The Walking Dead: World Beyond Hints at Ties to Fear the Walking Dead Character

The Walking Dead: World Beyond may have hinted at familial ties with a character introduced in Fear the Walking Dead, where Althea (Maggie Grace) encounters a soldier serving in the Civic Republic Military. In Fear fifth season episode "The End of Everything," Al uncovers laminated documents marked with "CRM" and a three-circle symbol just before being captured by black-suited soldier Isabelle (Sydney Lemmon). This symbol, representing the three major post-apocalypse civilizations united by the "Alliance of the Three," is the insignia worn by the Civic Republic Military under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Kublek (Julia Ormond).

During a conversation with sisters Iris (Aliyah Royale) and Hope (Alexa Mansour), two residents of the Omaha Campus Colony, Kublek reveals she has a daughter who is "a bit older" than the teen girls and a soldier in the CRM.

"She's away from me a great deal, and that makes me scared sometimes," Kublek admits. "Then I remember that she's helping to protect the Civic Republic. She's helping us with the Alliance of the Three. She's taking that risk to help us eventually bring this world back. And that makes me brave."

If Kublek is telling the truth, Isabelle might be her unnamed daughter. Isabelle used similar language in Fear, where she warned Althea to be fearful of the black-jacketed soldiers who won't hesitate to kill in the name of "operational security."

"We are a force who are not living for ourselves or for now ... We have the future," Isabelle said, suggesting the CRM is developing a cure to the zombie plague. CRM's mission is "about the future and rebuilding what we all once had," and nothing is permitted to stand in the way of humanity's survival.

In World Beyond, Kublek entrusts Iris and Hope with a map directing them to a Civic Republic research facility in New York state, where the girls' father is "making progress" on a remedy. This so-called "science exchange" between the Campus Colony and the Civic Republic is "critical for the Alliance, for the future of the planet," Kublek says.

Fear showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg hinted at Isabelle's return elsewhere in the Walking Dead Universe, saying on a 2019 episode of Talking Dead, "It's a very big universe, and Isabelle could pop up anywhere."

CRM is "a constant presence in this story," World Beyond co-creator Scott Gimple said during this year's virtual Comic-Con. "They're a huge presence in this story, and it explains a lot towards what we've seen on the other shows and it invites new questions. There's a lot we're going to learn."

New episodes of The Walking Dead: World Beyond premiere Sundays at 10/9c on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.