The Walking Dead: 7 Reasons Why Carl's Death Was A HUGE Mistake
5. It Really Screws The Comics
Carl is, unsurprisingly, still alive in The Walking Dead comic books, which is now way ahead of the show. He's survived All Out War, is still a big part of things after the time jump, and remains heavily involved in the storylines to come involving the Whisperers, which will probably form a big part of Season 9.
The show has deviated from the comics in some big ways before, with Carol's character outliving her graphic novel counterpart and Andrea having her life cut short by some distance, but this is the biggest change yet. It's not necessarily a terrible thing for them to do their own thing in some respects, but since they still tend to hit the same major milestones and plot points it does cast a lot more uncertainty over where the show is headed, while delivering something akin to a massive f**k you to fans of the comics who want to see those events play out on screen.