The latest season 8 episode of The Walking Dead featured a moment that many fans believe may foreshadow what could well be the AMC show's most disturbing moment yet.

Having discovered a baby girl in the Saviours compound that he stormed with Daryl last week, Rick ends up taking her into care and hands her over to a grieving Aaron (whose partner Eric had earlier succumbed to wounds suffered in last week's episode).

The baby's name is Gracie, and her introduction saw a brief reprieve from the episode's bleakness - until a new rather disturbing theory began doing the rounds suggesting that her presence spells bad news for someone very close to Rick.

Cast your minds back to the season 8 premiere - in particular, the flashforward scenes showing an older version of Rick as well as characters Michonne, Carl and a six-year-old Judith.

Well, the theory asks: what if that young girl isn't Rick's daughter at all, but the new baby?

Backing up the theory is the premiere episode's cryptic scenes showing close-ups of a devastated Rick's bloodshot eyes. Now, we know All Out War is building to something that will clearly find Rick more tested than he has ever been - an event so cataclysmic that he seems to consider finding another way to sort out his troubles with Negan than to wage battle.

All this points to the possible death of baby Judith, an event that would most certainly go up against several of the show's previous moments as one of the most shocking yet (you can see a collection of the others in the gallery below).

The most shocking Walking Dead moments Show all 10 1 /10 The most shocking Walking Dead moments The most shocking Walking Dead moments Sophie's a walker (season 2, episode 7) Much of season two's opening half is spent looking for Sophia, the missing daughter of Carol (Melissa McBride). Turns out she was locked up in Hershel's barn as a zombie all along. The most shocking Walking Dead moments Shane reanimates without being bitten (season 2, episode 12) When Carl (Chandler Riggs) guns down a deranged Shane (Jon Bernthal) to protect his father, the shock arrives when he manifests into a walker despite not being bitten; turns out everyone's infected with the virus and will turn whichever way they die. The most shocking Walking Dead moments Axel's bullet to the eye (season 3, episode 10) A character introduced in the show's prison arc, Axel is a reformed prisoner who strikes up a friendship with Carol - until he's gunned down mid-sentence. The most shocking Walking Dead moments Carl kills Lori after she gives birth (season 3, episode 4) Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) goes into labour at the very moment a zombie siege breaks out at the prison. Unfortunately, she doesn't make it through the procedure with her son Carl being the one to put a bullet to her head. The most shocking Walking Dead moments The Governor slays Hershel (season 4, episode 8) The Governor makes his dramatic return for a showdown at the prison after he captures Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Hershel (Scott Wilson). Rick reaches out, attempting to reason with him - but The Governor starts a war when he proceeds to decapitate poor old Hershel instead. The most shocking Walking Dead moments "Look at the flowers" (season 4, episode 14) In a standout episode from the show's fourth season, Carol is forced to take drastic measures when young teenager Lizzie murders her sister Mika in the belief that she'll live on as a zombie. Realising Lizzie's depraved mind would endanger those around her, Carol puts a gun to the young girl's head and, telling her to "look at the flowers," pulls the trigger, fighting back the tears. The most shocking Walking Dead moments Carl's bullet to the eye (season 6, episode 9) Season six returned from its mid-season break in typically dramatic fashion when an iconic moment from the graphic novels came to life: Carl takes a bullet to the eye. The most shocking Walking Dead moments Beth is killed (season 5, episode 8) Upon being kidnapped, Beth (Emily Kinney) is taken to Grady Memorial Hospital managed by Atlanta Law Enforcement. Forced to reside there against her will, the group - including Rick and Daryl (Norman Reedus) - eventually find her - only for her to be accidentally shot in the head by her captor. The worst thing? Her sister Maggie (Lauren Cohan) had just arrived outside. The most shocking Walking Dead moments Negan kills Abraham Season seven opened in brutal form as we discovered it was Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) at the opposite end of Negan's baseball bat. "Suck my nuts," the soldier growls as the Saviours' leader brings Lucille raining down on his head until nothing remains but a pulpy mess. The most shocking Walking Dead moments Negan kills Glenn Negan decides to punish the group once more after getting clocked round the face by Daryl. Without expectation, he thwacks Lucille round the head of poor Glenn. With his eyeball popping out of his head, he manages: "I'll find you, Maggie before Negan proceeds to finish the job ending the former pizza delivery boy's life.

The Huffington Post points out that the teddy seen in Gracie's cot is rather similar to the one Judith is seen carrying in the flashforwards.



Merge this with the fact that the premiere episode seems to hint that the event which rocks ricks world is the death of Carl (Chandler Riggs) - this could be a ploy from the producers to dupe fans and would most certainly add relevance to the Old Man Rick scenes.

The newly-released nail-biting trailer for next week's episode throws one of the show's original characters into mortal danger. In case you missed, you can read our review of latest episode 'Monsters' here.

The Walking Dead season eight airs every Sunday in the US on AMC with the UK premiere arriving the following evening on FOX. It will also be available on NOWTV