Zombie epic The Walking Dead is known for its grounded approach to the zombie apocalypse, studying the practicalities and social dynamics that would consume life if society suddenly fell to the undead. Despite this reputation, even co-creator Robert Kirkman admits that one part of the story was “unrealistic.” But we’re here to tell you that realistic or not, it was absolutely the right choice.

Walking Dead’s Creator Admits Rick Surviving to the End Was Unrealistic

Could Rick Really Have Survived the Governor, the Saviors and the Whisperer War?

In The Walking Dead Deluxe #107 – from Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, with new colors from Dave McCaig – Image Comics republishes a letters page from the comic’s original run. In it, Kirkman is asked whether Rick will make it to the end of the long-lived series, which ultimately ran for 16 years and 193 issues. Kirkman responds:

I would love to write this book long past Rick’s death. It seems unrealistic that he would survive all the way to the end. I’m not ruling it out though – maybe this story ends when he dies. Or maybe it doesn’t. I’m not going to ever tell you when a character is going to die. That would ruin the fun.

In the end, Rick actually dies in Walking Dead #192, gunned down by Sebastian Milton, the spoiled son of former Commonwealth’s leader Pamela Milton. Carl returns home to discover a zombified Rick, finishing off his father’s undead mockery in a tragic passing of the torch from father to son. Walking Dead #193 then jumps forward in time 25 years, picking up with an adult Carl and a transformed society, where a new generation are growing up without the constant threat of the shambling undead.

Shane was originally going to kill Rick, with Carl becoming the franchise’s main character.

Kirkman was no stranger to misleading readers in Walking Dead‘s letters page, though always to the benefit of the story. Indeed, it’s possible that Kirkman’s careful wording was a reference to his plans – Rick doesn’t quite survive “all the way” to the end of the franchise. However, given the amount of changes Kirkman made to his original vision for the franchise – including scrapping an original ending where the zombies won – it’s also possible he didn’t intend Rick to survive to the end of the comics. After all, Andrew Lincoln’s Rick hasn’t remained the franchise’s sole focus in The Walking Dead TV adaptation, for which Kirkman served as both a writer and executive producer.

Realistic or Not, Rick Grimes’ Death Was the Right Choice

Rick Represents Humanity’s Transformation into a Better Form

Kirkman’s comments on Rick’s chances of survival make sense. From waking up in an already zombie-infested hospital to taking on bloodthirsty enemies including Shane, Negan, the Governor and Alpha, Rick made it through events that killed off dozens of his fellow survivors. While the story sees him lose his hand, several of his closest allies, and even his infant daughter, Rick leads his group from total devastation to rebuilding human society, despite being captured multiple times by the franchise’s deadliest enemies.

However, while this may seem unlikely on paper, the experience is totally different when actually reading the story. Rick’s arc takes him from hopeful hero to monstrous despair and back to a believer in a better version of human society. Every conflict with another group costs Rick dearly, both physically and mentally, and the stakes remain high throughout the comic’s 193 series, with no significant dips in quality. While it may be unlikely that Rick could survive everything he goes through, it never feels unlikely, which is far more valuable to The Walking Dead as a work of fiction.

Like a mythical hero, Rick leads humanity to a better place but doesn’t get to live in it.

The placement of Rick’s death also helps to define The Walking Dead as covering a very specific era of humanity – from its fall to its rise. Rick is killed shortly after he’s successful in toppling the corrupt leadership of the Commonwealth, who sought to rebuild humanity complete with its prior divisions and flaws. Like a mythical hero, Rick leads humanity to a better place but doesn’t get to live in it, precisely because of the petty desire for power that he fought against again and again, embodied by Milton. By the end, Walking Dead becomes the story of how Rick Grimes protected the best of humanity until it could protect itself, and that concept would be muddied by having him die any earlier – or, in fact, any later.

Rick Grimes Was Originally Meant to Die Ridiculously Early

Carl Would Have Replaced Him as the Franchise’s Main Character

What’s surprising is that Kirkman was originally going to kill Rick at the conclusion of the comic’s first arc. In The Walking Dead #6, Shane breaks down out of jealousy, having begun an affair with Rick’s wife Lori after he was presumed dead. In the comics and show, Carl shoots Shane to save his father, however Kirkman considered having the story go another way. In The Walking Dead Deluxe #6, Kirkman shares that he considered having Shane kill Rick, while Carl saw the whole thing from hiding.

Carl Grimes would then have become the comic’s main character, with Shane becoming “the first real big villain in the book.” This would have been a fascinating story in its own right, with Carl now knowing the dark secret of his group’s apparent leader and protector, and it’s possible that Carl could have taken on the same role as Rick, growing up to establish a better version of society. However, looking at The Walking Dead as a complete story, Rick’s early death would have hurt the larger narrative.

Kirkman has implied Walking Dead could return for a new era, now following Carl, and there’s reason to take him seriously…

Rick wakes up from his coma in an already fallen world and becomes a leader who believes in equality and redemption, even as Shane (in the role as someone almost exactly like Rick, from the same place and even with the same job) buckles and breaks, becoming a killer out of self-interest and fear. In The Walking Dead #193, it’s revealed that humanity calls the era of the comics ‘The Trials,’ suggesting that what humanity went through made it better, albeit at a staggering cost. Rick’s post-coma life essentially is the Trials, and that connection makes Rick the perfect metaphor for humanity throughout the story. His death comes at the perfect moment to make that point: the Trials are over, and it’s time for a new era embodied by someone else.

Will Walking Dead Continue Carl’s Story?

Kirkman Has Prepared Walking Dead’s Fans for an Entire New Era

Walking Dead #193 sets up a fascinating vision of the future human society: a Western Frontier-esque civilization where vast safe zones now exist, and humanity is gradually reclaiming its former status and technology while living under more egalitarian principles. However, Carl is shown to be ill at ease in this new world – having lived through the horrors of the Trials, he believes that humanity is becoming complacent and taking safety for granted when it’s anything but guaranteed. The comic sets up a whole new status quo where humanity’s resurgence is possible – even underway – but could still fail at any moment.

That’s why fans were so thrilled by Kirkman’s comments in The Walking Dead Deluxe #100. In the comic, Kirkman calls out the upcoming release of Tillie Walden’s Clementine Book 3, stating:

It’s entirely possible that once CLEMENTINE Book 3 releases, there won’t be any new THE WALKING DEAD comic book material… ever. I say POSSIBLE, but that’s not a guarantee. I doubt we’ll ever see a continuation of THE ALIEN, but you never know. I mean, it’s possible we just keep going with WALKING DEAD DELUXE #194 and beyond! Who knows what the future may hold!

Fans were particularly enthused by Kirkman’s comments because of The Walking Dead‘s prior history of major surprises. The comic series’ ending wasn’t announced ahead of time, with issues #192 and #193 coming as a major surprise, making Rick’s death and the subsequent time jump even more effective. Similarly, issue #75 included a non-canon spin-off story that later became Rick Grimes 2000 – a pulpy action story where aliens attack Earth and various dead characters returned as cyborgs. Kirkman likewise surprised fans with his recent series Void Rivals, where the first issue included the surprise reveal that the story took place in the same world as Transformers and G.I. Joe, creating a combined ‘Energon Universe.’

Continuing Carl Grimes’ story as a whole new era of The Walking Dead would be totally in character for Kirkman, and could be the perfect way to continue the franchise. While Rick’s life perfectly embodies the Trials, Carl’s adult life could embody an entirely new era with its own threats, challenges and themes. The original Walking Dead comics ended in 2019, so such a significant gap (the Deluxe reprinting is currently on issue #108) would help establish that Carl’s story is essentially a whole new era, not simply the story continuing after Rick’s death.

‘The Rick Era’ Is What Walking Dead Should Always Have Been…

…Regardless of What Comes Next

Custom Image by Yailin Chacon

Realism isn’t an inherent good in fiction – it enhances certain aspects of storytelling and diminishes others. While Rick Grimes surviving to the end of The Walking Dead may not be the most likely course of events when looked at from a remove, it’s almost certainly the best form Kirkman and Adlard’s story could have taken, with Rick coming to represent humanity’s tragic struggle against oblivion and the triumph of its rebirth.

Walking Dead fans will always want more of perhaps the best zombie fiction ever committed to paper, but whether Carl Grimes helms his own era of the franchise or not, Rick Grimes’ arc is a huge part of what makes Walking Dead such a successful and enduring series – a fact that was almost very different, but thankfully found its best form.