Robert Kirkman Defends Killing Carl In The Walking Dead

Chandler Riggs had been Carl Grimes ever since he was eleven years old, and the midseason finale of The Walking Dead 8 has revealed that Carl has been bitten by a walker—basically killing him off the show. A lot of fans have discussed their outrage online, but TWD creator and producer Robery Kirkman defends the show's decision to off Carl.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Kirkman says:

"I think Scott first brought it up to me as a possibility probably about a year ago at this point. At first, I was kind of like, ‘Well, that's a big one, you know?' I might have had a little bit of trepidation. But once he laid out to me exactly what his long-term plans were, and the things that come out of it, and the things that it leads to, it was something I got on board with."

The show had actually lost a huge chunk of its main cast throughout its run, but seeing that Carl was the only one left from Rick's family, it would have been nice to see the character till the very end. Despite the backlash, Kirkman is happy with the emotional response that the fans have been having.

"I know that some fans online have been very upset, but that's by design. We're not supposed to be happy when these characters die. We are supposed to be worried about what comes next, and anticipating what comes next, and stressing about what comes next. That just shows that you're engaged and you're interested. Our job is to now pay that off and fulfill that interest, and prove that this was a decision worth making. That's what we've got to do."

For now, we haven't actually seen Carl die onscreen, but his death is expected to come in the next episode. Sure fans may be pissed that a character who's grown like Carl is getting killed off, but only time will tell if the move was actually good for the show or the final straw for some fans.

The Walking Dead 8 comes back to AMC on Feb. 25.

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