David Zable, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Greg Nicotero and Scott M. Gimple at the Daryl Dixon season 3 press panel at SDCC 2025
The Walking Dead fandom was caught off guard by the announcement that The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon would end with season 4. Sure, it’s a super sized, eight-episode fourth season, but the news seemed to pop up out of nowhere in the middle of the TWD: Daryl Dixon panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025.
Given the shocking news, I started wondering about what Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) might find when they eventually, presumably, make it home. The only way to really know what they could expect to see is to understand where the show is within the current TWD timeline, something that isn’t exactly crystal clear depending on who you ask.
In the press room following the panel, I asked about the timeline for Daryl Dixon and how much time has passed between Daryl’s arrival in Europe in season 1 and where we are in season 3. I also asked Scott M. Gimple, Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe, about the whether there’s a sense of where TWD: Daryl Dixon fits in the greater timeline.
Not surprisingly, there’s not a lot of clarity about The Walking Dead’s timeline, which Gimple described as “a magical place” because of…Chandler Riggs?
“The Walking Dead will always exist in a magical place of time…because of Chandler Riggs,” Gimple explained, “because Carl shot up like a weed very quickly. So as far as time goes and age goes and all of that, there’s a lot of wiggle room. And if Denise Huth were here, she could break it down for you like a Stephen Hawking thing. But they are more or less contemporaries.”
Executive producer and show runner David Zable explained the timeline even further, speaking specifically to how much time Daryl has been away. “I have to do the math a little bit,” he said, “but it is pretty real in the sense that the first three seasons take place within a period of six months after the end of The Walking Dead. I mean, the first two seasons are pretty much continuous over a period, I’d say, of two months. I’m just not remembering the exact math on it right now. And then season 3 continues on the heels of season 2, and season 3 takes place over the course of six weeks.”
“So wiggle room,” Gimple added.
Interestingly, this timeline could allow Daryl and Carol to return to the United States right as Michonne (Danai Gurira) returns from her mission to find Rick (Andrew Lincoln). Carol left to find Daryl presumably while the events of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live were taking place. Imagine the dynamic duo returning home to find Rick there to greet them.
As production continues on TWD: Daryl Dixon ahead of the season 3 premiere on September 7, we can only hope that the stars will align in such a way to either allow Carol and Daryl to see Rick and Michonne before the show ends, or to have their reunion become the subject of the newest spinoff series in the greater TWD Universe.
