Time is a curious thing on The Walking Dead, as where some seasons jump months at a time, others pick up seconds later. That’s made Maggie’s Season 6 pregnancy difficult to chart, but word of whether we’ll meet the little tyke in Season 8 might hint at a major change to come.

You’re warned of minor spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 8 from here on out, but for those wondering why Maggie has been pregnant for two seasons with no visible bump, Entertainment Weekly got a little timeline clarity from showrunner Scott Gimple. Lest we forget, Season 7 picked up immediately after Season 6 and only spanned a few weeks, while Season 8 might not bring us much closer:

The on-screen timeline of events for season 7 was actually only 19 days, according to co-executive producer Denise Huth on the most recent Blu-ray release, and Gimple tells EW that season 8 picks up just a few days after that — meaning Maggie still has a way to go before her and Glenn’s child arrives. ‘It’s quite early in, as it was in the book,’ says showrunner Gimple about the pregnancy.

Not only that, but Gimple explicitly stated “we shouldn’t” expect Maggie to give birth in Season 8, which could mean one of several things. It’s possible the timeline of the next sixteen episodes might be equally compressed, or even that Maggie might not carry the pregnancy to term (production does have to manage one baby already).

A third possibility might combine with the trailer’s “Old Man Rick” scene, which the premiere is expected to provide some context on. Comic fans recognized Rick’s new look from a time-jump of several years after Negan’s downfall, in which literary Maggie had long-since delivered hers and Glenn’s child. Should Season 8 officially make that leap, Gimple’s quote about Maggie not giving birth in Season 8 would remain technically accurate.

We’ll see what the future holds when The Walking Dead Season 8 premieres on October 22, so stay tuned.

More From Kicker 102.5