The Walking Dead: Who Won't Die?

It's easy enough to speculate about who will die on The Walking Dead, a series where the [...]

By Russ Burlingame - February 8, 2015 03:00 pm EST

It's easy enough to speculate about who will die on The Walking Dead, a series where the producers regularly claim "no one is safe."

Fans think they have it pretty well figured out and, so far, they've been right. It's been a while since there was a truly surprising death on the series, with almost all of the recent losses predicted by fans online or at least in speculation pieces like this that marked them as likely to go.

But...who won't die?

We've got a list of five characters who we absolutely guarantee aren't going anywhere in tonight's "brutal" midseason premiere -- and who we would be absolutely astonished to see not make it to the end of Season Five.

Rick Grimes

If Rick is going to die, it's hard to imagine that it won't be in the comics first.

He's been the lead character since the first issue and it would feel like a massive rip-off if his story played out on TV before it did on the printed page.

Also, he's the LEAD CHARACTER. He's got Plot Armor, and while that might not hold up over the life of the series, they've got at least another full season to go and Rick hasn't met Negan, whom Kirkman apparently believes to be the series' arch-villain, yet.

Carl Grimes

Kirkman has always maintained that nobody is safe, but other remarks he's made indicate that The Walking Dead is the story of the Grimes family in the same way that Star Wars is the story of the Skywalkers.

And you don't kill Luke before you kill Anakin. This family's just getting started.

Michonne

She's one of "The Remains" in the comics, four characters who have been around long enough that their deaths would be absolutely seismic for the series and may not happen until Kirkman starts preparing to wrap up the book.

While one of the four -- Andrea -- has been done away with already on TV, it's arguable that she bore so little resemblance to her comic book counterpart that she was more expendable than the others (Rick, Carl and Michonne). Many of the traits that make Andrea so great in the comics have been split up between a pair of other characters.

Who? Well, we're glad you asked...

Maggie

First of all, killing off Maggie immediately after having killed Beth would be a huge waste of potential story. Dealing with the loss of her sister will be a huge motivator for Beth for the next half-season, at least, and that's something she's been sort of lacking since she reunited with Glenn.

Second, she's got a great arc in the comics, and while not everything on the show plays out the way it does in the books, it would be a shame to waste that on a shock death. At a bare minimum, we'd like to see what happens to her if and when she loses Glenn...something actor Steven Yeun has suggested could happen in the show very similarly to how it happened in the comics.

Daryl

This is of course the wild card. As somebody who isn't in the comics and who was introduced as a white supremacist, many fans didn't expect him to last very long...but then he became a fan favorite and seemingly immortal. So much of the plot flows through Daryl that it's hard to picture him NOT being a key part of the show.

In fact, he's arguably lined up to be more impacted by Beth's death than even Maggie is...so just like with Maggie, why would you waste all that storytelling potential? He's not going anywhere just yet, and not just because he's the show's cash cow.

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