Those May Have Been New Graves on ‘The Walking Dead’

The Walking Dead may have snuck a major reveal into the opening moments of its Season Eight premiere when Rick Grimes was standing at graves in the Hilltop community.

Originally, fans of the AMC series suspected this timeline’s Rick was standing at the graves of Glenn and Abraham. The two characters were buried at the Hilltop after being slaughtered by Negan in the Season Seven premiere. Those graves, however, were last seen on a distinct angle as Maggie spent some time with her late husband. In the new scene, the graves Rick is seen standing at have either shifted 90 degrees, creating a minor continuity error, or are separate graves beside Glenn and Abraham’s.

Check out a comparison of the graves in the image below.

The Walking Dead introduced several timelines in its Season Eight premiere. The scene with Rick standing at the graves would not be considered the “current” timeline, with the march on Negan’s Sanctuary being considered the present. The graves scene, along with the journey to the gas station which introduced Avi Nash’s mysterious new character, would most likely be in the future.

If these are new graves, it means if the camera pans right, there are four graves at the Hilltop, two of which Rick is deeply attached to, more so than Glenn and Abraham. It would all fall in line with Steven Ogg’s promise that Season Eight will “thin the herd.”

Still, the question remains of whether or not these are new graves, a camera angle playing a trick on fans, or a simple slip in the show’s continuity. While visiting the set of The Walking Dead‘s 100th episode, ComicBook.com stood at the graves of Abraham and Glenn at the Hilltop set. At the time, there were only two, and the show was halfway through shooting Episode 8×01. Still, director Greg Nicotero and executive producer Gale Anne Hurd have pointed out to ComicBook.com that the episode contained scenes shot during future episodes.

“They aren’t just one-off visuals,” Nicotero said of the timelines. “The way that Scott [Gimple] and the writers like to unfold these stories is really to give the audience an opportunity to put the clues together for themselves. Sometimes you’ll just get one or two shots of something, and then another episode or two later, you’ll get another shot. And you start putting it together.”

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.