Baby Rhee’s name for The Walking Dead season 9 confirmed by Angela Kang

The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang confirmed Baby Rhee has arrived finally and is named for his beloved grandfather.

After what seemed like a very long pregnancy showrunner Angela Kang confirmed on the Talking Dead preview special last night that Baby Rhee has arrived without complication and his name is Hershel. That’s not a surprise to anyone that reads The Walking Dead comics, but it’s still great news for fans who were anxiously awaiting the birth of Glenn and Maggie’s son.

Hershel Rhee will give Maggie a new reason to keep fighting and she will take the mantle from Rick of a parent desperately fighting to protect their child at all costs. Maggie really comes into her own in season 9 as the stalwart leader of The Hilltop and as a mom to baby Hershel.

It’s bittersweet to see Hershel Rhee arrive finally and it’s impossible not to think about how happy Glenn would have been to see his son. It’s safe to assume that he would approve of Maggie’s decision to name the child after Hershel, who would have been a fantastic grandfather.

Maggie’s future on The Walking Dead is open-ended as Lauren Cohan has been working on other projects like a lead role in the ABC show Whiskey Cavalier. But whether she stays on the show or not now Glenn’s legacy is assured on the show through baby Hershel. While fans will always miss Glenn, who was killed by Negan in season 7, the arrival of his son helps heal that wound a bit.

Grandpa Hershel

Compounding the sadness for fans is the knowledge that Hershel would have been an amazing grandfather to Baby Rhee. It’s up to Maggie now to teach Hershel all the life lessons and wisdom that his beloved grandfather would have taught him. And eventually, he will receive his grandfather’s pocket watch that has now been passed down from Hershel to Glenn and then to Maggie. The pocket watch is one of the most iconic symbols of the show and is a callback not just to simpler times for the survivors but also to the quiet faith and gentle influence of Hershel.

The time when the survivors were at the Greene farm is something that fans look back on fondly these days. No doubt Maggie will try to recreate the idyllic childhood that she had on the family farm for Hershel at The Hilltop. The Hilltop is the primary farm community of the community group and probably will end up producing most of the food for the communities and trading with the other communities. One of the reasons why Maggie is the perfect leader for The Hilltop is her knowledge of farming passed on to her by her father.

It’s not certain whether Maggie will last on The Walking Dead past season 9 but it’s heartwarming to know that Glenn and Maggie’s son, and Hershel’s legacy, will live on.