I like this idea, and it can definitley make sense. I mean not like the idea that her child died. But it did cross my mind briefly that she was infact imagining RJ there. Judith didn't seem to have any interaction or acknolwedgment of her little brother when Michonne was talking to her on the stairs. And if you had just picked your child up (in the middle of the night in the kitchen) surely you'd still have them in your arms when you answered the front door. At the beginning of the episode at the end of her monologue, we see Michonne talking, as if to someone. I thought this was going to be a memorial stone or something for Rick, but the camera then shows the bridge (I guess in a way a memorial as it was never rebuilt). But what if there was a memorial of sorts, we the audience just didn't get to see it? Maybe for a child lost - or as a symbol for a child never conceived?
Would it be wise to introduce a 'ghost' child into the series? No. But Rick 'heard' Lori's voice on the telehone after she died. What's to say Michonne isn't experiencing the same kind of thing with PTSD?

 

Interesting theory...hmmmm

 

Oh yeah, good point. LOL

 

This could totally be plausible IF they didn't make it a point that Magna SAW her with the child and somehow that changed the course of what she was intending to do.

I believe he is real. And we'll get more on that story in future episodes.

 

Magna got a sort of wtf look on her face when she looked through the window, it implied that seeing Michonne as a mother softened her, but she already saw Michonne with Judith. So Michonne goes from the kitchen to answer the door, sans RJ, has a conversation with Magna at the door ( where is RJ? alone,standing silent in the dark kitchen?) Magna leaves and Michonne has a conversation with Judith, sans RJ, apparently still silently standing alone in the dark kitchen. Once Michonne is alone, RJ appears again Quoting @Jen7... "Unless of course she saw Michonne wrap her arms around herself and talk to no one, which...i guess that could also soften a person up and make them decide not to attack LOL..." This is exactly what we see Michonne doing in her "conversation" with dead ( not dead!) Rick and then again when she slips on Rick's shirt, exposing her scar, and wrapping her arms around herself. In her conversation with Judith, Judith even addresses the fact that Michonne talks to dead people. Maybe, maybe, what Magna saw was a damaged Michonne and realized that despite everything this community has, it came with a great price, and she understands why they would mistrust strangers.

Sidenote: My girl Michonne would lay waste to this Magna chic

 

I gotta say, I'm actually on the edge with the show now. Rick and Michonne are my favorite characters. No question, Rick deserves to have a child with Michonne as they were planning to. He's gone and we have to just take that he has not come back in 6 years. I see that they have taken Michonne back to talking to those that are not there. If RJ turns out to be a figment of Michonne's imagination, I'm done. It does not do either character any justice after all they've been through as a family. It just doesn't. I really hope that's not the case, I really want him to be real. How awesome will it be for them to bring Rick back in the series finale to find that his family, Michonne, Judith and a son are alive. We know that won't be possible if RJ is not real. But we'll see, probably in the next two episodes.

 

I would not put it past this show but it would be horrible writing in my opinion to have RJ be fake after we the viewer saw him though Magna's eyes.

RJ being imaginary would have been very interesting but not as a fake out. I don't think I'd appreciate it.

 

Disclaimer: Y'all can make fun of me til the end of time if I'm wrong.

I looked for this clip on Youtube to try and get a shot of Magna's face. Found it, but tell me I'm not wrong when I hear whispering behind the regular audio from 0:23 to 0:35. Did not hear this before! You have to listen closely but whoa, what??



Edit: Can anyone make out what the whispering voice says?? At 0:35 it sounds like "...need to find the truth.."

 

As someone who works in preschools, I have seen a lot of small underdeveloped five year olds.

In this setting it makes even more sense, considering he isn't getting the nutrients and proper diet and care a normal five year old gets when developing. Jusitu is a bit small too.

Perhaps logistically they wanted to go with someone younger so they can keep the same actor and it won't look as weird whenever they grow so fast and don't match their age

 

From FanFest via EW interview with Angela Kang:

https://fanfest.com/2018/11/11/the-walking-dead-reveals-rick-and-michonne-baby/

Angela Kang, thus far, appears to be a straight shooter in her interviews. Gone are the days of cryptic responses.

Yes, that is. That is Rick junior, R.J., who’s scampering around. Yeah, his name is R.J.

We thought that was a fun thing, because we had this big reveal of Judith, so we felt like: Let’s give Judith her moment in the sun. But we started setting up really at the beginning of the season that this was something that Michonne and Rick [were interested in]. In episode 3, they go, “Well, let’s maybe start planning for the future in other ways.” That was part of their hopefulness, that they believed that they could build a world where children could thrive. The kind of tragedy of it is that Rick was not around to see this happen. But for Michonne, it’s just another person that she is fighting for, and that she wants to keep safe, but it’s part of what plays into some of the philosophy and decisions behind how Alexandria is run, which is a big part of the story going forward for the season.

And why does she have to be holding him when she answers the door? Why could she not have simply put RJ down and he went running off to the kitchen looking for that food he is hungry for? He is five years old, not unreasonable that she can let him run amok in his own home. Ehhhh I am going with RJ is a true blue in the flesh alive and well little brother to pester the hell out of Miss Sassy Pants Judith. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it until proven otherwise

 

It's not that she HAS to be holding him when she answers the door, just an example of how RJ is never present with anyone else around. At least at this point. I think the whispering in the clip I found is actually what Magna saw/heard, and the vision of RJ is in Michonne's mind. Time will tell!

You're not gonna send me to the dungeon now are you? : )~

 

I was going to say this too but I felt like i was already trying to shoot the theory down enough lol. Someone knocks on the door late at night, you're not going to bring your 5 year old. You tell him to stay put. Even Judith felt the need to back Michonne up...

 

My guess with Judith is that Shane throws short kids

 

Well I like your theory. Lol. Thanks for posting that interview. I will take Angela Kang's words for it. Makes me feel better reading that.

 

ROFLMAO......no dungeon for having a theory

Theories and speculation are what make the week between episodes interesting. I am glad to see more people participating on the forum once again so theorize and speculate away I say!

And I am trying to listen to the video you posted but people and phone calls (at work) keep interrupting me

 

Please listen and let me know what you think! I have watched the episode 3 times now and NEVER caught that whispering until I pulled that clip.

 

I agree it would be lame if RJ was totally fake, but AK said we'll get to see the moment Michonne finds out she is pregnant so I don't think that's it. I think he was real and she lost him, and the scar on her back play into it somehow. I think the fake out is that Magna actually saw him, instead of seeing Michonne play out an illusion, even more now that I heard the whispering voice in that clip, which I think is Michonne having a delusional interaction with RJ like she does with Rick and Carl. I'm prepared to be wrong l, but it's fun to theorize.

Would love to hear anyone else's take on the whispering voice in that clip and what you think it is!!

 

I heard the whispering sound you're talking about and played it a few times...it's hard for me to decipher because some of it i can clearly hear as Michonne talking to RJ, but quiet because it's through the window....other than that, it's hard for me to tell what it is.

 

That's very plausible. Maybe she actually lost the child (if she ever was pregnant) when she was pulling those late nite capers attacking zombies as Rick slept?

This is a very good theory...I like it because you are right, Judith didn't say anything to her little brother and was right there on the steps when Michonne supposedly saw him. It crossed my mind that Judith never spoke to him but that's about it.

 

Turns out I fast forwarded through this whole scene when watching the first time but on viewing it a second time I'm convinced RJ is a very real little boy. Even though it would seem that Michonne conceived very quickly, once Rick broached the idea to have a child I've no doubt that he got the job done. I like it that there's a little biological Grimes running around. Feels a little like an apology for killing off Carl.