8 Excellent TV Series & Characters That Ceased To Exist In 2013

3. Hershel Greene, "The Walking Dead"

In a show with such a massively high body count as The Walking Dead, it's kind of amazing that an elderly, slow-moving one legged man managed to survive for the two and a half seasons that he did. But his luck only lasted until the end of the fall finale episode "Too Far Gone" where he was decapitated by the Governor as Rick watches, as punishment for Rick's refusal to follow the Governor's orders. Hershel's purpose in the show was to function as the voice of reason and calm in contrast to Rick's insanity and Merle's blood-thirstiness, a slot previously occupied by Dale, who died at the end of Season 2. We first encounter him as the owner of the farmland that Rick's party encounters after escaping Atlanta and the CDC compound. He attempts to save a bullet-wounded Carl and although the operation is ultimately successful, tensions grow between him and Rick's group, culminating in the members of his family that have been changed into walkers (along with the missing Sophia) being slaughtered. Hershel realizes he has been mistaken about the nature of the zombie threat and begins to trust Rick and his group from this point on. When the group moves to the prison in Season 3, Hershel is bitten by a walker and is forced to have his leg amputated. However, he manages to survive the process and becomes the resident prison doctor, selflessly risking his own life by tending to the victims of the airborne zombie infection at the beginning of Season 4. Hershel was a man with a strong and inflexible moral code, and perhaps that was part of the reason for his demise. Despite his belief that no one is "too far gone" to be saved, The Governor certainly was, and had no compunction about sacrificing him. Brutally.