The Walking Dead’s New Stone Zombies Explained: Are They Variants?

Warning: Spoilers for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 5

Rick and Michonne’s new adventure in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 5 introduced a brand-new type of zombie into The Walking Dead franchise. As of late, zombie variants have been a growing issue for survivors in The Walking Dead’s world, with the main characters dealing with them in season 11 and Daryl encountering some in France during The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Of course, that’s not to say that every unusual walker is a variant.

The walkers seen in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 5 joined a growing list of Walking Dead zombie types that differ from the standard formula. Though they move slowly like normal zombies, they’re significantly harder to kill than most, simply because of the rock-like outer layer protecting their bodies. This makes it understandably difficult to puncture the brain. Similar to the new zombies seen in The Walking Dead season 11 and its spinoffs, the new zombies amounted to an interesting challenge for the show’s central protagonists.

How The Ones Who Live’s Stone Zombies Were Created

The setting of the episode is directly responsible for the creation of The Walking Dead’s new walkers. As The One Who Live episode 5 confirmed, the zombies were located in a United States national park. One of the survivors Rick and Michonne met in the park described the “crusty” nature of the stone zombies as a consequence of their proximity to the park’s steam vents. As he said, some of the zombies were “calcified” by the steam vents. This explains why striking them was like hitting “stone,” according to Michonne.

As the survivor mentioned, not all the zombies affected by the steam vents were so hard to bring down. Others, like the ones that tried to attack Jadis later in the episode, were similarly deformed but didn’t have rock-like skin. Based on the man’s explanation, the steam vents essentially created two different kinds of zombies: one is “crusty” while the other is “wet.” Since he classified them as “baked” and “broiled,” it can be assumed that the zombies that weren’t calcified were boiled, which explains why they look soggy in comparison to the stone zombies.

Why The Stone Zombies Aren’t Proper Walking Dead Variants

The stone walkers stand apart from the traditional Walking Dead zombie, but it’s hardly a true variant. Based on what the shows have established so far, a variant is a product of human experimentation. The word first became an official term when it was used in The Walking Dead: The World Beyond’s final scene to describe its new zombies. These walkers are recognized for their great strength and ability to run. The “variant” label in The Walking Dead has also been applied to the smart zombies that appeared in The Walking Dead season 11. Unlike normal zombies, they could purposely pick up objects and even climb walls.

In the case of Daryl Dixon’s zombies, it’s accurate to regard them as variants, since they were essentially a result of science. Genet’s drugs are what made them so strong. The same can’t be said for The Ones Who Live’s stone zombies, though, since there’s nothing man-made about their condition. The steam vents made them what they are, meaning nature is to blame for their unique properties.

Interestingly, this aspect of their identity was subtly acknowledged by the show itself. It preceded the stone zombie reveal with a park sign that included the line, “Protect the park from the people, the people from the park, and the people from the people.” The second part of that sentence can be taken as the show’s way of providing a warning about the stone zombies, as they represent the threat the park poses to the survivors.

The Walking Dead Still Needs To Decide What Variants Actually Are

Ever since the variant concept was introduced, there’s been some degree of confusion whenever a new zombie type makes an appearance. Whether they’re a variant or something else entirely isn’t always made apparent and has been met with speculation. Much of this stems from the lack of clarity pertaining to the Walking Dead franchise’s rules about zombies. As noted above, The Walking Dead season 11’s smart zombies are considered variants, though there’s no proof that they fit with World Beyond’s definition.

To fix the issue, The Walking Dead needs to dive back into The Walking Dead: World Beyond’s variant idea. By going into more depth about this concept, and perhaps addressing their connection (or lack thereof) to season 11 zombies, the franchise can offer some much-needed answers. Fixed definitions and official zombie classifications would also go a long way toward expanding the lore.