The Walking Dead season 9 confirms Breaking Bad prequel theory with new reference in episode 10

The latest episode of The Walking Dead continued to confirm the long-standing theory that the zombie drama is set in the same universe as Breaking Bad.

The reference to Vince Gilligan’s acclaimed drama came courtesy of new character Lydia (Cassady McClincy) in the tenth episode of season nine, titled “Omega” (read our five biggest talking points here).

Lydia tells Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Henry (Matt Lintz) about her troubling backstory, which viewers see in flashbacks dating right back to the zombie outbreak.

They serve to show how her mother, the show’s new villain played by Samantha Morton, went from caring mother to terrifying walker skin-wearing maniac, Alpha.

One moment sees Alpha singing a lullaby to her daughter – the 1939 song “Lydia the Tattooed Lady”, which was written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen and first appeared in the Marx brothers film, At the Circus.

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Breaking Bad die hard fans will remember this song very well. It’s the tone that rings when drug distributor Lydia Rodarte-Quale (Laura Fraser) calls creepy Todd (Jesse Plemons) in the series finale.

This isn’t the first time Breaking Bad has been referenced in the Walking Dead universe, either.

In the third season of Fear the Walking Dead, Madison (Kim Dickens) and Qualtega (Michael Greyeyes) walk into a market where the song “Negro y Azul: The Ballad of Heisenberg” is playing in the background – the same track which featured in Breaking Bad season two

The strangely convincing idea that Breaking Bad is a prequel to The Walking Dead – something referred to as “The Breaking Dead Theory” – has been around for a while, leading many to believe Walter White’s Blue Sky meth to be the true cause of the walker outbreak.

You can find all the Breaking Bad references in The Walking Dead below.

The Walking Dead continues in the US every Sunday with the UK premiere arriving the following evening on FOX.