Which Walking Dead Character Will Be The First To Die In Season Five?

By Brent McKnight | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

The Walking DeadAMC’s hit zombie drama The Walking Dead is notorious for killing off major characters. Maybe they don’t take it to a Game of Thrones level, but if you’re a character on the show, you can never be entirely comfortable that you won’t get offed at the drop of a hat. While there were a fair share of fireworks during season four, the body count, at least for main characters, was relatively low—there were, however, a number of people added between season three and four that were little more than canon fodder. The most recent season ends on one hell of a cliffhanger, with most of the survivors in immediate peril, and we may now know who the first big death of season five is going to be.

It should go without saying, but there are significant SPOILERS beyond this point, both for the show and Robert Kirkman’s comic book that serves as the source material. You’ve been warned.

We recently saw a behind the scenes photo from the Georgia-based set that seems to offer insight into The Wire alum Seth Gilliam’s role. According to another lead, it looks like Glenn (Steven Yeun) may be the next to make his exit from the show, in the usual gruesome fashion. The report says:

We have heard from multiple sources about a possible death. Word is the death of Glenn was filmed yesterday. It’s possible it could be someone else, but multiple sources stated Glenn. Reports are the set was locked down and everyone was told the cast would not be coming out. Adding fuel to the fire: Steven reportedly left set at 2 or right around then. It’s said that Steven was hugging production members and shaking everyone’s hand while leaving.

The Walking DeadWhile this isn’t concrete, that sounds rather definitive. Fans of the comics know that Glenn does in fact die in a particularly brutal manner, which is saying something The Walking Dead.

This does call into question the timeline, however. Glenn dies at the hands of Neegan, the leader of a particularly nasty band of survivors called the Saviors. The group goes around, extorting other communities of survivors through fear and intimidation. Neegan has a barbwire covered baseball bat named Lucille, has been known to burn people with irons, and basically makes the Governor—either version—look downright warm and cuddly.

But that doesn’t happen for a while. Between where the show is now, at least in rough comparisons, and when they come across Neegan and the Saviors, there is a lot of ground to cover. That said, The Walking Dead isn’t above diverging from the comics, especially when it comes to killing someone off. Andrea (Laurie Holden) kicked the bucket at the end of season three, but she’s still alive and shooting people in the comics.

Season five has been filming for a little while, and maybe they do encounter Neegan eventually. If this report does in fact turn out to be true, and the jury is still out on that, my guess is that Glenn meets his demise at Terminus, where he, Rick (Andrew Lincoln), and most of the other core members of the cast are currently trapped in a boxcar, the prisoners of a bunch of cannibals.

Will you be sad to see Glenn go? He’s one of the few characters that has never really pissed me off, and I remember how gut wrenching his death in the comics was. It was one of those moments when you stop breathless and and think this can’t possible be real.

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