10 Times The Walking Dead Traumatised Fans
9. Sophia's Fate
Season 2 Episode 7: "Pretty Much Dead Already."
The emotional fate of Sophia is the driving force of the first half of season two. After fleeing the CDC, our group find themselves stuck on a motorway swarmed by walkers. Sophia, Carol's daughter, becomes frightened and runs off into the woods.
The group then seek shelter at Hershel's farm on the other side of the woods while they search for Sophia. However, Hershel has a mysterious barn that he forbids anyone from entering.
After failing to find any clues about Sophia's whereabouts, Rick, Shane and our group become frustrated with Hershel and force open the barn.
Walkers pour out of the barn including Hershel's zombified family. Hershel was keeping them there in the hope that a cure could be found to save them. As the group eliminate the walkers, a zombified Sophia creeps out of the barn.
Why is this traumatising? Because it's the first truly heartbreaking death in the show. So much time was spent on the search for Sophia only for her to have been dead all along and in the barn right next to them.
The death of a child will always be traumatising, but seeing Sophia crawl out of that barn, mixed with Carol's haunting screams, is heartbreaking.