Are you an ‘A’ or a ‘B’?
Although the build-up to Andrew Lincoln’s Walking Dead exit was billed as Rick Grimes’ “final episodes”, there were a few loose ends that look very unlikely to be addressed on the show (especially with the Rick movie spin-off trilogy announced).
The helicopter people – who have some sort of human-trafficking deal with Anne/Jadis – remain a mystery, but the big unresolved question that we can’t stop thinking about is: what on Earth do ‘A’ and ‘B’ really, really mean?
Over the past few seasons, one of the two letters has been used by Jadis to refer to a number of characters.
Rick Grimes
In season eight episode six, Anne/Jadis locks Rick inside a shipping container. The container is marked with the letter ‘A’.
In season eight episode seven, she prepares to execute Rick with a zombie, but Rick gets the upper hand and they strike a deal to work together to defeat Negan in the all-out war.
In season nine episode five, Rick’s final episode, Anne/Jadis discovers a seriously injured Rick lying on the ground after he blew up the bridge to stop a zombie horde.
“I have a ‘B’,” Anne tells the helicopter, hovering above. “Not an ‘A’. I never had an ‘A’. He’s hurt, but he’s strong. Can you help him?”
She added: “I’m trying to save a friend. A friend who saved me. I have something for you now. We have a deal? Do we have a deal?”
Anne appears to be genuinely trying to save Rick, to repay his faith in her, as she tells Rick: “You’re going to be okay. I’m going to save you.”
Which implies that ‘B’s won’t be harmed by the helicopter people.
Negan
In season eight episode 14, Anne/Jadis has Negan locked in a similar shipping container as Rick was in. She drags him out and prepares to have a zombie bite him. Following what happened to Rick in season eight and much later on with Gabriel in season nine (see below), this suggests Negan is an ‘A’.
Negan manages to talk himself out of the predicament, after the helicopter comes and goes without seeing Anne.
Gabriel Stokes
While Anne/Jadis changed her mind about Rick – from an ‘A’ to a ‘B’ – her perception of Gabriel moved in the opposite direction.
In season nine episode three, Anne is told by the helicopter people via walkie-talkie that she needs an ‘A’ (season nine episode five reveals that the deal was to deliver an ‘A’ in order to get picked up by the helicopter). Unfortunately for her, Gabriel overheard the conversation at the junkyard, resulting in a confrontation between the pair.
Anne admits that she traded people “for supplies, for my people”, and asks Gabriel to leave with her. “There’s another place,” she says. “It’s far from here, but if we go together, we can get there. It can be different for us… If you can trust me and help me with one small part of the deal, we can have a life like you can’t imagine.”
Presumably, Anne means that she wants Gabriel’s help in securing an ‘A’ for their way out.
But Gabriel declined, saying that he needs to tell Rick.
“All this time, I thought you were a B,” Anne told Gabriel, before knocking him out.
In season nine episode four, Anne has Gabriel – now deemed an ‘A’ – tied up in the same manner as Negan, as she again prepares for a zombie to bite him. “There’s only one place left for me to go,” she said. “And you’re the price of admission.”
But Anne is persuaded by Gabriel to let him go, and vanishes after that.
Heath
It’s unclear if Heath is alive or not. But we do know that not long after being separated from Tara near Oceanside and driving back in their RV, he came across Anne/Jadis.
In season nine episode five, Anne is seen driving Heath’s RV. And showrunner Angela Kang confirmed that Heath’s exit is very much tied with the helicopter people, with Heath having been traded for supplies.
We don’t know if he’s an ‘A’ or a ‘B’, but given that show bosses have said they have “a story for that character” in place should actor Corey Hawkins return, we think Heath could show up in Rick’s movie trilogy spin-off. And if Heath is indeed alive, he didn’t get bitten by a zombie and so is more likely a ‘B’.
So what does ‘A’ and ‘B’ mean?
Naturally, there are numerous theories regarding the two letters. One of the first theories suggested that ‘A’ meant leader and ‘B’ meant follower.
Many people were sold on this prior to the events of season nine episode five. Rick and Negan are leaders, and Gabriel speaking his mind and going against Anne could imply leadership qualities.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in October, Kang said: “The A and B has something to do with the thing that she was involved in which was human trading, and it was a way to differentiate between classes of people.”
And when asked about the leader/follower theory, she replied: “Maybe. I will say that is a very good maybe.”
But given that Rick is a ‘B’, that theory may very well be incorrect.
Another popular theory going around is that ‘A’ means ‘enemy’ and ‘B’ means ‘friend’.
The signs are these: Anne/Jadis tried to kill the ‘A’s. The ‘B’s appear to be left unharmed (in Rick’s specific case, she and the helicopter people saved his life). When Anne first met Rick, they were closer to being enemies than allies, but by the time Rick exited, Anne considered Rick a friend.
Or how about ‘A’ meaning ‘infected’ and ‘B’ meaning ‘uninfected’?
In all three instances of someone being branded an ‘A’ (Rick, Negan, Gabriel), Anne came close to having a zombie bite her prisoner.
Whatever the answer, we likely won’t know until we see Rick’s first movie spin-off, which picks up after he is taken by the helicopter people, which will be broadcast by AMC.
The Walking Dead airs on AMC in the US and on FOX in the UK. You can also catch up on the show via NOW TV.
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