Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon episode 3
The spinoff series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon revealed a young zombie girl that creates a plot hole for The Walking Dead universe. The Walking Dead franchise has been inconsistent with its rules on zombies over the years, making this error unsurprising. The Walking Dead’s zombie variant plot holes have been created over many seasons, and now it seems this new zombie is creating another one. Introducing memorable zombies keeps the show faithful to how important they are, yet it often leads to more problems. This specific walker was created more for story and plot purposes, and in doing so it has caused more confusion about The Walking Dead’s zombies.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon episode 2 showed Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) saying her farewells to a little girl named Aimee (Naïa Pichler). Telling her to go inside as the apocalypse had just begun, Isabelle then left in a car and looked back at the young girl on her scooter. Years later, she returned to her apartment with Daryl (Norman Reedus) only to find Aimee still outside where she left her — this time, though, she was a zombie. While the girl as a walker made for a unique and stunning visual, it left the franchise with yet another zombie plot hole that makes judging how they work even more difficult.
Daryl Dixon’s Zombie Girl Should Have Decayed By Now
Judging by how The Walking Dead‘s world has worked so far, the zombie girl in the Daryl Dixon spinoff should have already decayed. Isabelle told her to get inside when the outbreak started in France, which indicates exactly when this moment happened. With The Walking Dead‘s zombie apocalypse seemingly starting in France, this places the interaction about 12 years prior to Isabelle seeing the zombie version of Aimee. This is known since Daryl Dixon takes place after the events of The Walking Dead and given that Judith is 12 and was born after the outbreak, Aimee must have been a zombie for at least 12 years.
Given the decayed walkers the show has included over the years, this defies The Walking Dead‘s own logic. Aimee was even in the same clothes, doubling down on quite how long she had been stuck there, and yet, she had shown no signs of decay. She was also trapped in this scene, meaning despite being in one spot for 12 years, her body hadn’t decomposed. Zombies can seemingly last a long time in this universe, hence why there are still hordes around, but this instance is harder to believe. That this timeline is so clear means the show simply ignored its own logic in favor of a cool scene.
Why The Young Girl Zombie Still Looks Fresh
With all the zombies that have decayed in the show, there could be a logical reason as to why the young zombie girl still looks fresh in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon episode 3. One possible theory would be to do with The Walking Dead‘s variant zombie origins. If France is really where variants were created, there could be some connection to Aimee not decaying. She could be a variant, but variants appear to be the result of experiments, and given she turned right at the beginning of the outbreak, this doesn’t seem likely. The most realistic outcome is that the logic around zombies decaying was simply ignored.
Ignoring this made it much clearer and more impactful who the zombie girl was and that she turned after Isabelle left. This makes the revelation more devastating for Isabelle, who may feel somewhat responsible since she could have probably done more to ensure Aimee’s safety. While it might not fit with previous signs that zombies decay, it is something audiences can probably get over since it helped create a better narrative. Thus far, The Waking Dead: Daryl Dixon has been met with very positive reviews, and while plot holes like this may call the franchise’s logic into question, it doesn’t harm the overall narrative or the quality of the spinoff.
