The Walking Dead is a show that is completely surrounded by death and despair. Humans have devolved into monsters with a blood lust and a driving urge to disrupt the quiet and good. And there are the zombies to contend with, as well.
Through nearly six full seasons fans have watched the show build-up and takedown characters. Some have been surprising, others not. Sometimes those deaths have served the greater story, and sometimes they have felt completely random. There is no telling which kind of death we’ll see on our screens Sunday night for the season 6 finale or if we’ll see any at all, but with the long awaited debut of Negan (one of the Walking Dead comic book’s supreme monsters) finally upon us, a certain inevitability is in the air. Negan’s not going to come on like a lamb. He’s gonna come out swinging. And with respect to that notion, a few of our writers have weighed in on which character they don’t expect to see again following Sunday’s episode. So, read our thoughts and then let us know which character you think is doomed.
Carol
The zombie apocalypse has changed everyone, but no one has gone through as much of a transformation as Carol has over the past six seasons. She went from a timid victim of domestic abuse to one of the most deadly members of Rick’s gang. But the past several episodes have her losing her nerve and willingness to do whatever it takes to survive. The Walking Dead‘s writers have never been shy about switching a character’s modus operandi so quickly that it gives viewers whiplash, but this time I think they’ve got a specific story arc in mind regarding Carol’s mental anguish. She’s going to stop killing, and end up getting killed. We can only hope she manages to save the others somehow with her sacrifice. – Ryan Harkness
Pantry Lady
A cupboard full of non-perishables is going to fall on poor pantry lady. – Dustin Rowles
Morgan
This may seem like a bit of a wild card, but I’m taking a leap and saying Morgan bites it in the season finale. The last we saw of him in “East,” he was headed off by himself to find Carol after he and Rick had a long overdue conversation about their differing philosophies. But that felt more like a “Good bye” than a “See you soon.” Both men said everything they needed to say and went their separate ways. Also, I really hope we don’t go through another season tracking Morgan. – Keith Reid Cleveland
Nobody Important
All along, the cast and crew of The Walking Dead have hyped the season finale as the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers, which is code for the episode’s going to cut to Chris Hardwick as Negan introduces Lucille to Rick, or Maggie, or Daryl, or whomever, but he won’t actually strike them. (I can also imagine a POV shot where someone gets hit with the bat, and the season ends with them blacking out.) No one’s going to die, because as we learned from the Glenn fiasco, no one (important) dies without some trolling first. – Josh Kurp
Rosita
I like Rosita fine enough, but she’s not one of those characters that the storyline center’s around. She’s managed to stay alive on the show for three seasons so far — an eternity in The Walking Dead world — but other than some relationship turmoil with Abraham, she really hasn’t developed as a character. We know that Robert Kirkman doesn’t have a problem offing central characters and less visible characters are even more at risk of landing on the chopping block. Unless there’s some big idea to develop her character more for the next season, I’m putting my money on Rosita being one of several fatalities during Sunday night’s finale. – Bennett Hawkins
Abraham
Sorry, Big Red. There’s been too much chatter about Daryl getting whacked and the weird Goldeneye-esque bloodscreen last week pretty much guaranteed that he is going to survive for a while longer. Like Josh said, the writers love to troll. And in that Daryl is one of Rick’s most trusted aides and one of the many “muscle” characters — Abraham, Glenn (it’s too soon after the dumpster tease), Michonne (Rick’s lovah), Jesus (too new), Carol (eh, maybe?), etc — it definitely seems like his fakeout means one of the others is going away. And Abraham fits.
We’ve seen him making plans for this new world and settling in. He dropped Rosita to start something with Sasha, and the writers love to take out characters in the midst of a high moment when their end will bring that extra tweak because, “Aw, look at what this is doing to Sasha” and “Aw, Rosita still loved him.” No other realistic potential is going to bring that same emotional collateral damage. Sorry, Big Red. Time to meet Lucille. – Jason Tabrys
