The Walking Dead Fans Think Masked Person Is a Returning Character From the First Season

A fan theory suspects a mysterious person in an iron mask encountered in the Season 10 finale, “A Certain Doom,” is a character from the first season of The Walking Dead who survived their off-screen death. In the penultimate episode of the season, “The Tower,” Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Alden (Callan McAuliffe) trail the walker herd led by Beta (Ryan Hurst) when they’re spotted and surrounded by a pack of Whisperers. Aaron and Alden are seen killing the Whisperers in the opening minutes of the season finale, where the attack ends with the two men confronted by a masked and hooded figure wielding a pair of kama weapons.

One theory floated on social media believes the masked person’s secret identity will be revealed as Duane Jones, the son of Morgan Jones (Lennie James), played by Adrian Kali Turner in The Walking Dead pilot. Morgan and Duane briefly sheltered Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) when he awoke from a coma in the earliest days of the outbreak.

In Season 3 episode “Clear,” Rick, son Carl (Chandler Riggs), and Michonne (Danai Gurira) encounter a crazed Morgan, now a lone survivor holed up in a booby-trapped hideout. Morgan reveals his son died when he was unable to kill his zombified mother, Jenny (Keisha Tillis), who Morgan also failed to put down in “Days Gone Bye.” According to the grief-stricken Morgan, Duane turned after he was attacked and bitten by his mother.

Because Morgan was driven insane and Duane’s reported death happened off-screen, it’s possible Duane, now a decade older, returns as the masked man, according to the theory.

For the masked person to be Duane, he not only would have had to survive the event that triggered Morgan’s insanity, he would have had to travel from Georgia to Virginia to connect with Aaron and the Alexandrians once led by Rick. It was a trip made years earlier by a lone Morgan, who reconnected with Rick and joined his group of survivors after coming across Aaron and Daryl (Norman Reedus) in Season 5 episode “Conquer.”

Another counter to the theory: it was witnessing Duane’s death that drove Morgan to madness, and he only started to find peace after learning from mentor Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) in “Here’s Not Here.” Those lessons and the loss of Morgan’s family were addressed further in Season 5 of Fear the Walking Dead, where Morgan finally came to terms with the traumatic deaths of his wife and son.

Here are theories speculating it’s Duane, or even Morgan himself, in the iron mask:

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The Walking Dead next airs “A Certain Doom” as a special episode later this year. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.