place from October 22, 2010 to October 27, 2010.
The Walking Dead Season 2
Season 2 spends most of its time on on the Greene family's farm after Carl is accidentally shot while he's out hunting. Starting on October 28, 2010 and running to November 15, 2010 when the farm is overrun and the groups head out into the wilderness. This is also where Rick kills Shane, who was out of control.
Elsewhere in the universe, Negan and his wife run out of cancer medication and she eventually kills herself as the series jumps forward in time for Season 3.
The Walking Dead Season 3
The first time jumps in The Walking Dead timeline happens between seasons 2 and 3, moving the story forward to June 2011, where the survivors find a prison and begin the work of clearing it out.
This season runs from June 15 to July 4 of 2011 and also introduces The Governor and Michonne to the series. The end of the season features the first big faceoff between Rick's group and a group of armed up fighters from Woodbury.
The Walking Dead Season 4
The Walking Dead Season 4 sees another big time jump, all the way up to the new year, and only takes place over a 10-day period from January 26 to February 6, 2012.
Having won the first battle with Woodbury, the Governor is regrouping as Morgan Jones learns the combat style that will serve him well throughout the rest of the series. The season comes to an end with The Governor taking out the prison and Rick's group again on the run.
The Walking Dead Season 5
After a couple of seasons where The Walking Dead had time jumps, Season 5 picks up right where Season 4 picks up and takes place almost over a month in the universe. The season starts on February 6, 2012 and concludes on March 13 of the same year.
The season is one of the longest as far as story timeline of the early installments, as Rick and his gang need to deal with the Terminus cannibals and then eventually find Alexandria where they're finally able to set down roots.
The Walking Dead Season 6
Like the season before it, Season 6 of The Walking Dead takes place right after the end of Season 5. It runs for a couple of months, ending on May 3, 2012. The first half of the season takes place over only a few days as Alexandria deals with a herd moving through town.
There was a break and a short skip forward where Rick and his group meet Jesus and realize that there are more encampments out there in the world. They also run into Negan, and after he captures them, one of the biggest cliffhangers of the series happens when the audience doesn't know who he kills.
The Walking Dead Season 7
The action kicks off in The Walking Dead Season 7 mere moments after Season 6 faded to black. Taking place over just 12 days (May 3 - May 15, 2012) and most of the season is Rick trying to find a way to deal with the death of Glenn.
While Rick's attempt to overthrow Negan doesn't work, he does find new allies that will be friends with the main group until the end of the original series in The Kingdom and their King, Ezekiel.