We Finally Know The Reason Behind Strand's Bizarre Costume Change On Fear TWD

Throughout the decade-plus that fans have been tuning into "The Walking Dead," there have been endless character switch-ups and plot twists. For example, we watched Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) go from a classic antagonist to a likable antihero, and now that "Fear of The Walking Dead" has kicked off its seventh season, fans are preparing to unravel all of the details of another returned, and not-so-improved, character. 

Victor Strand, portrayed by Colman Domingo, has been a mainstay on "Fear of The Walking Dead" since the very beginning, and he's become quite a complicated character. He started off the show as a likable mainstay who tries to balance his own survival instincts with his desire to help others, but after taking several darks turns in Season 6 — including murdering someone to save his friends — Strand is on a new path of embracing his more sinister nature in service of his own continued survival in an increasingly brutal world. 

Season 7 of "Fear of The Walking Dead" kicked off after a nuclear bomb resulted in mass destruction. Strand found a way to survive by holing himself up in a tower, with dreams to recreate modern civilization through his own twisted lens. Strand kicked off the season with no one, aside from Alicia, to care about and no desire to help anyone but himself. To go along with his new attitude, Strand got a makeover — including bringing back his memorable beard. 

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg discussed Strand's internal and external transformation. The interviewer, of course, asked what the inspiration was behind Strand's new fashion choices, which include a military-style uniform look. "When we see him in Season 7, where it all came from was history," Goldberg said. "The end of Season 6, he met Howard in the tower. Howard is a historian. One of the last things Strand said to him in that episode is, 'This feels like the dawning of a new day.'" 

Goldberg elaborates that Strand is starting a new chapter in the history books for himself, done his own way. This power is part of the reason Strand carries around a 19th-century sword and wears an ancient-looking tunic. "It really is just this new image that Strand is trying to evoke in himself of some historic figure," Goldberg said. "He's using garments from various points in history to bolster that."