The Captain Daly Theory That Changes Everything On Manifest

One of the major show premieres in 2018 was the NBC series "Manifest." Created by Jeff Rake, who had previously created the Debra Messing police dramedy "The Mysteries of Laura" and co-created the Alicia Silverstone comedy series "Miss Match," the show hooked viewers from its pilot episode, during which a plane encountered what passengers thought was turbulence during a routine flight. When they landed, however, they were all shocked to discover that they had been missing for five years.

Over the course of the show's run, there have been numerous fan theories, not only regarding what caused Flight 828 to jump across time but also for subsequent events such as the death date — a date on which the passengers of the fateful flight have realized they will die, based on how long they had disappeared for. While some of these theories wouldn't significantly alter events on the series, others could change everything. One theory involving Captain Daly falls into the latter category.

While all the passengers faced a shock upon the landing of Flight 828, the hardest-hit character was Captain Bill Daly (Frank Deal), the pilot of the ill-fated plane. In the first season, he reveals that he's bearing the blame for the flight's disappearance and subsequent reappearance, and has lost his family as a result. Daly meets with Ben Stone (Josh Dallas), and the duo goes to see a meteorologist who says dark lightning was involved in the flight's disappearance. Desperate to prove the truth, Daly kidnaps Fiona Clarke (Francesca Faridany), a scientist and passenger on Flight 828 whom he suspected of being involved in the conspiracy, and steals a plane. He then announces "see you in 2024" before flying off with Fiona into more dark lightning. While the National Guard officially declares they shot down the plane, no remains were found.

This is especially interesting as June 2, 2024, is the death date for the passengers of Flight 828, so the year holds particular significance. If the National Guard is lying and Daly and Fiona did manage to jump forward in time once again, this could mean that they reappeared in 2024, just in time to help the other passengers of Flight 828 beat their death date. Having jumped ahead to the future, they would have advanced their own death date, allowing them to work on something to save all the passengers.

Whether this pans out will be seen if "Manifest" finds a new home following its cancellation at NBC.