As “The Walking Dead” enters its eighth season, fans are pretty excited for the all-out war storyline which will be tackled in the upcoming season. While fans of the graphic novel already have an idea of what will happen, many viewers are still worried about what will become of their favorite characters.
All-out war
Negan has elevated himself to become one of “The Walking Dead’s” most notorious villains when he single-handedly ended the lives of two strong characters of the show in the Season 7 pilot. In two fell swoops, Negan killed Rick’s right-hand man Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and fan favorite character Glenn (Steven Yeun).
Fans considered the deaths of the two characters tragic, most especially for Glenn, who has been with Rick from the first season of the show. Fans lamented his death so much that it became a Twitter trending topic, spawning thousands of memes in the span of hours. In effect, veteran actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan earned his stripes as the most hated villain of the show.
For an entire season, Negan’s tyranny has resulted in losses and deaths in the three communities under his control. Ezekiel’s The Kingdom where Carol and Morgan ended up; the Hilltop Colony where Maggie and Jesus are rallying fighters, and Rick’s Alexandria. At the end of season 7, “The Walking Dead” saw the united effort of The Kingdom, the Hilltop Colony and Alexandria to drive away Negan and his Saviors.
In the upcoming season of "The Walking Dead," it is expected that the series will touch on an all-out war between Rick’s combined forces and Negan’s army. Unfortunately, while the commitment of the three communities is a positive sign for a rebellion, Rick’s fighters are still outnumbered by the Saviors, who also have the weapons and the artillery to wipe them out easily.
Character deaths
From Season 1 of “The Walking Dead,” Carol has evolved into one of the series’ strongest and most resilient characters, surviving the deaths of her family and countless others. She singlehandedly saved Rick and the others from being cannibalized in Terminus and has chosen to live a life of peace outside Ezekiel’s Kingdom.
In the final episode of season 7, Carol finally stepped up and came to the rescue of the Alexandrians with Kingdom’s knights. However, based on the lifespan of her comic book counterpart, Carol has been long past her storyline. Fans are afraid that the all-out war could put an end to their beloved Carol since she is already borrowing elements from Michonne’s comic book counterpart.
A Comic Book report also speculated that Morgan could be the next one on the chopping block. Also one of the characters from the first season, Morgan has appeared for several arcs throughout the series. Fans are afraid that after losing his no killing funk, his character may have come full circle, making him ready to exit the show.
Unfortunately, while fans would want Negan to die a long and painful death, it seems that this may not be the case if the AMC show follows the comic book storyline. By the end of the war, it is said that Rick will choose to spare Negan’s life because he doesn’t want to turn out like the tyrant. Instead, Negan will be imprisoned while Rick rebuilds society from the ground up.
"The Walking Dead" Season 8 premiered October 22 and airs every Sunday at 9 pm on AMC.
