The Walking Dead: 10 Characters Who Died At The Wrong Time

With the death of Carl Grimes, so died The Walking Dead as audiences knew it. Of every character in the show, Carl (and later Judith) seemed the only one sure to survive it all, the son of a protective Rick Grimes, destined to lead the new world and defeat the old.

That's what happens in the comics, anyway, and the show seemed to be leaning that way, too. For all its melodrama, The Walking Dead's one emotional constant was Rick's desire to protect his family and give them a real future. 

Worse still is the fact that Carl himself was actually a compelling character in his own right, a scrappy born leader who by his season eight death was growing into quite the man, an endearing reflection of his father's best intentions. 

In the end, though, Carl Grimes wasn't meant to have the future the show seemed to be ending for. After everything he'd been through, he was bitten by a walker and then killed himself before he could turn. Yeah, it wasn't even a good death (and it wasn't even on-screen). 

But, hey, at least Judith lived happily ever after. He'd have wanted that, even if he should have been there, too.