‘Fear the Walking Dead’ midseason finale: That returning character explained

(WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Fear the living dead Season 8 Episode 6, “All I See Is Red.”

Apparently, it takes more than a few hammer blows to the head and a flooded dam to keep a sociopathic anti-hero down.

Assuming this is who we think it is, Fear the living dead left an explosive twist for the second half of the final season. In the final minutes before the credits rolled, we saw a faceless survivor in possession of some very special trinkets. Some of these elements provide key clues to the person’s identity, and we’re comfortable positing that the show’s final antagonist could be none other than…Troy Otto (Daniel Sharman).

Here’s why we think that mysterious survivor is Troy — and a quick reminder of who Troy is, in case you’ve forgotten.

Wait, how do you know it’s Him?

Sure, it would be easier to pretend it was Troy if we actually saw Daniel Sharman. As it stands, however, there is one key piece of evidence that points definitively to younger brother Otto: Madison’s (Kim Dickens) old hammer. If you remember like this PATH In Season 3, Madison used her hammer to smash Troy’s skull after learning that he was responsible for destroying Broke Jaw Ranch. After taking two steady blows to the head, Troy goes down. Nick (Frank Dillane) watches in wide-eyed horror at his mother’s violence. Maddie, unmoved, drops her bloody hammer on the dusty dirt of the dam. Yes, this is the same hammer that the mysterious person in season 8 possesses.

This person is either Troy or the writers would really like the fans assume it is Troy. But consider, if you will, the other testimonies which this person bears; a map leading from Mexico to the United States, Strand’s (Colman Domingo) sunglasses and – perhaps most chillingly – Alicia’s (Alycia Debnam-Carey) arm. The map from Mexico to the United States provides a simple explanation of how Troy could have found his way back to the group. The other elements are ominous, but are easily explained in the context of existing relationships. Strand and Alicia had contact with Troy in season 3, and seeing him again would have left them stunned. (For all they knew, he died at the dam.) It’s not inconceivable that they would have let their guard down around him…and they may have suffered for it. That said, we doubt they’re dead. There is no way Fear ends without at least reuniting Madison and Strand, and whether or not Debnam-Carey returns in the finale, we doubt the show would kill her character off-screen.

Who is Troy Otto?

It’s been a while — like, six years and a pandemic — so if you don’t remember much about Troy, that’s understandable. Basically, Troy Otto served as half antagonist and half anti-hero for Fearhis third season. One of two brothers in Broke Jaw Ranch’s Otto family, Troy was mentally unstable and prone to bouts of brutal violence. Somehow unwittingly, Madison, Alicia, and Nick met him while taking refuge at Broke Jaw. As time went on, Troy developed a strange, semi-Oedipal connection with Madison and a slightly less strange, equally intense companionship with Nick. (Alicia never liked it.)

In the second half of the season, Troy, upset over his father’s death and the truce Madison made with Qaletaqa Walker (Michael Greyeyes), eventually led a horde of walkers to Broke Jaw. His actions killed his brother and decimated the farm. Nick, admitting to a troubled soul, still continued to ally and lie to protect Troy…but when Madison discovered what he had done, she killed him. Except it seems those hammer blows weren’t hard enough, because Troy rose from his watery grave.

Does he want revenge? What state is he in after all he’s been through? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Fear the living dead, Season 8, Part 2, TBD, AMC