The concept of a zombie giving birth has always seemed far-fetched in The Walking Dead universe, until Daryl Dixon proved otherwise.

The idea of a zombie giving birth is grotesque, to say the least. But in The Walking Dead universe, anything is possible. After introducing flesh-burning walkers in the premiere, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon‘s “Alouette” features the first-ever “zombie birth” in the franchise, which sparks a larger conversation about the science of the Wildfire Virus.

Pregnant zombies (better known as “walkers” in the franchise) are nothing new in The Walking Dead. In Season 3, Lori Grimes expressed concern over having a stillbirth, as no one knew if a baby would turn into a walker in the womb. It wasn’t until Season 11 that this question was answered when Maggie told a story of a pregnant walker that obviously turned after conceiving the baby. There was “something” inside her stomach fighting to get out, which can only be interpreted as the unborn child turning into a walker itself. Maggie’s story lines up with zombie physiology — since everyone is infected, the unborn child will die if they’re not delivered quickly after the mother passes. What Daryl Dixon describes though is a whole other branch of the virus, one that many people in France believe created a miracle.

The Miraculous Nature of Laurent’s Birth

The premiere episode teased that Laurent was special compared to other people, and “Alouette” dug deeper in quite a gruesome and heartbreaking fashion. In flashbacks, it’s revealed that Isabelle is not just Laurent’s caretaker but his maternal aunt — a fact that he seems to be unaware of alongside the circumstances of his strange birth. Right as the outbreak happened in France — a time when no one knew what the Wildfire Virus truly created — Isabelle’s sister Lily prematurely goes into labor at just seven months. During labor, the sisters try to get help from an ambulance on the side of the road but encounter a pack of walkers, and during the struggle, Lily gets bit. The sisters don’t initially freak out, considering they had no idea a bite was a death sentence, but they soon find out her fate.

The two find solace at the Abbey, where nuns and Father Jean deliver the baby. But the stress of the premature birth on top of the walker accelerated the virus in Lily’s body, causing her to die before giving birth. She quickly turns into a walker, forcing the nuns to deliver the baby via C-section. The nuns proclaim the birth of the healthy baby boy a miracle, seeing that he was born from an abomination, as most religious people in The Walking Dead believe walkers are. Just to hit the nail on the head, Isabelle names him after Saint Laurent (also known as Saint Lawrence, a Christian martyr who was known for performing miracles.)

Is Laurent Immune to the Wildfire Virus?

The nuns or Isabelle never outright claim that Laurent is immune because of his special birth. But they do proclaim him the next Messiah to restore the world back to how it was before the apocalypse, essentially calling him the savior of humanity. Totally no pressure to put on a child’s life. So it’s not exactly outrageous to think Isabelle and Sylvie have it in their head that Laurent is probably immune. The question is — is there really proof he is?

Having stayed clear of the science of the Wildfire Virus for most of its run, The Walking Dead has never considered what makes a person immune to the virus. It’s just not that type of show, even if Fear the Walking Dead wants it to be. But with this new development about the biological capabilities of walkers, there’s reason to question if Laurent was born immune to the walker virus or if his prophecy is a product of fanaticism.

One way to answer the question of zombie immunity is to look to another property: The Last of Us. In the HBO series, Anna was bitten by an infected being while in labor, but the baby (Ellie) turned out to be healthy. Years later, Ellie discovered she was immune after getting bitten twice and never turned. The Cordyceps transmitted from Anna to Ellie grew inside her since birth, making normal Cordyceps believe she’s the fungus as well. By The Last of Us‘ logic, Laurent should also be immune like Ellie.

However, the biology of The Walking Dead and The Last of Us‘ viruses still have grave differences. The biggest is that the Wildfire Virus brings dead people back to life as a walker, whereas the Cordyceps virus infects living beings only — therefore explaining why The Last of Us‘ infected aren’t technically zombies. The only way to know for sure that Laurent is immune is to test his reaction to getting bitten or simply dying and seeing if he comes back as a walker. And that’s not exactly a theory people want to experiment with.

There Might be Nothing Special About Laurent

There’s also the chance that there’s absolutely nothing remarkable about Laurent, at least in the way Isabelle makes it out to be. As far as The Walking Dead has expanded into different territories over the years, there’s still so much the franchise hasn’t touched on. The chances of Laurent being the only person born from a zombie are far from slim, as the chances of pregnant women dying in childbirth are much higher in the apocalypse.

Catholicism is highly influential in France, and the show takes creative liberties to represent a population of people who’ve relied on faith to survive in hopeless times. For Isabelle and the nuns, their hope stemmed from the possibility of Laurent being the next Messiah because of his miraculous birth. He’s a child born from death — how could someone not believe there’s something special about him? Yet if Laurent isn’t the only person born from a walker, and there’s no evidence that he’s immune, then worshiping him may just be an implausible belief.