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Sunday, October 25, 2015

Is One of The Walking Dead's Major Characters Actually Dead?


Talk about a gut punch. In the midst of trying to escape from the herd of thousands upon thousands of zombies, there were many casualties from tonight's episode of The Walking Dead.

But none more important than ... (SPOILER ALERT - highlight to uncover the name) Glenn.

Point blank, I will say this right now; I do not believe this character met their untimely demise. It was purposeful that his apparent death was very ambiguous and there were never any real shots that showed walkers tearing apart this character.

There was another character that decided to end his own life, but he fell on top of this other character. It's entirely possible the entrails that were being taken apart were of the former character and not the latter.

Okay, SPOILER ALERT once again. The character will be mentioned below because it's kind of difficult to keep going on like this without actually mentioning his name. Good?

There's no way that Glenn is dead. No way. At least, not right now.

Here are all the signs; first off - he didn't appear on The Talking Dead immediately afterward. Usually when a major or even somewhat minor character is killed off on TWD, they show up on The Walking Dead.

Steven Yeun didn't make an appearance on The Talking Dead, and Chris Hardwick's strange explanation was it's so "fans could grieve". Not buying it.

Secondly, Glenn's name did not appear on The Talking Dead's "In Memoriam" segment of the show. Yet another red flag that he might actually still be alive.

Then Chris Hardwick read a note from TWD's showrunner Scott Gimple saying that "Glenn may re-appear in some form or another in the future, in a flashback or something like that". A brief reminder that Hershel's character also appeared in future episodes after he was killed off as well. But this note from Gimple indicates Glenn's character could come back in flashbacks or perhaps even as a zombie?

And lastly, I referenced this earlier, but Glenn's death in itself was very ambiguous. Whenever a major character has been killed off on the show, there was absolutely no question as to whether or not they were still alive.

In six seasons of The Walking Dead, this is the very first time when a major character's death has not been 100% conclusive.

Nick saw no way out of that scenario on top of the dumpsters, but in taking his own life, Nick may have actually somehow saved Glenn's life by providing him with a walker blood-and-guts-cloak.

The odds certainly are stacked against Glenn's survival in that scenario, but if Nick's entrails got all over Glenn, maybe the walkers don't even bother with him.

The writers of the show certainly planted all the seeds to indicate that Glenn would soon be gone. That Rick called Glenn a "dumbass", a nod to the first thing Rick said to Glenn back in Season One. And Glenn's constant looks at Hershel's old pocket watch also hinted at Glenn's demise.

But I think these are all red herrings. Glenn will be back in some form or another, and my guess is he will be alive. He will be in rough shape, but Glenn will return to The Walking Dead.

If that truly was Glenn's 100% death, it didn't really feel all that satisfying. There wasn't all that much build-up towards it (aside from this episode in itself), and killing of pivotal characters is something that's typically reserved for mid-season or season finales, not three episodes into a brand new season.

Either way, so long Glenn ... it may not be long before TWD fans see him again, whether it be dead, undead or alive.