Fear the Walking Dead fans are questioning if a tagline released with the first trailer for Season 6 hints at the return of Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), who appeared to die in a blaze in the spinoff's fourth season. Because Madison's death occurred off-screen, and because Dickens has challenged how Madison was killed off, there are now theories the person who appears to be a blonde-haired woman seen locked in a jail cell in the trailer could be Madison. If Madison managed to escape the Dell Diamond baseball stadium before it went up in flames, the tagline for the new season could be a clue towards her survival:
"Who will rise from the ashes?" asks the Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 trailer published on social media, sparking theories the tagline is referencing Madison, who potentially did not die after igniting a blaze at the stadium community once home to children Nick (Frank Dillane) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey).
It was previously suspected fire and phoenix imagery was hinting at Madison's return in Season 5, where Alicia came across trees painted with hopeful messages, including, "If you're reading this, you are still here." The artist was later revealed to be newly encountered lone survivor Wes (Colby Hollman), who inspired Alicia to take to painting trees to give hope to others.
Alicia honored her late mother by painting a white bird rising from flames with the message, "No one's gone until they're gone." The painting was inspired by Madison's last words and Amina, the family's name for an injured bird the Clark kids once nursed back to health.
A year ago, Dickens admitted in an interview she "can't imagine" Fear would "want to revisit Madison," whose lead role was inherited by Walking Dead transplant Morgan (Lennie James). More recently, when promoting new series Briarpatch, Dickens suggested a return was possible.
"I think fans are still upset about it at times. I don't know," Dickens told Access about Madison's death when asked if she could return to Fear. "That's the nature of the genre, though. You can be gone like that. And you can also pop up at some time, at any time."