What Happened To Hilltop After The Walking Dead's Ending

Hilltop was the home of numerous central survivors in The Walking Dead for many years, but the community suffered a peculiar fate after the original series ended. Despite starting on an unprotected camp sight somewhere in Georgia, The Walking Dead's main characters managed to travel far and wide across many communities, eventually establishing some key locations. Alongside Alexandria and the Commonwealth, Hilltop was one of The Walking Dead's main settlements by the end of the show, with Maggie becoming leader in season 7. Since then, she has helped the group thrive despite being involved in several wars.

Even after being attacked multiple times, Maggie and Hilltop continued to rebuild and by The Walking Dead season 11's ending, it looked like the place was finally at peace along with the show's other prominent locations. Unfortunately, this optimistic conclusion didn't last too long for the people of Hilltop, as by the time Dead City rolled around, things had changed drastically for them. Although they remained united and healthy, Hilltop underwent some massive changes in the few years that passed between The Walking Dead season 11 and Dead City season 1, with Maggie offering an insight into what happened.

What Maggie Reveals About Hilltop's Fate In The Walking Dead: Dead City

Maggie Claimed Hilltop Never Really Recovered From The Whisperer War

During Dead City season 1, Maggie told Negan that Hilltop had to relocate after he "helped burn it down", alluding to the Whisperers' attack on the community. Although Negan killed Alpha and helped kill Beta - the Whisperers' two leading figures - he did briefly join the villainous group so that he could take it down from the inside, which he pulled off flawlessly. However, with Maggie and Negan's long-running Walking Dead feud continuing in Dead City, she clearly didn't get over the fact he didn't at least warn Hilltop about the plan that ultimately destroyed the location beyond repair.

Despite the rebuild seeming successful in season 11, it's clear too much damage was done, as Maggie confirmed that Hilltop relocated, with Dead City revealing it had been renamed to "The Bricks". In addition, the Croat was able to infiltrate Maggie's new version of Hilltop in Dead City and kidnap her son, showing the new location made her people far more vulnerable to Manhattan's factions. Considering Hilltop was still a thriving faction even after battling the Saviors, it can be assumed that the fire damage caused by the Whisperers ruined the terrain and buildings, forcing a fresh start elsewhere.

Where The New Hilltop Is Located Compared To The Original

Hilltop Relocated From Virginia To Somewhere In New York Or New Jersey

Having originally been located in Virginia, Hilltop was forced to move further North, with the community finally settling somewhere in New York or New Jersey. Maggie and Negan's spinoff show never specifies exactly which state The Bricks is in, but it's clearly within the vicinity of Manhattan considering the Croat launched an attack and Maggie was able to return there during Dead City season 1's ending. Considering Maggie and the other main survivors were originally situated in Georgia, they presumably had already explored large parts of Southeast America, hence why they opted to continue North.

Hilltop's residents could have traveled further West, but with the Commonwealth located in Ohio, it would have been a large trip into the unknown to find a new home, and they may have ended up far away from their allied communities. Therefore, setting up camp in New York or New Jersey was the best outcome, but they didn't anticipate so many hostile communities in the area. There are still plenty of unknowns regarding The Bricks' location and how fortified it is following the previous attack, but I'm hopeful Dead City season 2 will explore this in more detail.

Hilltop's Relocation Contradicts The Flashforward From The Walking Dead's Ending

The Walking Dead's Ending Made Hilltop Look Like A Thriving Community

The Walking Dead season 11 wrapped up in an optimistic fashion, showing all the main survivors starting the next chapter of their lives having created peace and harmony in each community. However, while the flashforward ending hinted at Hilltop thriving, the relocation proves this wasn't actually the case. Despite "Rest in Peace" showing Hilltop with healthy-looking crops and buildings, Dead City suggests that didn't last long. While it's unclear what exactly changed, it's possible that only certain parts of the community were intact, while others continued to suffer from the fallout of the Whisperer War.

As a result, Hilltop's fate is another example of The Walking Dead spinoffs impacting the ending of the original series, as the happy ending now feels like false hope. The franchise continuing through individual projects always meant things were going to change, but season 11's finale no longer feels like a true conclusion for the series since an entire community fell off-camera. Fans haven't seemed too frustrated by the decision to relocate such a prominent settlement, but if The Walking Dead continues making such major decisions, it could eventually make "Rest in Peace" feel completely redundant.

The Fall & Relocation Of Hilltop Is One Of The Walking Dead's Most Interesting Unseen Stories

The Walking Dead Could Still Cover Hilltop's Relocation In Full Through Another Project

Whether Dead City season 2 offers more insight into what happened in Hilltop or not is yet to be seen, but it remains one of The Walking Dead's most fascinating stories to happen off-screen. Throughout the entire series, multiple communities have fallen, and it has often been the most exciting part of the show. Watching places like Hershel's farm, the prison, and the Kingdom get destroyed was heartbreaking yet extremely entertaining, which changed the story massively. Likewise, seeing Alexandria and Hilltop suffer attacks before rebuilding also made for great viewing, proving it's a huge strength of the franchise.

With that in mind, it seemed like a no-brainer to depict Hilltop's collapse on-screen and focus on the relocation, yet The Walking Dead opted not to do this. The obvious explanation is that Dead City was always supposed to focus on Maggie and Negan in Manhattan rather than Hilltop as a community, but it would still be a strong one-off episode. Even if it didn't happen in Dead City season 2, I would love to see a future project to explore when exactly Maggie and the rest of the community knew Hilltop was no longer sustainable.

Additionally, seeing the internal decisions on what they should do next alongside the difficulties they faced while on the road would be great. It's still not clear what sort of resources they had for their move or if Alexandria and the Commonwealth helped, and they may even have run into trouble while traveling as such a large group, potentially losing members of the community on their way to the Bricks. Therefore, Hilltop's fall and rebuild still has a lot of potential, and it remains one of The Walking Dead's best under-explored storylines.