‘The Walking Dead’ Seasons 1-9 Timeline Explained

“The Walking Dead” has been going on for nine seasons, with its 10th installment to be released next month. AMC’s hit series has been running for almost nine years, with the premiere of Season 1 episode 1 titled “Days Gone Bye” going on air in 2010.

Fans had been following protagonist Rick Grimes’ journey for survival for years until he left the show earlier this year, leaving his legacy to Alexandria’s new leader, Danai Gurira’s Michonne.

What comes as a surprise to even the most avid of fans, though, is that up to the time of Rick’s departure, the show has only spanned about a couple of years from the first day of the outbreak. And then there were also those two big time jumps to consider, which is only adding to the confusion.

But a Redditor and hardcore TWD fanatic posted a timeline of events on the show, starting from the outbreak of the virus up until the Whisperer’s gruesome head-on-a-pike display. Reddit user Evorush’s timeline goes as follows:

Day 1 – the virus breaks out

Day 59 – Rick wakes up in the hospital

Day 64 – the group arrives at the CDC

Dad 83 – Hershel‘s farm goes down

Day 300 – the group finds the prison

Day 500 – the prison falls (1 year, 135 days)

Day 546 – Rick goes nuts in Alexandria (1 year, 181 days)

Day 552 – a zombie horde invades Alexandria (1 year, 187 days)

Day 598 – Negan kills Glenn and Abraham (1 year, 233 days)

Day 610 – Shiva saves Carl from Negan (1 year, 245 days)

Day 628 – Rick defeats Negan (1 year, 263 days)

Day 1,207 – Rick flies off in a helicopter (3 years, 112 days)

Day 3,500 – the group lives in the aftermath of the pike sequence (9 years, 215 days)

As much as fans were amazed by the user’s work and surprised at the seemingly quick turn of events, even more questioned the authenticity of the timeline. Many Reddit users were quick to point out Chandler Riggs’ Carl Grimes, who had suddenly aged from the first episode to his death in Season 8. Others marveled over the fact that in just a few months — from the prison to Negan — so much had transpired and even more survivors had lost their lives.

The huge time jump between Rick’s disappearance and the latest episode actually balances the time, making the years in the show about as long as it has been on air. This amazing timeline makes a lot of things much clearer for fans and leaves enough to speculate for Season 10.

AMC’s “The Walking Dead” Season 10 is slated for release this Oct. 6.