'The Walking Dead' Fans Spotted Something Missing From Daryl Dixon

The Walking Dead's latest episode "Stradivarius" got us better re-acquainted with this time-jump version of Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), who has taken "off the grid" living to a whole new extreme in the zombie apocalypse world. The episode reveals that Daryl has become disillusioned about living with other people - even if he can't quite give up hope of finding Rick Grimes, who he's never truly stopped searching for.

However, eagle-eyed fans quickly spotted something about Daryl that seems to have changed in the six year time jump between Rick's final episode and the current timeline of the series: Daryl has become a broken angel:

As you can see above, Mr. Dixon's signature leather vest with the angel wings on back is now down to just one wing. The other one seems to have been worn away by time and experience, which has Walking Dead fans now running with speculation about what the change in wardrobe may mean.

First point of intrigue: when did Daryl's sick threads get damaged? After seeing this change in the episode, it didn't take fans long to piece together just when Daryl's clothes started going to pieces. It's been discovered that Daryl was actually missing half of his right wing in episode 9x05 (Rick's final ep.), and somewhere during the time jump he lost the other half, as well.

In terms of meaning: fan theories range from the show simply trying to depict the wear and tear mileage on Daryl and his belongings, to deeper interpretations of how that 'wear and tear' is as much about the metaphor for the emotional toll Daryl has paid, as it is about the damage to his clothing. Other fans want to argue that these changes to wardrobe are a signal of what Daryl has become since losing Rick as his guiding star; the half wing was lost after Daryl and Maggie allowed members of their communities to execute former Saviors (Daryl's first fall from grace), while something darker occurred after Rick was gone, to make Daryl's fall into darkness (and consequently isolation) complete.

In a larger sense, Walking Dead fans are trying to fold details like Daryl's lost wing into the larger mysteries that are gathering around the edges of this new chapter of the show. Those mysteries include why Maggie disappeared from Hilltop; why Maggie and Michonne seemed to have a major fallout; and why Daryl and Michonne both have "X" scars on their bodies. While we wait to get those answers, though, there's still the approaching threat of The Whisperers to deal with....

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. Watch ComicBook.com's After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.