The Walking Dead: Henry is going to be just fine
The world of The Walking Dead can be a rough road for kids. Sophia. Lizzie. Benjamin. Carl. Little Henry has a different road ahead, and he’ll be just fine.
Kids have a lot to deal with in the apocalypse. In The Walking Dead episode “Honor,” young Henry made a decision that he will have to deal with for the rest of his life. Despite being told not to follow Carol, Henry decided to follow her into battle at the Kingdom and ended up getting the revenge he needed for his brother’s death.
First of all, anyone who expects kids to listen on The Walking Dead needs to rethink that strategy. No one ever seems to listen, with possible exception to poor Sam who locked himself away in his room after Carol scared the living poop out of him.
Henry had an axe to grind with the Saviors. They killed his brother Benjamin and robbed him of his only living family member. While Gavin may not have been directly involved with Benjamin’s death, the only thing Henry knew (and cared about) was that Gavin was part of the group that took his brother’s life. So he killed him.
More from Undead Walking
- Walking Dead alum Jayson Warner Smith promotes new film, Chipper, watch it now
- Walking Dead actor Chandler Riggs filming new movie in Tampa Bay
- Why is there no season 12 of The Walking Dead?
- Will Morgan Jones find Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live spinoff?
- Watch Tales of TWD actress Jillian Bell in Prime Video’s Candy Cane Lane
As Henry pointed out to Carol, he knows how to use the stick and how to use a gun. Morgan and Carol taught him those skills, but they taught him for the purpose of self-defense. Little did they know the young man was planning on using those skills when the opportunity presented itself.
Now that Henry has taken a life, what happens? Carl told his father the guilt he felt after killing the boy at the prison. Lizzie was suffering from mental illness when she gleefully took her sister’s life. Will Henry be scarred for life? My guess: Probably not. Unlike Carl, Henry took a life because one was taken from him. As with Hammurabi’s Code, Henry took the “eye for an eye” route to exact his revenge. In his child’s mind, he did what he thought was right to avenge his brother’s death, and it was a bonus because he helped “save” Morgan, Ezekiel and Carol in the process.
Given the wartime circumstances, and given the support he’s likely to receive from Ezekiel, it seem likely that Henry will move beyond what happened. Henry doesn’t seem to be the kind of kid who wants to kill for the sport of it. Justice has been served, and life goes on.