Carl’s death in The Walking Dead season eight had to have been the most shocking death of the show. In a series revolving around walkers and, in the later seasons; societal anarchy, unexpected fatalities are to be, well….expected. Even the way some characters are killed off in the comics are different than AMC’s live adaptation, for instance, Abraham’s death and Andrea’s significance in the series versus in the comics. Any other loss really pales in comparison to Carl’s. The unforeseen killing of an iconic character stemmed from some controversy behind the seasons and came as a surprise to even the actors closest to Chandler Riggs. Rick’s son is alive and well in the comics and Andrew Lincoln had expressed once the intent of essentially handing the show over to Riggs.
Michael Rooker, who played the sometimes visceral Merle Dixon; pitched an ending for The Walking Dead series that featured Carl as the sole survivor:
“A railroad track … going on forever, into the setting sun. From behind camera, a single individual walks down the middle of the tracks … into the setting sun. Voiceover … You realize that individual is Carl … all grown-up, a man of his own. No one else is with him – just him. And as he does his voiceover, you realize that everything, all the seasons that you’ve just seen is him reliving his past. So everyone on the show is dead. He’s the only survivor, and he’s on his own and walks off into the sunset. And that’s the end of the show.”
As we stare at The Walking Dead’s ninth season, main character Michonne will have to find new ways to cope with her surrogate son’s death and most likely, Rick’s s well. Having already lost her own biological son before we first see Michonne, the sword-wielding warrior had found a new family with the Grimes and now that is slowly being plucked away from her as well, with only Judith left. In the new season, we’ll see Michonne carry a piece of Carl with her, according to showrunner Angela Kang:
“If you look closely at Michonne’s hair this season, you’ll see she has a small plaid wrap around one of her dreads. That’s a piece of Carl’s shirt, which she’s now wearing to keep his memory close.”
The Walking Dead season 9 premieres October 7th at 9 pm EST
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