'The Walking Dead' Creator Addresses Why It Seems Like Maggie Has Been Pregnant For So Long

The Walking Dead's Maggie Rhee is due for a baby — eventually — but her continued pregnancy is [...]

The Walking Dead's Maggie Rhee is due for a baby — eventually — but her continued pregnancy is result of the series' compact form of storytelling, creator and producer Robert Kirkman told fans assembled at a Q&A panel aboard Walker Stalker Cruise 2018.

"She'll start showing when people start showing, when she's been pregnant for like 80 months. That's how pregnancy works, right? I don't do a lot of research," Kirkman joked.

"Time doesn't really... it moves linearly, but it doesn't move in clips that can be tracked," Kirkman reasoned.

"You may have seen that she's been pregnant for two seasons, but those two seasons could take place over two months, just by Chandler Riggs' continued aging. But there's gotta be some suspension of disbelief."

Maggie revealed her pregnancy to fellow Alexandrian Aaron in 6x05, "Now," originally aired November 8, 2015.

Little time has passed since then in the world of the show: a carefully curated timeline by fans pegs "Now" as taking place at 552 days into the apocalypse, whereas the majority of season 8's first half takes place over the course of just a few days.

That puts current events somewhere between days 610—624, meaning Maggie is just around barely two months into her pregnancy.

Fans have continued to address Maggie's perennial pregnancy, which is confirmed to continue on past season 8.

"Maggie's baby will not be born is Season 8," former showrunner Scott M. Gimple revealed in September. "But anything's possible."

Cohan addressed Maggie's baby-to-be late last year, joking she wants to "put a little ticker tape along the bottom of the episode saying how far into the apocalypse and into the pregnancy we are."

"Because I'm playing newly pregnant for a really long time," Cohan said. "But the truth of the matter is, it's only been a matter of weeks since Negan killed Glenn."

Glenn was murdered by Negan in 7x01, "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" — an episode that aired over a year ago in October 2016.

Recent developments could result in fans never seeing Glenn and Maggie's baby being born: a pay dispute could see Cohan's departure from the show after season 8 comes to a close in April.

The actress, who first joined the series in season 2, is said to be in talks with AMC for a pay raise. Cohan is weighing her options for other series and is reported as having nearly half a dozen offers on the table for new television pilots — meaning a failure to reach an agreement with AMC could see Maggie being axed from the show.

The Walking Dead returns to AMC Sunday, February 25.

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