The last few months of The Walking Dead have more or less ended up in Rick’s favor. Unfortunately, the mid-season finale “How It’s Gotta Be” heavily tipped the scales towards Negan and his ruthless Saviors. And in the trailer for the mid-season return of The Walking Dead in February, the coming demise of you-know-who looms large.
Spoilers for The Walking Dead ahead.
This week, Carl “Coral” Grimes (Chandler Riggs) showed Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) that he had been bitten by a walker, a secret that he was keeping for whoever knows how long. In the apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead, walker bites are a death sentence, and now it’s Carl’s time to meet his maker.
The inevitable death of Carl sent shockwaves throughout the Walking Dead fandom, and while Carl’s actual death has not been seen, the mid-season trailer — in which Rick and Michonne look mournfully on a new grave — all but confirms that Carl’s time really is up.
In an interview, actor Chandler Riggs said he really is done for in the smash hit AMC drama. “Yes, Carl is going to die,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s no way he can get back from that. His story is definitely coming to an end.”
Ever since the Saviors have arrived on the season, Team Alexandria has suffered blow after blow as their numbers dwindle hard. A lot of fan favorites, such as Glenn (Steven Yuen), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) have all been sacrificed in what seems like a never-ending war against an egomaniacal tyrant with a god complex and a Louisville slugger.
Still, based on how the comics went, things will turn out well for Rick, in spite of everything he and the decreasing number of Alexandrians have lost along the way. Eventually, this war will be Negan’s to lose, but will there ever come a point it’s just not worth it? We’ll know when The Walking Dead returns.
The Walking Dead will return February 18 at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.
