A week after killing off arguably the show’s most popular non-Daryl character, The Walking Dead had a massive Glenn-shaped hole to fill. Enter: King Ezekiel, the leader of the Kingdom who made quite the first impression in Sunday’s episode, “The Well.” As our own Dustin Rowles wrote, “He’s personable, he’s kind, he’s funny, eccentric and real… [and] exactly what this series needed after last week’s brutal season premiere.” That would be the one where Negan smashed Abraham and Glenn to death with a baseball bat.
The Walking Dead has always been morbid, but the last two episodes, the finale “Last Day on Earth” and near-record-setting premiere “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be,” were too unrelentingly nihilistic for some viewers. That’s why fans are reacting so strongly to the enjoyably quirky King Ezekiel and his CGI tiger sidekick Shiva — IMDb voters have already named “The Well” the best episode of the entire series (“Last Day,” meanwhile, is dead last), and Twitter users are happily pledging allegiance to their new favorite character.
So, King Ezekiel and Shiva are my new favorite characters…ever. #TWD #DynamicDuo
— Brandon Everett (@BrandonBEverett) October 31, 2016
I miss Glenn. He'll always be my favorite. King Ezekiel is my favorite living character now. By far. #TheWalkingDead
— King Nataka (@MistsMagic) October 31, 2016
https://twitter.com/ShastenMarie/status/792973003701104641
King Ezekiel went from being full of shit to being real as fuck in like 5 mins .. he ain't Glenn but he might be a new favorite #Twd
— Born Again Hooligan🍥 (@Eminor7b5) October 31, 2016
I think I have a new favorite character from #TheWalkingDead. King Ezekiel. All hail the king! 👑
— Lunar 🇵🇸 (@TheLunarnaut) October 31, 2016
https://twitter.com/ChaosXLV/status/792964796299685888
King Ezekiel will always be my favorite. What a hottie. #thewalkingdead
— Ah-nah-ees (@anaiszombie) October 31, 2016
King Ezekiel is officially my favorite person in #TheWalkingDead history.
— CryptoLikeMo (@CryptoLikeMo) October 31, 2016
My two new favorite characters: King Ezekiel and pet tiger Shiva. Welcome to #TheWalkingDead Renaissance Faire.
— Piera (@JustPiera) October 31, 2016
I wanted King Ezekiel to be a bad guy but he threw me off and I love him he's one of my favorite characters now #TWD #TalkingDead
— Ar!3 (@Ari3Bieber) October 31, 2016
Three minutes of screen time and he is already my second favorite character – King Ezekiel. #TheWalkingDead #IStillLoveTara
— Tony Dijamco (@TonyDijamco) October 31, 2016
@kharypayton You are my new favorite character! You're killing it as King Ezekiel! ❤❤❤👌
— Tracy🌻 N (@TracyStreeter1) October 31, 2016
@WalkingDead_AMC King Ezekiel a new favorite! I love this guy!!!
— hannah suits ☯️☮️ (@hannah__suits) October 31, 2016
Sorry about the spoilers but can we talk about how awesome King Ezekiel is? He's my new favorite character. #WalkingDeadSeason7 pic.twitter.com/d95t2RGAD2
— Raechel (@msraechelrae) October 31, 2016
Oh my…. King Ezekiel has a mofuckin tiger?! He's automatically my favorite character. 😬😬😬
— Nick T (@banhpapi) October 31, 2016
https://twitter.com/Vmanhvong/status/792939123866759168
https://twitter.com/DirkHooper/status/792909844999200768
King Ezekiel might just fill the void where my old favorite character used to live AKA please don't kill him TWD gods
— Drew Ostrow (@DrewOstrow) October 31, 2016
And after tonight King Ezekiel is my new Favorite Character #TWD
— TreyDawgWNL (@Treyontheradio) October 31, 2016
King Ezekiel became my new favorite character in two seconds. #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/MC8ql0cBAz
— Austin (@ATRietsch) October 31, 2016
https://twitter.com/TheeRizz/status/792897209897521152
If there’s one lesson the other Walking Dead characters should learn from the outpouring of love for King Ezekiel, it’s: walk around with a jungle cat at all times. Jaguars and panthers and lions chew on baseball bats like toothpicks.
