‘The Walking Dead’ Theory Ties Heath’s Disappearance to Anne and the Helicopter

One Walking Dead viewer has theorized the disappearance of the long missing Heath (Corey Hawkins) is tied to Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh), formerly Jadis of the Scavengers.

Anne was caught red-handed by new lover Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) attempting to negotiate a pick up from the helicopter that we learned she had ties to last season, when she captured then-Savior leader Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

Gabriel overheard someone from the helicopter group asking if Anne had an “A or a B,” a yet-to-be-explained classification system for people who are traded away in exchange for supplies.

When confronted, Anne told Gabriel the helicopter could relocate them to a better place, somewhere beyond his wildest imagination. Under threat of being exposed to Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Anne attacked Gabriel and took him prisoner before attempting to negotiate a trade in 904, “The Obliged.”

Twitter user Julian Cannon suggests the unexplained disappearance of the M.I.A. Heath is tied to Anne, who could be responsible for snatching Heath and trading him away to the mysterious group in control of the helicopter. Screenshots from past episodes appear to show the junkyard holding the R.V. Heath and Tara (Alanna Masterson) used on their extended supply run while foraging for the Saviors just before Heath disappeared.

Heath was last seen in 706, “Swear,” just before the pair were attacked and separated by a pack of walkers. Tara later found nothing but Heath’s busted glasses, the deep grooves of roadside tire tracks, and a dropped key card reading “PPP.”

“Corey Hawkins, who played Heath, very great actor, got busy on a lot of things, [had] different things happening, this is what happens in the world,” The Walking Dead creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman said at San Diego Comic-Con in July.

Hawkins, who went on to star in such blockbusters as Straight Outta Compton and Kong: Skull Island, was written out because of a blossoming career. He headlined 24 spinoff 24: Legacy before that series was cancelled after just 12 episodes.

“We definitely have not seen the last of Heath, period,” executive producer and former showrunner Scott Gimple promised EW last year. “I will say that. I don’t mean to disappoint the Heathies. He will be on the show. He will be within The Walking Dead again.”

The new mystery is expected to be tied to the upcoming exit of leading man Andrew Lincoln, whose Rick Grimes will be leaving but might not die.

Gimple, when addressing fans at New York Comic Con earlier this month, noted he’s quietly prepped Lincoln’s exit strategy for quite some time — suggesting some plot threads unique to the show and not ported over from Kirkman’s comic book series could pay off in the form of an exit for Rick that keeps him alive.

“There were things that you build things into the story, maybe it’ll go this direction, maybe it’ll go that direction,” Gimple said.

“Things started moving in that way and we followed the story threads that were laid out. We were able to fulfill it this season. There was a plan. There were little turns here and there but it generally stayed with the plan.”

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.