The Walking Dead Clarifies When Dead City Season 3 Takes Place In The Franchise Timeline

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3, episode 3!The Walking Dead has finally confirmed when The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 takes place in the franchise timeline, using one important fact about a new character to reveal its placement. The Walking Dead timeline has been somewhat confusing ever since the end of the original show. Including massive time jumps and the overall direction of the series, the original show took place over the course of approximately 12 years. This includes the one-year time jump that happens in the final minutes of The Walking Dead series finale.

But, after the show’s conclusion, there’s been some timeline confusion. The series splintered off into three spinoffs, those being Daryl Dixon, The Ones Who Live, and Dead City. Each takes place after the events of the original show, with different stories following its major characters. While Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live take place almost immediately after the end of the original series, Dead City has been harder to pin down.

The spinoff has featured a number of indicators that it takes place many years after the original series. In season 1, Negan mentions having led the Saviors 12 to 15 years prior, while it’s been stated outside the show that it takes place a handful of years after the end of the original series. But it’s been difficult to pinpoint when exactly the show is taking place. That is, until now, with a throwaway line from Dead City season 3, episode 3 offering a better glimpse into when on the timeline the series is happening.

When Dead City Takes Place Compared To Other Walking Dead Shows

Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) looking sad in The Walking Dead: Dead City

Although an exact point in the timeline hasn’t been confirmed yet, the show managed to reveal a general idea of how long after the series finale that Dead City takes place. During season 3, episode 3, Maggie and Negan are discussing what to do about the two warring factions of survivors that have arrived seeking shelter at the hospital. During their conversation, Maggie mentions that Renata has been leading her group for the last 15 years, an indication of just how far along in the timeline Dead City really is.

Previous episodes confirmed that Renata took over leadership of the hospital after her father died, an event that’s insinuated to have transpired around a year or two into the apocalypse. Although there’s been no direct confirmation as to how long she’s been the leader for, it’s been a decade and a half since she took over. This signals that Dead City takes place well over 15 years into the apocalypse, likely as many as 17 years in. It shrinks the window of time while also clarifying when it happens.

Dead City has time jumps of its own that have previously made it difficult to discern where on the timeline it takes place.

This still means it takes place much farther along than any other series. Daryl Dixon begins only a few months after the end of the main show, while The Ones Who Live is implied to end not too much longer after the original show does. Dead City, on the other hand, takes place many years into the future, approximately four to five years after the original series ended.

Why Dead City’s Timeline Is Tricky For The Walking Dead

Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) at a bar in The Walking Dead: Dead City

Dead City‘s timeline has always been the most difficult to manage for The Walking Dead franchise. Since it takes place after the events of both The Ones Who Live and Daryl Dixon, it means Maggie and Negan most likely know how the endings of both shows play out. Dead City season 3, episode 3 even had Negan subtly reference Rick Grimes, who by this point in the timeline, he and Maggie would know returned to Alexandria. However, neither ever directly mentioned that he and Michonne had come home, even if they knew it by now.

This makes Dead City a constantly tricky show to place on The Walking Dead‘s overall timeline. But, given the approach to Renata’s backstory, it seems like the show is only four or five years out from the original. What this means for the overall timeline going forward is unclear, but it appears Maggie and Negan’s journey is the very last one for the franchise’s timeline, until whatever comes next.