Why The Walking Dead Just Got Cancelled

7. Playing With Expectations

Again, it can't be understated just how out of nowhere this sudden ending actually is. For one, both Kirkman and publisher Image went to the trouble of releasing cover images for upcoming instalments after 193 (as is normal practice) in order to hide that they were actually gearing up to end the story.

In a way, that was actually genius, as while fans were debating just who was bleeding on the cover of 195, a comic that doesn't even exist (with some even speculating it could be Negan), Kirkman and co. were quietly tinkering away at the surprise finale away from watchful eyes.

Even the fact that Rick Grimes, the hero of the entire story, died in the pages of 192 didn't clue fans in to the fact that the comic was in its endgame, or even planning on winding down at all. For years now, Kirkman made it clear that Rick - just like anyone in the world of The Walking Dead - was fair game. Not only that, the writer outright promised the Grimes patriarch would die, positioning the inevitability as a 'when' rather than an 'if'.