MORGAN IS MONTHS BEHIND RICK
In the final post-credits scene (fun fact, this wasn’t shown at the premiere in order to keep it secret) we see Morgan, seemingly following Rick and his crew. Notice the sign when Rick marks it vs when Morgan shows up:
People are saying that the extreme growth when Morgan arrives indicates that he is MONTHS behind Rick. There is some credence to this. Multiple producers have pointed out the growth on the sign but I take that to mean that Morgan is a few weeks behind at most, not months and months behind. A) There is already some growth when Rick leaves, and B) vines can grow pretty fast. It isn’t like the seasons have changed. I think the crew was more worried about showing that Morgan wasn’t RIGHT behind them then they were trying to show how much time has passed.
Very interesting idea. For those not in the know, Hobos would leave secret marks in various locations to indicate certain things like, “good place to catch a train,” “abandoned home,” or “safe to camp.” Here are a bunch of them.
I have two problems with this.
1) Who the F**K knows Hobo markings?
2) If they ARE Hobo markings—which are likely regional—the X is almost always used as some sort of safety indicator, at least in the legends I’ve looked at, although IANAH*.
Ok, so anyway, the trail is marked. Maybe for Morgan, maybe not. And Hobo markings or no, here is what you, the Internet, have been guessing:
1) Rick is leaving them for Morgan. Because it matches the X’s Morgan was putting on the map on his wall in “Clear”.
2) Gareth is leaving them. (Not sure why).
3) Tyreese’s hostage that he beat the stuffing out of, but whom we never see dead is leaving them for Gareth.
4) Father Gabriel is marking the path to his church, as they look a bit like crosses (although not really).
5) The tattooed face guy left them because it matches the tattoo on his temple.
I will say this: they look awfully fresh if Morgan is weeks or months behind, but maybe that’s a production issue. Another thing that bugs me, there’s like 3 all REALLY close together (like every other tree).