randy and pinstripes

[Th3_T3ch]

So I know I'm not the only one thinking it, are randy and pinstripes friends or foes? Theorize... now!

[Luna Guardian]

Well, we haven't seen the zeds fighting each other so far. However, if I am to stay true to my theory of primitive and feral instincts running the zomboids, and by extension the smart ones being the alphas, they may very well be enemies. Note how we haven't seen two smart ones in the immediate vicinity of each other. While granted, this isn't proof of anything other than there're relatively few of them (unless they're all having a ginormous tea party somewhere offscreen), I'd use it to mean that they each lead their own packs and claim their own territories, like animals, and going by that logic they would be rivals, if they were w´to intrude on each others' territories

[7oddisdead]

I'd lean more toward Randy being a "general" of sorts. The thing that perhaps strikes me the most about the new tat on the face is its an easily identifiable marking...vs say, a tattoo on the arm. Hmm, brings up many interesting ideas though..we dont specifically know what's been happening within the zom hierarchy as of late, in fact they have been relatively quiet. Could Randy in fact have pulled his own group of behemoths away from the fold? It seems highly unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

[Miss]

Im of the feeling that we have not seen or heard enough of Randy to really know for sure

[LiamKerrington]

Hi there,


I'd lean more toward Randy being a "general" of sorts. The thing that perhaps strikes me the most about the new tat on the face is its an easily identifiable marking...vs say, a tattoo on the arm. Hmm, brings up many interesting ideas though..we dont specifically know what's been happening within the zom hierarchy as of late, in fact they have been relatively quiet. Could Randy in fact have pulled his own group of behemoths away from the fold? It seems highly unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

+1

Besides this, I guess, it is a safe assumption that the zombies don't act as one people, but instead as many smaller and some bigger packs. Thus it is not unlikely to have several smarter or more-alpha-like zeehs controlling a group of zeehs and maybe even competing over territory and food-ressources. I take this from the different approaches of the zombies so far:
- We had the arena-zombies having special zeehs with them;
- the water-zombies;
- and the zeehs at The Colony attacking in waves without having had special zeehs (based on the descriptions so far).
The bigger the group, and if group-dynamics apply, it may be not unlikely that groups split up. But in WA there is no information available so far that would support such a theory.


Im of the feeling that we have not seen or heard enough of Randy to really know for sure
^this
I like the idea of having Randy as a rampant and self-made zeeh-leader with his own groups; and I don't consider this picture as unlikely. But any information we have so far is so vague that almost anything about Randy could be true. Maybe he is kind of a general in Ink's army, maybe he is just a new special-zeeh accompanying zeeh-groups, and different maybes as well ...

All the best!
Liam

[scbubba]

Hi there,

Besides this, I guess, it is a safe assumption that the zombies don't act as one people, but instead as many smaller and some bigger packs. Thus it is not unlikely to have several smarter or more-alpha-like zeehs controlling a group of zeehs and maybe even competing over territory and food-ressources. I take this from the different approaches of the zombies so far:
- We had the arena-zombies having special zeehs with them;
- the water-zombies;
- and the zeehs at The Colony attacking in waves without having had special zeehs (based on the descriptions so far).
The bigger the group, and if group-dynamics apply, it may be not unlikely that groups split up. But in WA there is no information available so far that would support such a theory.

I like the idea of having Randy as a rampant and self-made zeeh-leader with his own groups; and I don't consider this picture as unlikely. But any information we have so far is so vague that almost anything about Randy could be true. Maybe he is kind of a general in Ink's army, maybe he is just a new special-zeeh accompanying zeeh-groups, and different maybes as well ...

All the best!
Liam

I'm wondering where we get the idea that they all have to be one group. Z-Day broke out all over the planet so the idea that there is just one zombie leader in LA might seem far fetched. Since Zeds were human and can retain something(s) of that ater turning, the concept of groups getting together for mutual benefit under a leader seems plausible. Hell, it even mirrors what our heroes have been doing (Tower, Other Tower, Mallers, Colony, etc)...

But maybe I'm thinking that the Zeds have more humanity left in them.... Maybe they don't....

[LiamKerrington]

Probably I put in words, what may be obvious to most/ all listeners. But doing so transports it from the subconscious to the conscious awareness about it.
:brains:

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

Maybe it is some sort of supply and demand thing.

In the early days of the zombie apocalypse, it must have been just like paradise to the zeehs. Brains everywhere, human flesh in large quantities. Now, humans are a rare ressource, the zeehs have to increase their efforts to get a grip on their favorite six feet happy meal. Hunting down a human and being able to start chewing his innards are two different things, especially if Mr. Z is kindly reminded by a larger group of zeehs of their prior clams.

Therefor, our little starving friend might be quite fond to start a hunting party of his own ... which might have led to the army that is now attacking the colony. Obviously, Randy is one of the smarter zeehs.

Just my 2ct.

[LiamKerrington]

six feet happy meal ...
lol

[Hoff4D]

Randy IS a new Zed. The markings on his face? a surgically modified nerve ending routed to the frontal lobe. There are more markings, but we cannot see them, these markings are those of SURGICALLY ATTACHED WINGS, the lobe nerve ending is the information line to the brain to use the wings

Ink made Randy a Zombie Pterodactyl


The End.


Edit Ah dammit, my signature didnt show up....that really ruins how funny this was to me, to post....fixing now....

[Luna Guardian]

Randy IS a new Zed. The markings on his face? a surgically modified nerve ending routed to the frontal lobe. There are more markings, but we cannot see them, these markings are those of SURGICALLY ATTACHED WINGS, the lobe nerve ending is the information line to the brain to use the wings

Ink made Randy a Zombie Pterodactyl


The End.


Edit Ah dammit, my signature didnt show up....that really ruins how funny this was to me, to post....fixing now....
I actually think your signature would possibly make for the most awesome, coolest zombie-anything ever!

[Hoff4D]

I actually think your signature would possibly make for the most awesome, coolest zombie-anything ever!

Yea, I made it my Sig, after the haze episode and someone talking about how different the little ones sound. I related their intelligence, pack mentality, and sound to a velociraptor and theorized the haze is a pre-historic fog that an earthquake or something ruptured, and they're not turning into zombie, but rather some dinosaur/human hybrid....etc.


The next step, of course, being Zombie Pterodactyls

[scbubba]

Listening back to Chapters 20 - 24 the last couple of days. That has the section where Z-Randy grabs Tanya and Michael and Angel pursue in the streets. A couple of things that stand out to perhaps give us some info about Randy:

- Obviously Michael recognizes Randy by physical characteristics (hair, beard, clothes,...)
- Michael has no hesitation shooting at Randy before and after Randy drops Tanya
- Angel makes a comment about how the Zeds they just shot have burns on them
- No mention of any tattoos/markings on Randy

This leads me to a couple of thoughts:

1) Michael knew Randy was a Zed before this and that he was not friendly (even if he was before turning)
2) Because of the burns and how close this event was to the Maller bombing of the Arena, Randy and his party had just come from the Arena.
3) When Burt, Angel, Riley, and Kalani get to the hospital, they see a LOT of Zeds coming into the hospital , several dragging humans with them. Randy grabs Tanya and starts dragging her off. This behavior is too alike to be coincident, I think, so the assumption is Randy is "collecting" for the Devil's Workshop.

Item 1 makes me think that Michael witnessed Randy turning at the water works and that they did not part on the best of terms.

Items 2 & 3 make me think that Randy is working with/for TOWTM the whole time. The fact that Randy gets marked at some point after this leads me to believe that he is in TOWTM's army still.

Following that, if Randy got turned at the water works and then made his way back to the Arena, what caused him to go there? Was it something in the turning process? Did the other Zeds around him when he turned tell/convince him some how? Did he stumble across it as he wandered LA after turning? Hmmmm.....

Just getting a few thoughts down here while they are in my head. Anybody got some thoughts on this? Something I missed or messed up?

[Hoff4D]

Listening back to Chapters 20 - 24 the last couple of days. That has the section where Z-Randy grabs Tanya and Michael and Angel pursue in the streets. A couple of things that stand out to perhaps give us some info about Randy:

- Obviously Michael recognizes Randy by physical characteristics (hair, beard, clothes,...)
- Michael has no hesitation shooting at Randy before and after Randy drops Tanya
- Angel makes a comment about how the Zeds they just shot have burns on them
- No mention of any tattoos/markings on Randy

This leads me to a couple of thoughts:

1) Michael knew Randy was a Zed before this and that he was not friendly (even if he was before turning)
2) Because of the burns and how close this event was to the Maller bombing of the Arena, Randy and his party had just come from the Arena.
3) When Burt, Angel, Riley, and Kalani get to the hospital, they see a LOT of Zeds coming into the hospital , several dragging humans with them. Randy grabs Tanya and starts dragging her off. This behavior is too alike to be coincident, I think, so the assumption is Randy is "collecting" for the Devil's Workshop.

Item 1 makes me think that Michael witnessed Randy turning at the water works and that they did not part on the best of terms.

Items 2 & 3 make me think that Randy is working with/for TOWTM the whole time. The fact that Randy gets marked at some point after this leads me to believe that he is in TOWTM's army still.

Following that, if Randy got turned at the water works and then made his way back to the Arena, what caused him to go there? Was it something in the turning process? Did the other Zeds around him when he turned tell/convince him some how? Did he stumble across it as he wandered LA after turning? Hmmmm.....

Just getting a few thoughts down here while they are in my head. Anybody got some thoughts on this? Something I missed or messed up?

All of that lines up with what I assume as well, although I think your assumption on #1 and the second bulleted point might be a stretch. I think Michael is one of the few people in this Z-day that would shoot his own mother in the face if she turned, without hesitation. So the assumption that him unabatedly (not a word i think) shooting at Randy means he IS bad, at least in my opinion, is sort of flawed. It's not to say you're wrong, just that I don't think it's a sound argument.

Everything else seems seems to make sense though

[Witch_Doctor]

+1 SCBubba

Randy turned by a Behemoth? I don't know. Just throwing out speculations. Good job piecing thing together.

[scbubba]

Randy turned by a Behemoth? I don't know. Just throwing out speculations. Good job piecing thing together.

Not sure if it was specifically the Behemoth that turned Randy. Could have been some normal that was at the water works, or outside after the escape. We're not really sure WHEN Randy got turned, I guess....

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

What if Randy was Michael's Datu-Samantha-moment? Let's assume that Randy had not been turned before his first encounter with Michael, because articulating his name would have been very difficult for Zombie-Randy. Zombie-Randy: "Raarrr, raarrr". Michael: "Ok, I understand, I will call you Randy."

If Randy was still human at the pumping station, he might helped Michael to leave it. He then got bitten on the way out and decided to fall back in order to stop the zeehs following them. Finally, he asked Michael for one final favor: to kill him if Michael would see him again.

However, this does not explain his special status...

[Witch_Doctor]

I mentioned this before a while back in theories, I think, but zombies don't seem to like fire OR the smart ones know that they shouldn't mess with it.

Think about what happened during every event involving fire. The Zs were held back.

[LiamKerrington]

Listening back to Chapters 20 - 24 the last couple of days. That has the section where Z-Randy grabs Tanya and Michael and Angel pursue in the streets. A couple of things that stand out to perhaps give us some info about Randy:

- Obviously Michael recognizes Randy by physical characteristics (hair, beard, clothes,...)
- Michael has no hesitation shooting at Randy before and after Randy drops Tanya
- Angel makes a comment about how the Zeds they just shot have burns on them
- No mention of any tattoos/markings on Randy

This leads me to a couple of thoughts:

1) Michael knew Randy was a Zed before this and that he was not friendly (even if he was before turning)
2) Because of the burns and how close this event was to the Maller bombing of the Arena, Randy and his party had just come from the Arena.
3) When Burt, Angel, Riley, and Kalani get to the hospital, they see a LOT of Zeds coming into the hospital , several dragging humans with them. Randy grabs Tanya and starts dragging her off. This behavior is too alike to be coincident, I think, so the assumption is Randy is "collecting" for the Devil's Workshop.

Item 1 makes me think that Michael witnessed Randy turning at the water works and that they did not part on the best of terms.

Items 2 & 3 make me think that Randy is working with/for TOWTM the whole time. The fact that Randy gets marked at some point after this leads me to believe that he is in TOWTM's army still.

Following that, if Randy got turned at the water works and then made his way back to the Arena, what caused him to go there? Was it something in the turning process? Did the other Zeds around him when he turned tell/convince him some how? Did he stumble across it as he wandered LA after turning? Hmmmm.....

Just getting a few thoughts down here while they are in my head. Anybody got some thoughts on this? Something I missed or messed up?

Very nice work. Thank you. Cannot rep you atm; will do asap.

@Fire: Yes, maybe the fire-zombie-issue is based on the instinct of almost any life-form on earth considering fire as a danger. Based on what we have learned so far, we may consider zeehs in WA not as dead or undead, but as living organisms, which adhere to basic biological functions and concepts. Heat or fire is something them zeehs don't like.

@YABC: This is pretty close to what I envision regarding Michael, Randy, and the pump-station events.

[scbubba]

I mentioned this before a while back in theories, I think, but zombies don't seem to like fire OR the smart ones know that they shouldn't mess with it.

Think about what happened during every event involving fire. The Zs were held back.


@Fire: Yes, maybe the fire-zombie-issue is based on the instinct of almost any life-form on earth considering fire as a danger. Based on what we have learned so far, we may consider zeehs in WA not as dead or undead, but as living organisms, which adhere to basic biological functions and concepts. Heat or fire is something them zeehs don't like.


I don't think the Zeds fear fire any more than most other living things would. Remember that they had fires in the arena that they kept going on purpose.

One thing I found interesting is that the Zeds, with the exception of TOWTM, don't seem to be tool users. We had an example of one driving a car early on but not really anything else I can think of. No melee or missle weapons to speak of...

More to ponder, I guess.

[LiamKerrington]

Remember that they had fires in the arena that they kept going on purpose.

Very good point.

[Eviebae]

Good point about Michael knowing Randy's name!

However, Michael never wanted to go back to rescue anyone and seemed to regard the whole episode as traumatic. That spells knowing or suspecting Randy's fate to me. I suppose he could have been a slow turner...but I don't know what that would look like.

We know that he looks enough like he did when he met Michael that Michael was able to recognize him. Also, when Michael called his name he responded. He growled in response. Before this, language seemed to be Inks domain. None of the others have spoken or responded to speech except Ink's.

He wasn't marked before and only Ink's special projects get marked. He seemed to function as a general during the fight. He seems to have controlled the zombies until Ink got there. There's something about how he's written that makes him seem a counterpoint to Ink even if he's in Ink's army. Maybe it's because he has a human name where as Ink only has descriptions. He seems to be more "human" than Ink.

[Footbutt]

what is the possiblity that 'turning' is three-fold?
physically, biologically, and... personality?

since Ink is 'paranoid-schizophrenic' his mental state has more to do with his leadership, i believe.
that fact that his Devil's Workshop is in Kane (Cain?) Mental Hospital, what are the odds that some of his best/willing/eager subjects were like him--mentally unstable?

i'm sure this has already been discussed at length, but given the assumption that Randy is a normal person-turned bad, i think the biggest difference between the two is their previous/current mental state. the 'change' seems to work in reverse. that whole "there's a fine line between genius and the insane" (or something like that) may have relevance.

i don't know. first post in the forums!

[scbubba]

what is the possiblity that 'turning' is three-fold?
physically, biologically, and... personality?

since Ink is 'paranoid-schizophrenic' his mental state has more to do with his leadership, i believe.
that fact that his Devil's Workshop is in Kane (Cain?) Mental Hospital, what are the odds that some of his best/willing/eager subjects were like him--mentally unstable?

i'm sure this has already been discussed at length, but given the assumption that Randy is a normal person-turned bad, i think the biggest difference between the two is their previous/current mental state. the 'change' seems to work in reverse. that whole "there's a fine line between genius and the insane" (or something like that) may have relevance.

i don't know. first post in the forums!

Nice post!

I was thinking about what happens when someone "turns" in WA. At least for the normal Zeds, they definitely have a physical and mental change. They get stronger and they decide that people are food. The Little Ones seem to have a similar change: they have more extreme physical changes and they seem more intent on turning people than in eating them - but it's definitely a mental change.

TOWTM obviously is physically different from normal humans - two 5.56 rounds to the chest and he gets up, jumps out of a 2nd (3rd?) story window and still runs off, jumps up to and down from the Colony wall with no apparent harm. His mental state and intellectual capabilities are the more interesting, IMO, pieces though. Is he capable of more than "managing" a group of Zeds? Did he do any "engineering" on people to get the special ones? Is he learning and growing more intelligent?

Questions, questions! Hoping for answers in season 4.... :-)

[Drannix99]

Even though it isn't a popular opinion...I'm sticking to the idea that Ink and Randy are leading separate zombie factions. In Season 1- Chapter 7- Part 3 after the tracers are placed on the Zombies, the Zombies separate into two groups and head in two separate directions on their way to their respective lairs. Angel hints at the idea that there zombies are cliques. Throughout the story Randy always seems to be either working alone or simply holding a position until Ink arives, either way his actions show a high level of intellegence. Perhaps Randy and Ink originally managed two separate factions of zombies. Though Randy may be the more intellegent Zombie, Ink is obviously the most powerful of the two, and therefore managed to force Randy and his squad into servitude. Just an Idea. But everything seem to hint at the possibility of Randy and Ink working separately before they started working together.

[scbubba]

I'm not necessarily against the Randy v. Pinstripes theory. I just think we don't have enough info. We've had Randy positively identified one time (the attempted Tanya abduction) and a possible ID on Randy outside the colony in Chapter 35.

We make assumptions that he is a "smart one" but what evidence do we have on that? The abduction doesn't seal the deal, I guess, because the Burt/Angel/Riley/Kalani trip to Cain Hospital mentioned all kinds of Zeds dragging people in there. Could be just following orders from the Head Zed...

If the bearded dude at the Colony was Randy (and I think it is), then there is something special/distinctive about him since he got "inked" somewhere along the way.

Either way, I think Chapter 36 showed that there was one major Zed force attacking the Colony. The fact that TBO (The Bearded One) wasn't mentioned again may have some significance - like being a lone operative and NOT part of Pinstripes attacking gang....

[Ronin]

I think Pinstripe is the main leader who was in the middle of ground zero when everything went down and Randy was just close enough (or even just trapped soon there after) to be turned. Or I think Randy was Pinstripe's first experiment to make a "smart one" but it was not taken far enough, which left Randy a sliver of his humanity. This sliver has him rebelling against Pinstripe trying to actually help people but balance his primal urges.

I think Randy saved Michael when Michael got his arm broken, and I think he was trying to take Tanya to help him knowing she somehow has an immunity to the virus and knowing she has some type of medical background.

[Elisa]

I think Pinstripe is the main leader who was in the middle of ground zero when everything went down and Randy was just close enough (or even just trapped soon there after) to be turned. Or I think Randy was Pinstripe's first experiment to make a "smart one" but it was not taken far enough, which left Randy a sliver of his humanity. This sliver has him rebelling against Pinstripe trying to actually help people but balance his primal urges.

I think Randy saved Michael when Michael got his arm broken, and I think he was trying to take Tanya to help him knowing she somehow has an immunity to the virus and knowing she has some type of medical background.

Wow I think you may have solved this puzzle, Ronin. Impressive.

[scbubba]

I think Pinstripe is the main leader who was in the middle of ground zero when everything went down and Randy was just close enough (or even just trapped soon there after) to be turned. Or I think Randy was Pinstripe's first experiment to make a "smart one" but it was not taken far enough, which left Randy a sliver of his humanity. This sliver has him rebelling against Pinstripe trying to actually help people but balance his primal urges.

I think Randy saved Michael when Michael got his arm broken, and I think he was trying to take Tanya to help him knowing she somehow has an immunity to the virus and knowing she has some type of medical background.

I could see how some/most of this could be the case.

I hold that Randy was part of CJ's crew and was un-turned until the waterworks went down. Whether he holds some of his humanity or not is a good point. We don't have a lot of info on him just 1 positive ID when he tried to snatch Tanya. We have a ton of speculation in Chapters 35 and 36 about one of the Zeds being Randy, but no positive ID by anyone in the show on that....

Which ever way it goes, we aren't done with Randy yet, I don't think. Too much mystery surrounding Michael at the waterworks (How the heck did he make it out alive?) and too much emphasis put on the the Bearded One in Chapter 35 for him to just fade away.... But, I have been known to be wrong (I might have been right once, too!)

[biskit67]

I can buy pinstripes is some sort of psychotic that set off a chemical bomb or something and turned a whole bunch of people into zombies to begin the whole thing. And also that he still is able to conduct experiments and created the dirty dozen inked ones. But, there are 2 things that still have me puzzled.

The first is the behemoths. There are a limited number of them, they have armadillo-thick skin, they are many times larger than people, and are clearly alive since they can be injured and get infections. So, what are they?

The second thing is, if pinstripes is behind the whole thing, then how did stuff go down in Hawaii? You recall Kalani and his daughter left Hawaii because the same thing happened there.

The only thing I can come up with is pinstripes was part of some cult or group that wanted to end the world, so he sent agents all over the globe to set off these chemical bombs to start the zombie infestation. I would be interested to see if the group got on the helicopter and when to some insignificant island like Aruba if things would still be normal. Although, if zombies can swim, they may have gotten to all the islands by now.

[Witch_Doctor]

Dang it. Typed a whole page of stuff and it's lost. Oh well, here is the Osiris Cliff's Version. :mad:

Randy might be the link between Inks attacks.
1) He goes to the water works prior to CJ's tower attack.
2) He encounters Micheal prior to the Tower's attack.
3) He is seen at the Colony prior to the attack in Scorched Earth.

There. I had more to say but too much to re-type.

[LiamKerrington]

Which would support the theory that Randy might be one of the Smart Ones and/ or generals in Ink's Army, wouldn't it?
But Randy is not necessarily the link between Ink's attacks - take the ambush-sites on the Mallers' convoy, the first two major assaults on The Tower ... Maybe Randy was there; but he was not mentioned.

All the best!
Liam

[scbubba]

Hmmm, hadn't thought about the connection between Randy appearances and Zed attacks. Good one. I'll have to go back and listen to see exactly when/where the attack was after the attempted Tanya abduction....

Re-reading the last couple of pages of this thread got me thinking about the Randy v TOWTM idea (instead of Randy and TOWTM). Without going all metaphysical (see the Buddhist thread for that), what if Randy and TOWTM represent Good and Evil fighting each other for dominion over humanity?
Evil got out to a huge lead with a direct assault and superior muscle power. But now Good is "assisting" humanity (instead of directly intervening all the time) behind the scenes. This gels with some religious beliefs throughout the world (e.g., some denominations of Christianity).

It doesn't necessarily explain everything, which is ok since we have Season 4 to do most of that work.... But, the markings (tattoos) could be "spiritual" in nature and designate the power/possession level of the one marked and we may see a few more with markings as Our Heroes start taking it to the streets....

Of course, this could all be a bunch of hooey but that's part of what makes this fun. Right?

[LiamKerrington]

In my humble opinion all of this is quite far fetched. Randy's appearance at the water pumping station and the attack on CJs may be connected; and yet both locations are quite far away from each other. Therefore a link is not really obvious and very arguable. Also we don't know for sure that this bearded zombie before the latest attack on The Colony is Randy; we only assume him to be that specific zombie, because he together with Ink are the only really individual zombies; althought the Little Ones in LA are numbered, they are not half as individualized as Ink, Randy and the bearded zombie are.

Now, about Randy VS Ink instead Randy PLUS Ink ... I have doubts. Michael does not say what has happened at the Water Pumping Station; we only guess - and that a lot, which makes anything possible. As for the attempt to kidnap Tanya things are equally uncertain - did Randy try to kidnap her in order to find a cure (then: how would he know about Tanya's skills as a doctor?) or in order to bring her to Ink for even more experiments? And finally The Colony: Why didn't Randy and the 'good zombies' interfere with the actions of the 'evil zombies', if they 'are'/'were' good zombies after all?
Again: Anything might be possible, but I have a lot of trouble considering Randy a "zeeh good guy" ...

All the best!
Liam

[OldtypeM87]

What if him trying to take her has to do with her being scratched and not turning when she was at the colony? Maybe they know she was scratched and not turned in a way. Maybe she have some sort of immunity to the virus or whatever caused the whole thing after all. Maybe Randy and other zed realize it as well and try to kidnap her to take her out of the picture or for some other purpose?


Edit: Sorry Liam, misread that 2nd paragraph. I've pretty much supported and agree with your theory about tanya and randy. Only 5 months or so.



In my humble opinion all of this is quite far fetched. Randy's appearance at the water pumping station and the attack on CJs may be connected; and yet both locations are quite far away from each other. Therefore a link is not really obvious and very arguable. Also we don't know for sure that this bearded zombie before the latest attack on The Colony is Randy; we only assume him to be that specific zombie, because he together with Ink are the only really individual zombies; althought the Little Ones in LA are numbered, they are not half as individualized as Ink, Randy and the bearded zombie are.

Now, about Randy VS Ink instead Randy PLUS Ink ... I have doubts. Michael does not say what has happened at the Water Pumping Station; we only guess - and that a lot, which makes anything possible. As for the attempt to kidnap Tanya things are equally uncertain - did Randy try to kidnap her in order to find a cure (then: how would he know about Tanya's skills as a doctor?) or in order to bring her to Ink for even more experiments? And finally The Colony: Why didn't Randy and the 'good zombies' interfere with the actions of the 'evil zombies', if they 'are'/'were' good zombies after all?
Again: Anything might be possible, but I have a lot of trouble considering Randy a "zeeh good guy" ...

All the best!
Liam

[Witch_Doctor]

Randy is definitely a Smart One;
1) He controlled the other Zs during the Tanya snatching. Keeping them from getting to close.
2) He ducked away from Micheal's fire just like the Smart one encountered by Micheal and Angel in the lobby in Chapter 2.

I also addressed, in my long but lost version of the original post, Ink attacking targets without Randy. Of course he set up ambushes, but he does wander around looking from roof tops and such. My point is that he may have used Randy to find locations of large groups of people in order to attack, home invasion style. There is just no explanation of how Ink could get this info from Randy.

1) Ink wasn't involved in the flower pot dropping because the Zombies went there on their own.
2) The Zs were CALLED to the Tower during the WAR with the sweat bottles.
3) Ink attacked the Tower the same day the Micheal was found/rescued from/near the Water Works. This is AFTER Randy and Micheal would have parted company.

Randy is not an INKLING but he is mentioned, repeatedly, as having a marking on his face, Uruk-Hai style.

[LiamKerrington]

... My point is that he [Ink] may have used Randy to find locations of large groups of people in order to attack, home invasion style.

Agreed.

[Witch_Doctor]

I'm still stuck on how Randy could have learned of the Tower's whereabouts from Michael, and how could he relay any info to Ink. Also, how could he get info to Ink about the colony. Runners with messages tied to their ankles? Zombies shaking their booties like bees giving directions to a food source?

Guess we'll have to wait until Season 4.

[LiamKerrington]

If the Smart Ones and Randy can speak, they may also be able to understand the basic concepts of maps. We had this on one of the many other discussions: it seems that zombies, especially the smart ones and Ink, may rely on shadowy mirror images of the former lives' knowledge and memories.

Now imagine: Randy as a human gets to the pumping station. By whatever reason he gets trapped and meets Michael during the attack of the Behemoth (and other zeehs). during these incidents Randy and Michael exchanged some information. And Randy gets bitten. That is where Randy might have the information about Michael's Tower from. (In all honesty I believe that the Tower-people were followed by zombies who then decided what to do with the Tower; when Tanya was captured the Tower was already targeted and attacked by the zombies several times, which is why I hold it as unlikely that Randy learned anything from Michael. I just say: assume there was some information trade in the pumping station before Randy got turned ...)

With the information the turned Randy might have gotten into kind of a zombie-esque info-exchange with Ink. They may have used real maps or just simplified maps (drawing the outlines of the city into the earth with a stick like what nature-people do when they are on the hunt...), and then decisions were made - like for example Randy being ordered to capture Towerites who were too careless ...

Actually I could live with such an explanation.

All the best!
Liam

[Piers O'C]

Hey there guys im a big time fan and this is my first post so go easy :)

Basically the link i can put between ink and randy is that most people assume ink is bill roberts (serial killer), who is a paranoid schizophrenic.
His control of the zombies could a more violent regime as say compared to randy.

It seems randy was a very intelligent individual, as mentioned by shawn in chapter 27-2 (13:35) as being a "techie".
I believe it is possible that randy has a different 'endgame' so to speak, compared to ink.
He does not kill tanya, however we do know that tanya is either a carrier or immune regarding the infection (possibly saul & his child?).

Perhaps randy is recruiting these special 'types' of people to create better classes of zombie to combat ink?

At this moment in time my theory is bill roberts died and brought about the outbreak, he may be a antichrist figure, bent on destruction.
I believe the family may be a secret society/cult that perhaps reverred him or sought to prevent it?

[Piers O'C]

Also on a strange note, as i posted that a phrase entered my mind that just caught me

Would you prefer the lesser of two evils?

[LiamKerrington]

Hey Piers O'C!

Welcome to this humble group of tattered misfits and civilians, i.e. the WA-fan-community. :)


Hey there guys im a big time fan and this is my first post so go easy :)

It'll be cool. Don't be afraid. Everyone here is considered to be zombie-food ...



Basically the link i can put between ink and randy is that most people assume ink is bill roberts (serial killer), who is a paranoid schizophrenic.
His control of the zombies could a more violent regime as say compared to randy.

It seems randy was a very intelligent individual, as mentioned by shawn in chapter 27-2 (13:35) as being a "techie".
I believe it is possible that randy has a different 'endgame' so to speak, compared to ink.
He does not kill tanya, however we do know that tanya is either a carrier or immune regarding the infection (possibly saul & his child?).

Perhaps randy is recruiting these special 'types' of people to create better classes of zombie to combat ink?

If the bearded zombie at the end of season 3 is supposed to be Randy, it seems more likely that Randy is one of the major smart ones following the leadership if pinstripes. But things are very fuzzy, and there are many assumptions, I believe.
As for Tanya ... Yes, probably Randy wanted to have Tanya because she has some medical skills. But how would Randy know about Tanya's skills? If Hope heard Michael utter the name of Randy during his recovery after Tanya performed the surgery on his arm, how likely is it that Tanya heard him speaking the name as well?
Also it might be interesting to remember what it was that pinstripes said when he intruded the Tower and spoke with Michael and friends: "Help me!" He said this two or three times; so what if pinstripes is looking for a cure as well?


At this moment in time my theory is bill roberts died and brought about the outbreak, he may be a antichrist figure, bent on destruction.
I believe the family may be a secret society/cult that perhaps reverred him or sought to prevent it?

May be, or may not be. I think this is kind of a stretch. Keep in mind that the outbreak took place almost at the same time at many different locations around the pacific and in multiple locations of the USA from East to West as well as North to South ... How powerful such a family or occult organization would have to be to launch a zombocalypse of this size with such a remarkable outcome?

Looking forward to readng more from you. Thank you for sharing! :)

Best wishes!
Liam

[Malador]

I believe that whatever happened to Randy and the techie group at the water works happened before Michael and the tower group got there. They remarked on how fresh the blood was, and given that every other hideout that CJ was responsible for is heavily fortified, I don't believe she would have left a group at the waterworks full time with no added defenses. As for Randy the zombie being Randy from CJ's group, it's pretty well confirmed I believe by the fact the he was waiting for Glen and Pete outside of the safehouse that CJ had put them in. Being a member of CJ's group beforehand he would have known where the safehouses were, and it would have been simple elimination to find the one that was occupied and stake it out.

[scbubba]

The more I think about what we "know" about Randy, the more I think he is a wild card.

We accept with no issue or hesitation that TOWTM is somehow able to not be fully Zed so why not have more than one person who can be that way?

I think Randy is NOT one of TOWTM minions but instead is on his own. He's got his own agenda but it's not nefarious like our antagonist's. We don't know what it is yet but I feel like it's going to be very key at some point in Season 4. I have an image in my mind of Randy saving the day for Michael and friends in the last 1/4 of the season sometime and getting killed in the process. That's when we will find out about Michael's broken arm, the Waterworks, The Tanya grab incident....

Did I mention that I'm excited that Season 4 is just around the corner? :yay:

[Witch_Doctor]

I believe that whatever happened to Randy and the techie group at the water works happened before Michael and the tower group got there. They remarked on how fresh the blood was, and given that every other hideout that CJ was responsible for is heavily fortified, I don't believe she would have left a group at the waterworks full time with no added defenses. As for Randy the zombie being Randy from CJ's group, it's pretty well confirmed I believe by the fact the he was waiting for Glen and Pete outside of the safehouse that CJ had put them in. Being a member of CJ's group beforehand he would have known where the safehouses were, and it would have been simple elimination to find the one that was occupied and stake it out.

AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! So it wasn't likely to be a plot-driven coincidence. Good catch.

Now how long could have Randy and co. been at the water works? I'm guessing a time line could be as follows:


The rain storm prior to Saul's et al trip to the fuel depot was the same one in which CJ's missing convoy was hit. (My guess based on Samantha's assertion that the convoy was attacked in the rain AND that there was a rainstorm prior to Saul, Lizzy and Burt (S/L/B) going to find diesel fuel, and KC emphasized that it was raining.)
The same day, or the following day Sean sends Randy and the techies to the water pumping station.
3 days later, CJ's tower is attacked.
So Randy may have been at the pumping station from the time Saul, Lizzy and Burt looks for fuel to the time AFTER they return, conduct the experiment and set off to track the tagged zombies.
Day 1 - End of rain storm. S/L/B go to find fuel, Kalani arrives at Dunbar, Techies go to water works.
Day 2 - Morning following Z attack on Saul in the hybrid.
Day 3 - Morning following Saul's escape from the Mallers. Angel discovers that the bodies are gone.
Day 4 - Lizzy implements the sweat experiment. Zombies tagged later that day. Latch and Scratch visit the Tower that night.
Day 5 - Water pressure finally fails. Michael, Angel, Riley and Datu leave for the water works and to follow the trackers.



Was he really there for almost a week? Did he know his Tower was attacked? Was he working on the plumbing for that whole time? Did he have plumber's crack (http://1.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.com/51/87/89b6dd5881b265a4d6f2d7d62e1cf915-t-shirt-turns-plumbers-crack-into-cleavage.jpg)?