Since Rick awoke in the hospital, The Walking Dead has always had a somewhat confusing timeline, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has not made it any simpler. With Daryl Dixon season 2 hoping to reunite Norman Reedus’ Daryl with Melissa McBride’s Carol, the show will need to reckon with a timeline that allows Carol to reach a devastated France, despite lacking access to many modern amenities.

Thankfully, Daryl Dixon creator David Zabel is opening up about exactly where the show sits in the timeline. In an interview with Collider, Zabel described where the events of season 2 will begin. The creator explained that season 2 will start exactly where season 1 left off, specifically stating that it would be “the same day” as the season 1 finale. He also explained that Daryl’s adventures take place only a few months after The Walking Dead ended. Check out his full quote below:

It’s the same day, pretty much. Also, because people do ask this sometimes, our entire series really continues off at the end of The Walking Dead . When we met Daryl at the beginning of this show, it was only three or four weeks after he left the Commonwealth on his bike. Now, we’re only two months or three months after the end of The Walking Dead .

Daryl Dixon’s Place In The Walking Dead Timeline

Daryl’s spinoff may be simple, but other spinoffs complicate the timeline.

Zabel’s comments have undoubtedly brought some clarity to Daryl Dixon’s timeline. Both seasons of the show are expected to occupy the same general position on the timeline, and they are set shortly after The Walking Dead’s season 11 finale. The overall structure of the franchise, however, is not quite as simple. Because of the existence of so many sequel shows and the various prequels, The Walking Dead’s timeline is not nearly as simple as it was when there was only a single show.

Fear the Walking Dead began in 2010 and takes place several months before the mainline show began. The show continues for several months, before it takes an enormous two-year leap forward in season 4. The Walking Dead, however, remained in that same timespan of 2010 to 2012 for eight seasons. The show did abandon that range after the season 9 time jump. Season 9 then had two more jumps that saw the show leaping into 2021. Season 11 ended in 2023, where Daryl is currently set.

The other spin-offs have only made the timeline more muddled. The Walking Dead: World Beyond is set in 2020, Tales Of The Walking Dead takes place from 2011 to 2025, Dead City is set in 2029, and The Ones Who Live runs from 2020 to 2023. The story now stretches for over 20 years, and the characters are now completely scattered around the globe. With The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon compounding its timeline complications, the world of Walkers and fighters will likely only become more difficult to understand.

Source: Collider