"The Walking Dead" returned to the television screens after nearly a two-month break and it brought death to a central character with it.
Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers from Season 8, Episode 9 of "The Walking Dead." Do not continue before watching the episode.
Carl was one of the most popular characters in "The Walking Dead" show. His death was a big shock to the fans of the show and the fans of the comics because it was totally unexpected and he played a major role in the series, along with Rick.
Carl's death
Although the final moments of Carl's death were not shown, the executive producer of the show, Greg Nicotero, explained why they chose to keep his final moments off-screen.
He said that "There's no reason that you need to see that moment." Nicotero explained that the death was all implied like the moment where Carl is forced to shoot Lori in season three. As Carl's last words were, 'It's like it's got to be done by somebody that you love.' He's really saving Rick and Michonne from this last heartbreaking moment by being willing to do the deed himself.
Throwback to the prison arc
The show threw back to "The Prison" arc, season 3 episode 16, multiple times this episode. First, Carl tells Rick that he had killed one of the Woodbury kids who was going to put his gun down and surrender to him, and it was Rick who taught him that sometimes forgiving is better than fighting and that's how they ended up in Alexandria with friends who used to be their enemies.
The second time it was Henry who did exactly what Carl did in the prison. He killed a wounded Gavin, even though they clearly outnumbered him.
Morgan's brutal kill
Most of the show's epic moments are copied from the comics, but this time it was the show that introduced the huge WTF moment. When Morgan and Carol meet up in the Kingdom on their way to rescue Ezekiel, they kill a lot of Saviors, but Morgan was getting way out of hand compared to Carol.
When they corner all the Saviors in the theatre, Morgan fights a Savior in hand-to-hand combat and literally pulls out the man's guts.
We've previously seen this kind of scene at the hilltop when Rick cuts the throat of one of the hilltop's men and gets blood all over his face, but that was all comic and not something original from the show.
Episode 10 preview
After Rick buried his only son, Carl, in today's episode, a cut brought him and audiences to another time and place. Somewhere, in the future, Rick sat by a tree with a hand covered in blood. "My mercy prevailed over my wrath," Rick whispers to himself. This hints that Rick doesn't kill Negan (As shown in Carl's dream for Alexandria as well). So this war may result in peace in the end.
The next episode of "The Walking Dead" airs on March 4.
