Andrew Lincoln On 'The Walking Dead's Biggest Twist Yet

Andrew Lincoln is among the many baffled by Carl's death on The Walking Dead.

Until the moment where Carl revealed a bite mark in the show's Mid-Season Eight finale, the live-action adaptation of Robert Kirkman's comics had followed the source material -- for the most part. "As soon as it happened, all bets were off," Lincoln told EW. "Because there had been a certain sense, I think, over the last couple of years, that people would go, 'Oh, we are much more associated with the comic book.' I think that the general thrust of the story was always going to be based upon that with a couple of deviations or inversions or twists or replacements in one character taking that story and this one taking that."

Going forward, The Walking Dead TV series will aim to maintain the overarching scheme of its source material. However, major plot points will be altered to account for the show's lack of Carl as he was a crucial character in upcoming arcs despite new challenges. "This is unchartered waters for the show," Lincoln said. "I think it made, certainly for me, a much more challenging and more dangerous back eight [episodes]. I think what they're having to do is shake it up, in a profoundly new way."

Lincoln is not wrong. The AMC show had assigned huge portions of certain character stories to others in an effort to follow the grander narrative created in the comic books. For example, though Andrea died on the AMC series, Michonne carried out a huge portion of the story laid out for Andrea in the comics. Still, the Danai Gurira character maintains her own story, similar to that of Michonne in the comics, as well.

As for how the show overcomes the loss of Chandler Riggs' character, only time will tell. Arcs such as the Whisperer War will likely see some significant changes, though Kirkman promises the show plans to continue plugging along alongside the books as it has for years.

The Walking Dead returns for the second half of its eighth season on February 25, 2018. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.