Fear the Walking Dead Showrunners on Those Troy and Alicia Theories (Exclusive)

[Spoiler alert for Sunday's "Iron Tiger" episode of Fear the Walking Dead.] Troy Otto had a bone to pick with Madison Clark when he handed over the skeletal remains of Alicia's arm and told Madison her daughter is dead. Troy claimed he killed Alicia, took her arm off her corpse, and left her to roam as a zombie as revenge for Madison bludgeoning him with a hammer and leaving him to die at a dam in Mexico back in season 3. "You took everything from me. I'm just doing the same for you," Troy told Madison in Sunday's "Iron Tiger" episode, where a captive Charlie took her own life rather than let Madison give up PADRE to save her.

That wasn't the only shocker. Troy blamed Madison for destroying his family's Broke Jaw Ranch and for the deaths of his brother Jake and his father Jeremiah, but it turned out that Troy wanted to take PADRE for another Otto: his young daughter, Tracy. But when Tracy went missing during Troy's standoff with Madison, a cryptic Troy told Madison the real reason for his revenge: "Her mother's dead because of you." 

When Madison pressed Troy about why he killed Alicia and who he thinks she took from him, Troy revealed it was the woman who rescued him from the Gonzalez Dam. As Troy put it, "The woman who gave me a second chance."

The woman who saved Troy at the dam and Tracy's mother are one and the same. But could Alicia be Tracy's mother? Fans speculated as much after the final episodes trailer revealed a young girl who bears a resemblance to Alycia Debnam-Carey's Alicia Clark, and it's a theory that has been posted on social media following the revelation that Troy wants to take PADRE for his daughter.

I believe the child is his and Alicia’s and he’s lying about having killed her. Alicia may have learned Madison was alive and died while out looking for her and Troy blames Grandma.

— Kim Downey (@Snerd2123) October 30, 2023

We asked showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg to weigh in on the Troy/Alicia theories, and the tight-lipped duo had this to say:

"Maybe, maybe not," Goldberg answered when asked if Tracy's mother is someone we've seen before on Fear the Walking Dead. "It's a great question, but it really is such a big one that we'd rather people experience the answer to that as the story unfolds." Chambliss added: "And we like it when people have crazy theories." 

Is Tracy Alicia's daughter? Is Troy telling the truth about killing Alicia? Those are questions that will be answered before the two-episode series finale on November 19.

"Whether Troy is telling the truth is something that you're just going to have to watch the rest of the season to find out," Goldberg told ComicBook in a post-premiere interview. "We will definitely find out whether or not Troy's story is true," Chambliss teased, "and what actually went down between Troy and Alicia."

New episodes of Fear the Walking Dead premiere Sundays on AMC and AMC+.

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