What is ‘The Walking Dead’s Civic Republic? (Spoilers)

Spanning 14 years, The Walking Dead’s universe has hundreds of hours of footage to pour over, so watching every spin-off to know something vital to another show can be hard! We aim to change that with this article, so join us as we explain the Civic Republic, its military, and its surrounding characters.

Spoilers (and speculation!) ahead.

Although only showing up in the later seasons of TWD and its spin-offs, the Civic Republic has already gained a heavy presence in the universe. It appears in various forms in The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and now The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, while still managing to maintain a sometimes annoying sense of mystery.

They first show up in TWD, as allies to Jadis/Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh), the leader of the Scavengers. At first, she captures several survivors (Rick, Negan, and Gabriel), photographs them while underclothed, and prepares to ship them to ominous helicopters.

Anne also eats out of a can with the CRM logo on it implying that the Scavengers and the CRM engaged in trade (this is later confirmed in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live). The next time we see them in a major capacity is when Rick (Andrew Lincoln) is mortally wounded and Anne falsely claims he is a ‘B’ to save his life.

Rick is not seen for over two seasons but in the series finale of TWD, it is revealed that he is a consignee to the Civic Republic and attempts to escape but fails. We also get a proper look at the location of the CR, Philadelphia.

Next, we will address The Walking Dead: World Beyond, a 2020 series that follows mostly new characters and their relationship to the CRM. Now this 20-episode series heavily features them, so it will be hard to abridge it let alone the whole show but we will give you the need-to-know basics.

It is revealed that the Civic Republic is a member of the Alliance of the Three, a group of what is assumed to be the three remaining cities in the US. Portland and Omaha both willingly give their locations to their allies but the CRM does not, maintaining their mysterious presence.

In the show, the CRM bombs and destroys Omaha, perceiving them as a threat and wiping out the population. This act of genocide seems to be a preventative measure as these characters presumed that Omaha was not self-sustaining and would soon leech off of the Civic Republic for supplies.

In this series, Jadis is revealed to have become a high-ranking member of the CRM through trading something of immense value to the military. What this is, is unknown but many have speculated that it was Rick Grimes. After the premiere of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live it seems this may not be the case but we will speculate further shortly. In the show, it also appears that the CRM is developing some sort of vaccine/cure for the Wildfire Virus, which has plagued everybody in this universe since 2010. 

In Fear The Walking Dead, the CRM is less present but we do get to witness the perspective of one soldier, ultimately it is inconsequential to the series at large. In ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, on the other hand, they’re the main antagonists. Rick Grimes has been taken as a consignee and will become a Civic Republic citizen after 6 years of service.

The twist is that due to the CRM’s insistency on keeping the location of the CR hidden, he is not allowed to leave. He attempts to escape many times to get back to the people of Alexandria but fails consistently. Rick joins the CRM after Donald Okafor (a high-ranking officer of the CRM) offers him and Thorne a position.

It is then explained that Okafor wants to abolish the As and Bs system, where As are strong-willed leaders and Bs are working-class citizens who need leadership. When Jadis signalled the helicopter in S09 of TWD, she falsely labelled Rick as a B. It is also presumed that Thorne was a B in this same situation, because according to Okafor As are sent away to be executed or to what can only be presumed as other CRM outposts. And all in the middle of this, Omaha falls but from the perspective of those inside of the CR and CRM alike, it is unknown why and how Omaha fell, implying the governing body of this city didn’t want it to be known to the general public.

To propose some thoughts here, why does the CRM not want to be in the Alliance of the Three anymore? Why does the CRM want to hide these actions from the people of the city and finally why does the CRM want As as they were requesting in TWD Season 9? Could it be to strengthen their military or to neutralize threats as seen with Omaha? 

In The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 2, Nat’s group, some survivors encountered by Michonne, are attacked by the CRM with chlorine gas. In the real world, the usage of such dangerous material is considered a war crime due to how inhumane and dangerous it is. The usage of this method by the CRM indicates that they will stop at nothing to exterminate any possible threats. As to a concrete answer why… We are yet to find out.

It is also revealed by Rick Grimes that the CRM officers in red sometimes go out on classified missions and return covered in blood, hinting at some sort of massacre or genocidal tendencies by CRM high-ranking members. Jadis also appears in the episode, revealing although high-ranking, she somewhat dirty CRM officer who keeps some things off record with Rick and seems to have a deal with him.

In the third episode of the show, it’s revealed by Rick that Jadis is categorized as an A and is in the designation intake department of the CRM. Thorne is promoted to Command Sergeant and we also learn that there are roughly 17,000 members of the CRM force. In the real world, Command Sergeant is the second highest rank for enlisted members of the US Army, with Rick’s current rank, Sergeant Major, the third highest.

Additionally, when you earn the rank of Command Sergeant, you are given the ‘Echelon Briefing’, which according to Jadis in Episode 5 of The Ones Who Live, gives you an idea of the true scope of the CRM and its plans for the new world. We also get the name of one of these CRM base locations and it’s called the Cascadia base. Jadis resides there and had hidden her dossier there is a failsafe in case Rick killed her.

Finally, to end this article, I would like to mention a TWD character by the name of Heath. Heath left the show in S7 after Tara disappeared and traveled to Oceanside. After leaving Oceanside, Tara went back to the bridge where the duo were separated and found an out-of-place white card with the letters ‘PPP’ on it. Furthermore, the RV that they used to travel on this supply mission is seen a season later in Jadis’ junkyard (and in the finale of the show). Connecting some dots here, it can be reasonably deduced that Jadis abducted Heath and traded him to the CRM.

Now this was originally a fan theory, but showrunner Angela Kang solidified it and revealed that these clues were intentional. And what is even more interesting is that Scott M. Gimple, an ex-showrunner of TWD, and showrunner for TOWL has revealed that an answer to the PPP card(s) is on its way. And yes, you read that right as the PPP card also is featured in Tales of the Walking Dead. In the episode “Davon”, Jessie T. Usher’s titular character also possesses one of these cards.

Additionally, a promo for the sixth (and final) episode of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, shows a whiteboard that Pearl Thorne is standing in front of. The whiteboard depicts a bunch of sciencey things that probably won’t be relevant to the episode but what is in clear sight are the words “***PPP EXCEPTION***”.

This could possibly mean that those who carry PPP cards are excepted to military searches or possibly are excepted to the A’s and B’s rule. But this is not concrete and what it means may not even be revealed. Hopefully, the answer to this question will be revealed on March 31, 2024, when the next episode of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live streams. 

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is streaming weekly on AMC+ and AMC. The series stars Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne Grimes, Pollyanna McIntosh as Jadis Stokes, and Terry O’Quinn as General Beale. All images used are courtesy of AMC Networks.

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