Apart from Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), no character is truly safe on AMC’s The Walking Dead . That includes Rick’s son, Carl (Chandler Riggs). While it is hard to see the show killing off a character as important as Carl, Riggs recently tweeted a cryptic message that left fans wondering about his character’s fate. Are Carl’s days numbered?
TV Guide reports that Riggs tweeted about his success on The Walking Dead , explaining how he is grateful that he “got this chance” to be a part of such a great story. The past-tense wording led to speculation that Carl is about to meet his end this year. But are fans reading too much into the post?
It is true that a lot of characters will die this season as Rick wages war on Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Carl, however, is one of the few originals characters remaining. Not only have we watched his character grow up over the years, but his death would be a tipping point for both Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira). It also wouldn’t make sense with Rick’s character development this season.
Rick is starting to return to his old self and coming to terms with all the terrible things he’s had to do to stay alive. During the Season 8 premiere of The Walking Dead , Carl talked about the importance of having a conscience, and it seems like Rick is starting to regain his sense of humanity. If Carl died, then Rick’s moral compass would be absolutely shattered.
That said, we also saw a flash forward of Rick mourning at a grave. Rick is devastated in the scene, and it’s entirely possible that he’s standing over Carl’s grave. Even more, Carl is noticeably absent in Old Man Rick’s fantasy dreams of the future. He only appears for a brief moment in those scenes, indicating that something happened and that Rick isn’t ready to face it.
To add more fuel to the rumors, Express reported that executive producer David Alpert revealed that even Carl isn’t safe from the slaughter this season. Alpert assured fans that no character has immunity going into Season 8 and that they have zero problems deviating from the source material. This doesn’t mean that Carl’s death is imminent, but it adds some credence to the speculation.
makes me really appreciate twd & the fans for giving me such an awesome opportunity and a career
— chandler riggs (@chandlerriggs) October 16, 2017
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[Featured Image by AMC]
