I think it’s important to note here that The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and showrunner Scott Gimple address those questions we have about Terminus, and the fates of several of the characters, but they do not actually answer them because Kirkman and Gimple are cruel bastards and they are playing that cliffhanger from last night’s fourth season finale for all it is worth. That said, in interviews with both TVLine and EW, Kirkman and Gimple at least talk to those ambiguities, and offer that our questions will be answered quickly in season five.
In EW, Gimple addressed the whereabouts of Carol, Tyreese, Judith, and Beth.
They are on the road. They are in one of the storage containers. They are hanging out in quarters in Terminus. They were the ones firing on Rick and the group the whole time. Or that’s just a multi-level train car, and they’re just upstairs.
Well, OK. He’s f**king with us. At least that rules out alien abduction. Gimple also did note that the storyline between Tyreese and Carol is done, so there will be no further blowback following the deaths of Lizzie, Mika, and Karen. He also did note that he does not expect season five to have any kind of time jump, because that would be incredibly dumb, unless they skip ahead two years into the future and address the happenings in Terminus via a Lost-like flashback.
As for the speculation that Gareth and those at Terminus are cannibals, did Gimple at least answer that? No, not really. From EW:
I think the speculation is totally fair. I wouldn’t jump to [the conclusion that they are cannibals] myself. The hard thing in my head that I try to sort of do is ask, if I hadn’t read the comic would I still be jumping to these people being cannibals? I can neither confirm nor deny. We have done stories that are different from the comic that lead to the comic stories, like the illness storyline in the prison is certainly an example of that. Though we are following the comic, and as far as where the story has turned in the comic it is right around the time of the cannibals and all, but there might be some stuff in the show before that.
Great. Thanks for nothing.
Same question, Robert Kirkman. Can you address the speculation that the members of Terminus are cannibals? From EW:
Stay tuned for season 5! But I do enjoy looking at the speculation and I will say that some people are right and some people are wrong, which is always the case. And I think that people are going to be pretty excited when we come back in season 5. We’ll be revealing very quickly what it is that is going on and what it is that Rick Grimes and everybody else are up against. We’re not going to be keeping that close to the vest for too very long. So in our big season 5 premiere we’ll get some answers.
Son of a bitch!
Let’s ask this more directly. ARE THEY CANNIBALS, Robert Kirkman? From TVLIne:
There are a great many number of possibilities for that storyline and who those characters are and what they’re doing, and that is certainly one of them. It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility, but I can neither confirm nor deny anything at this time. Who the people of Terminus are and what their deal is will be dealt with fairly quickly when we come back for Season 5.
DAMMIT. Are you going to give us ANYTHING, Kirkman? How about that meat they were serving at Terminus? Is that Carol, Tyreese, Beth, or Judith in the sloppy joes?
[Laughs] It’s entirely possible. I’m stopping myself from making very horrible jokes. We’ll just have to see. It’s certainly fine for people to speculate.
What does that mean? YES OR NO? What the hell, Kirkman? Are you going to give us ANYTHING? A clue about the fates of those characters? SOMETHING?
Seeing that group in the train car and knowing that all of those people are together and that Rick is very capable and very prepared… We kind of felt like we needed more unknowns to keep people guessing. And leaving the fate of Beth and Carol and Tyreese and Judith completely ambiguous kind of gives us that. We’ll deal with [their whereabouts] fairly quickly when we come back for Season 5. They could be in another train car. They could be in part of the barbecue, as you say. Or, maybe, they found a Denny’s and they’re just having a good time.
So no, huh? We’re honestly going to have to wait seven months to find out anything. COME ON.
