The Walking Dead: Who Will Die in the Series Finale?

Warning: this story contains spoilers for Sunday’s “Family” episode of The Walking Dead. There is only one episode left of The Walking Dead, which will end with its “Rest in Peace” series finale on November 20th. But after the major cliffhanger that ended Sunday’s penultimate episode of the series, titled “Family,” (almost) no one is safe. Spoiler alert: Daryl (Norman Reedus), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) will all live on in AMC’s Walking Dead spin-offs set to premiere in 2023, which will also see the returns of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) in their own Rick & Michonne series. 

But who will rest in peace in the “Rest in Peace” series finale? We’re looking at the most likely suspects to bite it in the final episode of The Walking Dead, counting only the characters whose fates haven’t been spoiled by spin-off announcements.

JERRY

The fan-favorite former advisor to the Kingdom’s monarch King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), the cobbler-loving Jerry (Cooper Andrews) was last seen wading into the walker herd threatening to overrun the Commonwealth. After he amputated Lydia’s (Cassady McClincy) zombie-bitten arm with Aaron (Ross Marquand), Jerry stepped out of a walker-swarmed RV to find their friends Luke (Dan Fogler), Jules (Alex Sgambati), and Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari). “I find them, I find you. Piece of cobbler,” Jerry said, smiling. “See you on the other side.” 

Like the trope of the movie cop who dies days away from retirement, Jerry’s see-you-later — and talk about founding his own “Kingdom” with wife Nabila (Nadine Marissa) — makes him a likely candidate to die to the zombie horde of “climber” variant walkers.

AARON

After his initial distrust and hostility towards the ex-Whisperer, Aaron has become somewhat of a father figure to Lydia. Earlier this season, in “No Other Way,” Lydia saved Aaron’s life, a favor Aaron repaid when their trip to Oceanside pitted the group of Aaron, Jerry, Lydia, and Elijah against extra-dangerous variant walkers. Aaron reminisced about his husband, Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson), and had a tearful goodbye with his daughter Gracie (Anabelle Holloway). As he told Lydia in what worryingly may have been foreshadowing Aaron’s death: “Loss is inevitable.”

ROSITA

In “Family,” Rosita (Christian Serratos) takes charge when the Alexandrians return to Commonwealth to A) take out Governor Pamela Milton and B) find and rescue the kidnapped Baby Coco, taken to the children’s home in the Commonwealth’s lower ward. Nothing — not even a walker herd large enough to swallow a city — will stand between Rosita and her daughter. 

Unfortunately, Governor Milton ordered her army to divert the walker swarm to the lower wards and away from the Estates, meaning Rosita risks being overrun to get to Coco. Plus, remember that ominous dream Rosita had earlier this season about the violent death of ex-boyfriend Abraham (Michael Cudlitz)?

FATHER GABRIEL

Pray for Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). As Coco’s adoptive father, Gabriel has faith they’ll find and rescue Rosita’s daughter. But the one-eyed priest has already long outlived his comic book counterpart, who met a gory end when he was gutted and devoured down to the bone by a walker herd during the comic’s Whisperer War.

LUKE and JULES

In “Faith,” the group of Aaron, Jerry, Lydia, and Elijah’s trip to Oceanside turned up Luke and Jules, appearing for the first time since Season 10 episode “A Certain Doom” aired in October 2020. The couple revealed Oceanside’s fate after it was colonized by Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) in the “Acts of God” mid-season finale, and later turned up within the herd when it broke through the Commonwealth’s perimeter. 

Covered in blood and guts to walk with the dead undetected, Luke and Jules literally have the scent of death on them after so much time away. The tightknit group of Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Kelly (Angel Theory), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), Magna (Nadia Hilker), and Luke has been lucky to survive together since Season 9 — increasing the odds at least one of them doesn’t make it out of the series alive.

GOVERNOR PAMELA MILTON

As the final big bad of The Walking Dead, Governor Pamela Milton might be a dead woman walking. Milton shot Judith, turned the Alexandria Safe-Zone into the Outpost 22 prison camp, rigged a kangaroo court to charge Eugene (Josh McDermitt) with the death penalty, jailed hero soldier General Mercer (Michael James Shaw) for treason — and sentenced thousands of her own citizens to death when she ordered the city sealed off and the swarm diverted toward the lower wards. The Governor (David Morrissey) and Alpha (Samantha Morton) paid for their sins with their lives, so the question might be: who kills Pamela Milton? 

Still, Governor Milton might see justice for her crimes. In the comics — spoiler alert — it’s her spoiled rotten son, Sebastian, who spends the rest of his life behind bars for assassinating Rick Grimes. Because TV Sebastian (Teo Rapp-Olsson) ended up as walker food, Comic Sebastian’s fate might go to Governor Milton if she survives the final episode.

Here’s everything to know about how to watch The Walking Dead series finale, “Rest in Peace,” airing November 20th on AMC and AMC+. Follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for TWD Universe coverage all season long.