The Ones Who Live confirms the CRM has a 500-year plan for rebuilding the world, setting up massive ramifications for The Walking Dead’s world.

Warning: spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 3.

The Civic Republic Military has a 500-year plan for The Walking Dead‘s world, teasing a fascinating future for AMC’s zombie franchise, but what that future looks like remains open to interpretation. During a scene between Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and Pollyanna McIntosh’s Jadis in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 3, the latter tantalizingly mentions that the CRM has a “500-year plan” to rebuild civilization across the world. This fascinating detail not only clarifies Major General Beale’s ultimate goal, it teases massive consequences for the world of The Walking Dead.

Said consequences may or may not transpire onscreen. Perhaps Rick and Michonne’s rebellious partnership cuts the CRM’s grand plan 490 years short, or maybe the blueprint Jadis mentions will be adopted by Rick himself and pave the way for a brighter future. Jadis gives away very few specifics regarding the CRM’s mysterious 500-year scheme, but based on how The Walking Dead‘s uber-villains have acted so far, a concerning chronology can be inferred.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live reveals a timeline of what happened to Rick Grimes after Andrew Lincoln left The Walking Dead in season 9.

The CRM Will Finish Spreading Across The United States

Step 1: Achieve full control of the US

The mountain base Rick and Thorne have been building on the CRM’s behalf in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is located on the west coast of the United States, the opposite end of the country from the main Civic Republic in Philadelphia. This new base, along with the recently cleared Omaha settlement and various other CRM satellite posts seen throughout The Walking Dead, will give the CRM footholds across the entirety of the US. The evident importance of Concordia base in The Ones Who Live all but confirms the CRM cannot commence its 500-year plan without having military bases placed across the continent.

Currently in The Walking Dead‘s timeline, the CRM operates in absolute secrecy, but the organization’s clandestine status can only last so long. It would be extremely difficult for the CRM to remain hidden and simultaneously rebuild North America. As such, the CRM will need to start working more openly within the next 5-10 years of its 500-year plan, otherwise reconstructing and repopulating cities will prove impossible. Nevertheless, Major General Beale will likely not alter his authoritarian stance on security, meaning “A” survivors will still be killed, and “B” survivors will still be screened extensively before becoming Civic Republic citizens.

There has been A and B symbolism throughout The Walking Dead for several years, but The Ones Who Live finally explained what the letters mean.

The CRM Will Wipe Out Any Walking Dead Communities It Considers A Threat

Step 2: Kill the As, keep the Bs (some of them, at least)

Beale’s ruthless philosophy will inevitably mean that, as the CRM spreads its influence across the United States, many existing communities will be wiped out in the name of progress. Indeed, the Omaha incident proves this process has already started. The Walking Dead: World Beyond showed that the CRM itself was responsible for Omaha’s destruction, and wiped the settlement out because its modeling predicted Omaha would soon begin draining Civic Republic resources.

That was the official reason, but the CRM could have simply ghosted Omaha – a community that didn’t even know where the Civic Republic is located. Killing Omaha’s 100,000-strong population was possibly less about dwindling resources and more about consolidating the CRM’s hold over central US territories. Because Omaha was destroyed by CRM helicopters dropping chlorine gas, just like the attack Michonne endured in The Ones Who Live episode 2, the settlement’s infrastructure will remain intact – and conveniently vacant. Beale also wanted to assault Portland in the same way. Once that mission is complete, the CRM will hold four major bases dotted across the US from east to west.

The CRM’s 500-year growth probably involves decimating any communities it finds along the way that could potentially pose a threat, which is bad news for Alexandria, Hilltop, the Commonwealth, and countless others. The need to preserve the human race prevents Beale from killing everybody the CRM encounters, but looking at how the organization has behaved thus far, the likes of Maggie, Ezekiel, Mercer, Fear The Walking Dead‘s Clark family, and all survivors that have built thriving communities since the outbreak began will be executed alongside anyone else Beale even vaguely suspects could cause trouble.

The CRM Will Begin Moving Into Other Countries Across The World

Step 3: Rinse & repeat across the world

Given what Major General Beale has achieved in the 10 years since The Walking Dead‘s zombie outbreak began, it will not take 500 years for the CRM to conquer North America, which suggests that the plan Jadis mentions in The Ones Who Live episode 3 must incorporate the entire world. Once the United States becomes the Civic Republic of the United States of America, Beale will likely turn his attention toward key strategic points across the globe – Central Europe, China, the Middle East, etc.

The same process that secured control of the US then commences in foreign territories. The CRM would establish a hidden base, secretly construct additional outposts across the country, then gradually spread from coast to coast, seizing resources and wiping out any obstacles along the way. For innocent survivors, the advantage of this arrangement would be the CRM using its massive resources and expertise to restore civilization. The downside would be the “Beale’s way or the highway” attitude the CRM brings with it, leaving survivors no choice but to get on board with the program or risk being killed.

The CRM Will Maintain Control Of The Walking Dead’s World Indefinitely

Step 4: The CRM reigns supreme

500 years is a very long time to plan for – even when the objective is rebuilding the world. It would be far quicker, and far less hassle, for the CRM to simply send aid and resources overseas and let established communities rebuild their countries on their own terms. Daryl Dixon, for example, revealed the Union of Hope in France – a large community based in Mont-Saint-Michel, but networked across the entire country. With some extra supplies and help from America’s Beale Brigade, the Union could restore France to its former glory, and the CRM’s plan for a better world would be completed long before five centuries passed.

With Daryl Dixon starring in his own spinoff after the events of The Walking Dead, there are a handful of new groups joining the apocalyptic world.

The probable real reason the CRM’s plan has been designed to last 500 years is to maintain power indefinitely. Getting the job done faster would involve trust and cooperation – qualities Major General Beale is notably lacking in. By planning so far ahead, the CRM is effectively ensuring that it will be the world’s chief authority for the next 500 years – long enough to guarantee it can never be overthrown. In his twisted mind, Beale would justify this as the best way to ensure another zombie apocalypse never happens. Alas, his perspective is distorted by being on the wrong end of the US government’s attempt to napalm Philadelphia when the outbreak began, as well as a generous dose of villainous megalomania.

The CRM Will Attempt To Cure The Zombie Virus

Step 5: Stop the virus (if it can be stopped)

The Walking Dead: World Beyond showed how the CRM has been recruiting talented scientists from various communities in an attempt to solve the zombie outbreak once and for all. It has not succeeded. CRM scientists were seeking a way of slowing down the reanimation process and eventually learning how to cure The Walking Dead‘s zombie virus completely, but 10 years of research has produced little in the way of effective results.

World Beyond‘s Bennett family, however, did begin to develop a fungus that rapidly sped up the decay process. Useless against reanimation that may be, but applied on a large enough scale, it could solve the problem of wandering herds and thin the zombie population until the only undead are the newly-deceased. The Bennetts ultimately escaped and took their research elsewhere, but the CRM having a 500-year plan will undoubtedly mean its search for a scientific solution to The Walking Dead‘s outbreak continues.