A surprising development in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 1 finale promises death for every character in the Walking Dead franchise.

If a tease in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 1 finale is to be believed, every character in The Walking Dead universe is fated to meet an untimely end. The Echelon briefing, a conversation that Rick and Michonne’s spinoff had been building up to since the series premiere, provided a number of long-awaited answers about the Civic Republic Military. In addition to shedding light on the inner workings of the CRM and their big plan in The Walking Dead, the episode also dropped an ominous hint about the future facing the world as a whole.

Although The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 1’s ending amounted to several big reveals, it’s worth wondering how much of it will matter in the long run. After all, it’s important to note that all the illuminating details offered in the Echelon briefing were followed by the CRM’s defeat. With Rick and Michonne’s actions paving the way for the organization to be properly reformed, their time as the franchise’s villains seems to have ended for good. Even so, it appears that at least one part of the briefing will have long-term ramifications for The Walking Dead’s shows.

CRM Scientists Predict Humanity Can Only Survive Another 14 Years In The Walking Dead

Beale has very little confidence in humanity’s future

Major General Beale holding a sword close up in The walking dead the ones who lived

Major General Beale’s comments to Rick about their science team’s findings serve as a dire warning about The Walking Dead’s future. According to him, what’s left of humanity has approximately just 14 years left. The CRM’s research postulates that when that time is up, the planet will be “cluttered with corpses.” This prediction is based on the notion that multiple factors will result in people dying out rapidly over the next several years. The worsening ratio of people to zombies in The Walking Dead’s world will increase until there’s no one left.

Beale claimed that their scientists have attributed their supposedly impending extinction to several reasons, not the least of which being starvation. Another concern they have is the multitude of diseases the zombies pick up over the years. Beale described walkers as “Petri dishes” that accumulate a long list of sicknesses, which means they pose both direct and indirect threats to humanity’s chances of survival. Rather than just bite survivors, they can also pass on their diseases to those they come in contact with, thus doing further harm to the human population.

Rick’s Actions Didn’t Change The Walking Dead’s Upcoming Disaster

Rick and Michonne’s happy ending is only a short-term one

Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Judith (Cailey Fleming) - The Ones Who LiveClose-up of Terry O'Quinn as Major General Beale in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.Michonne Hawthorne and Rick Grimes using the Echelon Briefing, seen from behind in The Walking Dead the Ones Who Live S1 Ep6 trailerMichonne looking down at Jadis in The Walking Dead The Ones Who Live episode 5
Unfortunately for The Walking Dead’s main characters, nothing that occurred in the season finale alters the timeline Beale set for the franchise’s future. By taking out some of the CRM’s military assets, killing Beale, and putting control in the hands of the Civic Republic, Rick and Michonne managed to achieve a happy ending both for themselves and the people once under the thumb of the CRM. However, the challenge outlined by Beale still exists, considering that it wasn’t one of the CRM’s making.

If Beale’s scientists were right, every remaining Walking Dead character’s time is limited to about 14 years. Going by the CRM’s predictions, that timespan will see settlements all over the world suffer from food shortages and epidemics, made worse by the continuing problem of zombies running rampant in the post-apocalyptic landscape. While Alexandria and the Hilltop’s alliance with the Commonwealth should give them an advantage, there’s currently nothing in play that should protect them from the disease threat, especially since they still have to deal with walkers on a regular basis.

Solving The 14-Year Deadline Could Be The Ones Who Live Season 2’s Story

Rick and Michonne may have to save the world in season 2

Michonne Hawthorne and Rick Grimes using the Echelon Briefing, looking mysteriously into the interior of a container in The Walking Dead the Ones Who Live S1 Ep6 trailer

Since The Ones Who Live introduced this new challenge but didn’t solve it, it’s become a loose end for another Walking Dead story to address. Of course, the most obvious candidate to tie up this plotline is a potential The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 2. Rick is the only main character aware of what’s coming, putting him in the best position to find a solution. Plus, with Rick and Michonne back home in Alexandria and the CRM no longer acting as villains in the franchise, the 14-year deadline is now the biggest existing threat for the characters to contend with.

As for what such a story could entail, it’s possible that what Rick learned from Beale will act as the foundation for his next journey with Michonne, meaning that the couple may spend the next few months – or years – looking for a way to prolong civilization. The Civic Republic arranging transport for Rick and Michonne in the season finale signals that the two will maintain ties to the organization. If that’s the case, Rick and Michonne can use their association with the Civic Republic to look for a less ruthless approach to saving the world.

There’s another way Rick Grimes can honor Okafor’s dream

close up of Donald Okafor as Craig Tate from The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

How The Walking Dead’s characters can stop the zombies from spreading deadly diseases remains to be seen, but at least one of the issues mentioned by Beale already has a potential solution. In The Ones Who Live episode 1, Donald Okafor was seen working on a garden, which he spoke briefly of to Rick Grimes. He claimed that he was trying to grow millet, which is known as a type of grain. He said to Rick, “Isn’t exactly millet country, but if I could find the right one… It could change things.” Okafor’s line about the importance of millet may be a tease to what Rick needs to do to save the planet.

The pointed reference to the impact the right type of millet could have on civilization gives the impression that it was meant to serve as some sort of setup for a future storyline. Looking at what Okafor said, it would seem that millet could be a way for survivors in The Walking Dead’s universe to overcome the food shortages that Beale teased. Since Rick did come around to Okafor’s point of view, there’s a chance he’ll see merit in this idea as well.

Remembering what Okafor said about millet could lead to Alexandria coming up with a working plan for humanity’s future in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Normally, growing millet effectively in Alexandria would only help their own people, but having a link to the Civic Republic means that whatever they can accomplish can be shared with other settlements. Their ties to the CR, the Commonwealth, and Hilltop means multiple minds can work together toward finding an answer to the starvation problem and making sure it’s spread throughout the country.