The only “walking dead” theory for masked strangers that works well

Tonight we have a double dose of The Walking Dead, not the main show that ended last week but the second episode of the new spin-off from World Beyond and the premiere of Fear the Walking Dead, season 6, which has all of its characters scattered over the map.

But before I talk about any of them, I wanted to revisit the lingering mystery of the Walking Dead finale last week of who on earth was that person in the metal mask with the double scythes and ninja movements known as Maggie’s allies in her absence.

There are many, many theories as to who this might be. Heath, Dwayne, a random cartoon character, someone who comes over from Fear. Or it could be an entirely new creation that seems at least reasonably possible, although you usually don’t give a mask to a character on such a show unless you don’t want the cast and audience to find out who they are.

When I was talking about it last week, someone on Twitter came up with the best theory I’ve heard of who could be under that mask. Well, maybe not the “best”, but what I most want to be true.

The idea is that the masked stranger is Troy Otto, who survived his apparent death on Fear the Walking Dead season three.

I like this idea because I really like Troy Otto. It’s hard to understand how good Fear the Walking Dead’s third season was with the Otto family’s rivalry with the Clark’s, and Troy was the culmination of the season, an unstable, morally endangered wildcard that’s gruesome and calculating but mesmerizing was, and one of The Best Characters The Walking Dead Introduced as a Universe.

And then Madison hit him with a hammer and he died. Probably. Perhaps.

This is where theory comes in. When characters in The Walking Dead die, they usually die brutally, publicly, and irrevocably. Either torn apart by zombies or shot in the head or their brains smashed with a baseball bat.

While I’m sure Troy died from two quick blows from Madison’s hammer, this is a TV, and it’s easy to imagine he was just knocked out, the dam exploded around him, and he somehow survived with a serious head injury … one that may require you to wear a mask to cover disfigurement?

Is that a range? Absolutely. We went through this in Fear the Walking Dead with both Troy and Madison, all of whom were convinced they survived their deaths at the ballpark only to never make it.

Troy is the only character I would love to see him return to the series, and I think there’s enough nebulous space for him to come back up, maybe as this character, maybe one day on Fear, if not.

Troy actor Daniel Sharman recently had a high profile role on Netflix’s’ Cursed as the vicious crying monk on that series, which would mean he’s kind of tied up right now. While Cursed hasn’t been renewed for season two and with its big budget and Netflix on a cancellation spree, it doesn’t seem like a safe bet.

Is that wishful thinking? Probably, but I remembered how good Troy was, how strange and inconclusive his death was, and how much the Walking Dead universe would benefit from his return. But we have to wait a while and see.

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