The Walking Dead fans always have a lot to think about between seasons, and one of the biggest questions that has been on our minds for nearly two years now is: "What's going to happen with Maggie's pregnancy?" And that question will apparently be bouncing around our skulls for quite a bit longer yet, according to Scott Gimple. When asked if anyone should expect to see Maggie giving birth in Season 8, the showrunner said this:
We shouldn't. . . . It's quite early in, as it was in the book.
With "quite early in," Scott GImple is referring to Maggie's pregnancy in general, as she's seriously not all that far along by this point in the narrative, despite having first revealed to Aaron that she was expecting back in the first chunk of Season 6. So, in a sense, if Maggie actually would give birth during Season 8, it would be far scarier than heartwarming, as it would be an extremely premature delivery. I mean, her belly bump is roughly the size of what it would be if the group had a fairly sizable meal.
So even though TV viewers have been sitting with the information of Glenn and Maggie's offspring for a long time, the Walking Dead characters themselves are still warming up to the idea of a new baby in the apocalypse. I mean, everything has technically worked fine with Judith, so long as there was someone around to keep watch of her while Rick did all kinds of other things, but one would hope that everyone's situation will get a lot more stable before a new infant is introduced to this world.
And stability may very well be in the cards, since it's not likely the All Out War between Rick and Negan will go on for months and months. So Maggie could still technically be just a few months into her pregnancy when that war is complete. For those trying to keep a calendar of where things are, timewise, here's what Lauren Cohan had to say to EW.
I always want to put a little ticker tape along the bottom of the episode saying how far into the apocalypse and into the pregnancy we are. Because I'm playing newly pregnant for a really long time. But the truth of the matter is, it's only been a matter of weeks since Negan killed Glenn.
That makes total sense, of course, since it's not like there are many days where Team Family is just sitting around without doing anything. It's almost disturbing how short the mourning period has been for everyone, and with all the hormones and emotions coursing through Maggie's body, it seems like she would be particularly on edge at all times. (Like, she should have slapped Gregory three or four times before punching him in the crotch and kicking him through a window.) But I obviously get that there's not much fun to be had in people moping around in a funk, and Maggie is quite used to compartmentalizing her sadness at this point, what with all of her family dying in terrible ways.
Speaking of the physiological side of things, Lauren Cohan also talked about Maggie being able to carry on with this kind of lifestyle as a pregnant woman.
There's an amazing amount that you can do. The place I work out is a testament to this. I do a pretty crazy workout, and there are women there up to the end of their third trimester doing the same thing. They say that in pregnancy you can operate on a physical level to the same that you have been. You don't want to up it once you're pregnant, but you can continue on the same pattern, and she's been living in this type of a world and this type of combat for a really long time.
I would have zero problems with watching Maggie continue to kick ass until she's on the brink of delivering her kiddo. But that might not be seen, since it's more than likely the comic's time jump is coming at some point after the Rick-Negan conflict has concluded. (Assuming it concludes at all.) So hopefully we won't get to see a scene play out like Lori's delivery/death. Or anything bad at all happening to either the baby or Maggie.
The Walking Dead will return to fans and AMC with the birth-avoiding Season 8 on Sunday, October 22, at 9:00 p.m. ET. To see everything else that's hitting the small screen soon, head to our fall premiere schedule.
