The Walking Dead Star Shares Tribute to Exiting Actor

By Cameron Bonomolo

Warning: this story contains spoilers for the "No Other Way" episode of The Walking Dead. RIP, Alden (Callan McAuliffe). After the Savior turned survivor is gravely injured in a battle between the Reapers and the Alexandrians, Alden makes Maggie (Lauren Cohan) leave him behind and continue the trek to Meridian in "Hunted." In "No Other Way," Maggie returns to the church where she left Alden to find him dead — hunted down and finished off by a Reaper in an off-screen fight to the death. Now Cohan is honoring her exiting co-star with a tribute published to Instagram. 

"This photo sums up how [McAuliffe] made you feel. Callan, you made it easy to be gutted by losing Alden," Cohan wrote with a behind-the-scenes image of McAuliffe as a walker. "I hope everyone enjoyed the episode. Always feels odd to say 'enjoyed' but you all know what I mean. Thank you to our crew who always brings it and is the backbone to this show so we can do what we do. And [composer Bear McCreary], your score especially on this one. 💔 ❤️" 

The Australian actor joined The Walking Dead during its eighth season in 2017, appearing as a Savior who defects to Maggie's side in Hilltop's war with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). McAuliffe was promoted to series regular in Season 9 and his name was added to the animated opening credits in Season 11. 

"I lasted on the show much longer than I thought I was gonna," McAuliffe told Insider about ending his four-season tenure on The Walking Dead. "I'd kind of always been quietly anticipating that the call would come. I think, like a lot of the cast members on the show, I had [showrunner Angela Kang's] number saved with a skull and crossbones on it."

"She'd actually called me a few times. That fear had been diluted over the years," McAuliffe added. "When [the time] finally came, I was like, 'Oh, I guess that seems about right.' I had a good run."

Read ComicBook's exclusive Q&A with Lauren Cohan about the episode and Maggie's reaction to Alden's death. 

New episodes of The Walking Dead: The Final Season air Sundays on AMC and AMC+. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter and @NewsOfTheDead for TWD Universe coverage all season long.

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