The 10 most iconic images from AMC’s The Walking Dead

7. Look At The Flowers

“The Grove” stands as one of the most poignant and heartbreaking episodes in the history of The Walking Dead. This image of Carol getting ready to shoot Lizzie because Lizzie is not capable of adjusting to the apocalypse world captures a defining moment for Carol. It captures the moment when Carol found the strength to put aside the morality of the old world and truly accepted what surviving in the apocalypse world means.

It’s iconic because it’s the embodiment of one of the harshest truths of The Walking Dead world: that hard choices have to be made for the survival of a group. Even though Lizzie was just a child she killed Mika and would have killed Judith too. She couldn’t make the distinction between the living and the dead. That made her a serious threat to any living person around her. She was also a threat to herself, because she wanted to become a walker and felt an emotional connection to them.

Carol’s journey has been so extraordinary. And her evolution through this episode was beautiful and tragic to watch. In many ways Carol is the ultimate survivor of the group. And her willingness to do anything, even kill a child, in order to protect the people she loves proves that she will be one of the last survivors standing. Even though it’s taken an immense toll on her emotionally Carol is sometimes even more capable than Rick of making the toughest choices for survival. And this image personifies her strength and commitment to survival and to the people she loves.