How did it all begin? Robert Kirkman probably won’t ever tell you.

While I’m still trying to figure out the pathology of the zombie virus on “The Walking Dead,” one thing I’ve never really cared too much about was how exactly it all began. Rick, at the start of both the comics and the AMC series, awoke from a coma to find that the world had gone to shit, and Robert Kirkman has never explained what happened.

As it turns out, Kirkman just doesn’t think it matters, either to us or to the characters. In a Q&A session on Tumblr this week, he laid out his general feelings on this one.

“Maybe years after it’s all over I’ll just casually mention it in an interview. That seems like a very J.K. Rowling thing to do,” Kirkman joked. “It couldn’t be less important to the story and the lives of these characters. It would be completely out of place in the story.”

He continued, “Honestly if a scientist from Washington came to the character and told them what happened the characters would just shrug and say “Oh… okay…” it wouldn’t change their lives at all… and… I’ve said too much.”

So there you have it. Don’t expect an explanation any time soon. If ever.