The Walking Dead Iron Mask Theory Would Bring Back a Long Missing Character

Theories about the secret identity of the masked person encountered in The Walking Dead Season 10 finale believe the mysterious figure will be revealed as Heath (Corey Hawkins), who has been missing from the zombie drama since his disappearance in a Season 7 episode. Introduced in the Season 6 premiere, “First Time Again,” Heath was among the Alexandrians led by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) nearly eight years before present action in Season 10. Heath was last seen alive in Season 7 episode “Swear,” where he was abducted towards the end of a two-week supply run with Tara (Alanna Masterson) just before her first encounter with the hidden Oceanside community.

In the Season 10 finale currently delayed indefinitely amid the coronavirus crisis, Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Alden (Callan McAuliffe) kill a pack of Whisperers when they’re met by a person wielding kama weapons and wearing an iron mask. It’s not yet known if the character is connected to Maggie (Lauren Cohan), who will appear for the first time this season in “A Certain Doom.”

“Swear” ends with Tara returning from a visit with Cyndie (Sydney Park) of Oceanside to find a dropped key card marked “PPP” and evidence the RV she shared with Heath left in a hurry. The RV was later spotted in the junkyard community led by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), real name Anne, who was in contact with the mysterious helicopter group later confirmed to be behind Heath’s disappearance.

That group, the Civic Republic Military, would shuttle Rick out of Virginia months later in Season 9 episode 5, “What Comes After,” after Anne urged them to save his life in the wake of a bridge explosion. In present day, more than six years later, Michonne (Danai Gurira) is off following a lead on Rick, now knowing he’s alive but a captive.

Because we’ve seen CRM engage in some sort of human trafficking — labeling abductees as either an “A” or “B” — Heath likely would have had to fight his way to freedom for him to be revealed as the ninja-like person in the iron mask.

Heath vanished because of Hawkins’ career outside of The Walking Dead, namely roles in the Kong: Skull Island feature film and the since-cancelled series 24: Legacy. In 2017, then-showrunner Scott Gimple, now Walking Dead chief content officer taking the creative charge on the Rick Grimes feature films, promised audiences “definitely have not seen the last of Heath, period.”

“I will say that. I don’t mean to disappoint the Heathies,” Gimple said at the time. “He will be on the show. He will be within The Walking Dead again.”

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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.