'The Walking Dead' Season 7: Will the man in the boots appear in the midseason premiere?

The Walking Dead returns this Sunday with its midseason premiere for season seven, and fans are probably hoping AMC's assurances of a "very different" back half ring true. This will apparently include new characters and communities if the season 7B synopsis is any indication, and by extension, we hope it answers a lingering question from the first half of the season: Just who, exactly, is the person with the dapper boots? 

A mystery character wearing said boots watched over Rick and Aaron when they were scavenging for supplies from an abandoned houseboat, and the same character peers into Alexandria from afar with the help of some binoculars at the end of the midseason finale. 

We've previously lent some theories as to who this character may be, ranging from the houseboat owner who left a sassy sign for his supplies in the first place to the vaguely teased Whisperers group from the comics. 

Ideally, the secrecy behind this character will be answered in season 7B — preferably when the show returns on Sunday. Either way, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has teased that they'll be an important part of the series, whoever this person is. 

"I really wish I could tell you," Kirkman said of the mystery person after the midseason finale on AMC's Talking Dead after-show. "All I can say is that those boots, you’ll definitely recognize those from earlier — they're connected to that boat scene — and you know, that’s a big part of what we’re dealing with when we come back next half of the season, so we’ll be revealing that soon. It’s going to be a great half season." 

We hope so — season seven has been a boring and depressing slog otherwise. 

The Walking Dead season seven returns Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern on AMC. Check out a sneak peak of the midseason premiere below. 

Mic has ongoing coverage of The Walking Dead. Please follow our main Walking Dead hub here.