Watch Fans React to ‘The Walking Dead’ 8×04’s Heartbreaking Death Scene

King Ezekiel’s heartbreaking reaction to losing a close friend on The Walking Dead was quite similar to those of fans watching from home.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 8×04 follow!

In a new video from Skybound, The Walking Dead fans are glued to their screens for the Some Guy episode which saw King Ezekiel‘s loyal tiger Shiva sacrificing herself to save the King. The Khary Payton character could do nothing but watch as his big cat was devoured, rescuing him, Jerry, and Carol from the walker threats.

Payton calls the scene one of his “most bittersweet” journeys in an interview with THR. Not only did his Ezekiel character lose the tiger, but Payton lost several co-stars who had joined the show in Episode 7×02 with him. “I said goodbye to so many people,” Payton said. “At the same time, I was given this wonderful episode and character to play. It tore my heart out.”

“That’s the thing about The Walking Dead,” Payton said. “You get very close to these people, and then you end up having to say goodbye, and not knowing when you’re going to see them again. Carlos Navarro, who plays Alvaro, is one of my favorite people in the world. Besides Shiva, letting Carlos go was one of the hardest things that I’ve done on this show. It really did feel like all my people got ripped away from me. It was more emotional than I was expecting it to be. I’ve already had that feeling when Karl Makinen, who played Richard, and Logan Miller, who played Ben. You think it would get easier, but it doesn’t.”

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.