‘The Walking Dead’ Finally (!) Hints at the Origins of the Zombie Apocalypse

One very frisky walker offered a couple clues.

For nearly two decades, “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman has refused to reveal the origins of the zombie apocalypse driving the action in his comic series and its television spinoff.

“I really was never interested in dealing with the cause of the zombie outbreak,” he once wrote. “My opinion has been well-documented, but the short version is… any detailed explanation would push things too far into the realm of sci-fi for me. I think it’s better to leave it unresolved. That way, the story remains grounded.”

Fans filled that void with their own possible explanations. Was it an airborne plague, possibly created in a lab? A spore from space? An ancient curse on humanity? An alien weapon?

The comic series, which concluded in mid-2019, never bothered to clarify what exactly made the dead rise up to chomp the living. But the television series, now in its final season, offers some strong hints about the cause. Episode 11x19 (helpfully titled “Variant”) featured zombies whose behavior deviates from the established norms of the series.

A group of our survivors, including longtime characters Aaron and Jerry, are attacked by a horde of…