Walking Dead Writers Already Know Who's Dying In Season Four

During an interview released earlier today, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman told IGN that it's difficult for fans to know whether a death on the show is "worth it" because so much of the equation comes down to what events come after the death. And while that means characters who died in this week's season three finale might not yet have had their impact on the story, the writing staff already knows who won't make it to a theoretical season five. "It's not necessary to kill a character off in a finale; we certainly don't want to be in some sort of a recognizable cycle. But the finales are usually big episodes and I guess big episodes of The Walking Dead usually mean big deaths. By design, it's something that I would expect to happen frequently, but I don't think that you have to have a big death to have a big or memorable moment," Kirkman said. "It seems to have worked out that way thus far, but we're certainly never in the writer's room going, "Oh, we've got to kill somebody episode! We haven't killed anybody in a long time!" It's something that pretty much flows organically. We're working out Season 4 right now – we're halfway through writing it – and we know exactly where we're going. Who's dying and when they're dying is all worked out very early on as we're plotting out the entire season. It's something that we always know where we're going with it." While it's been said that the threat of the walkers will be increased next season, some fans have wondered how that will be possible, with the relatively safe confines of the prison remaining the primary set. Kirkman revealed a bit of information that might point in the direction of more supply runs, and therefore more exposure, for our heroes. "A bigger group brings with it bigger problems," the writer/producer said. "They are certainly going to need a lot more resources, and they already have a lot of rebuilding to do, just from the things that happened in this battle between Woodbury and the prison. I don't think there's going to be a shortage of conflict and danger coming into the fourth season, despite the fact that they are still in the prison."