'The Walking Dead': Jesus' Fate Revealed

02/10/2019 09:00 pm EST

The Walking Dead officially revealed the fate of Paul "Jesus" Rovia in its Mid-Season Nine premiere on Sunday night.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 9x09 follow. Major spoilers!

To start Episode 9x09, Jesus was laying on the ground where he was left after being stabbed but a Whisperer in the Mid-Season Nine finale. While many wondered if Jesus would reanimate as a walker or miraculously survive the attack, the answer to both questions was, "No."

In a subtle moment, Aaron would run in knife into Jesus' head to prevent reanimation. From there, his body would be carried back to the Hilltop as a means to bring closure to the community which he had been leading until his death.

Admitting that fans are "pretty bummed" about his character's death, Jesus actor Tom Payne remains satisfied with his sendoff. "I think they agree with me that it was an awesome episode, and if you're gonna go out, that was the way to go out," Payne said. "I mean, I was happy with it. I spend most of my time going, 'Yeah, but it was a cool episode' to people, people are like, 'Yeah, but I'm still bummed out.' Well, that's the nature of the show."

Still, Jesus' death was a means to make The Walking Dead scary, again. "The show really hasn't been scary for a while," The Walking Dead executive producer and director of Episode 9x09 Greg Nicotero admits to ComicBook.com. "I mean, it just wasn't necessarily in the DNA. The last few seasons, there was a lot more of the drama of the war between Rick and Negan, the Sanctuary and our good guys, so to speak."

Going forward, The Walking Dead will look to recapture the creepy, horror genre magic created in the scene which claimed Tom Payne's character. "To be able to introduce these new villains and this new threat, I was really excited," Nicotero said. "Listen, when I shot [Episode 9x09], we shot the opening my initial editor's cut. I loved the opening of the cemetery scene. I thought it was so scary, and just something really, really different and really exciting."

Are you sad to see Jesus killed off of The Walking Dead? Which of his comic book moments do you wish the show had brought to live-action life? Share your thoughts in the comment section!

The Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season later in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com's After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.