Did anyone die in The Walking Dead midseason premiere

The Walking Dead is back for season 9B and started on a somber note with a goodbye to a fan favorite character.

Jesus was killed in The Walking Dead midseason finale, but the true impact of his death wasn’t really shown until the midseason premiere, “Adaptation”. The midseason premiere starts up exactly where the midseason finale left off, with Michonne, Magna, Yumiko, Aaron, Eugene, and Daryl surrounded as they try to process what just happened.

They manage to clear the area and recover Jesus’ body to bring home to the Hilltop but the Whisperers are still all around them and they know that they are being followed as they head back to Hilltop to bring Jesus home.

When they ride through the Hilltop gate with Jesus’ body draped over one of the horses the people of Hilltop are shocked. Jesus was such a capable fighter it’s hard for them to believe that he could be killed. Since he was voted the leader of the Hilltop they didn’t only lose one of the most valuable members of the community they also lost their leader.

Michonne said that bringing Jesus’ body back to the Hilltop will help the people there move on and it is good that they have the chance to grieve for Jesus but moving on won’t be easy for anyone. Jesus’ quiet presence, intelligence, and superb fighting skills make his loss one that the Hilltop won’t recover from for a long time. With Maggie gone and Jesus dead the next leader of the Hilltop, which looks like it will be Tara, will have some big boots to fill.

Wasted Potential

In The Walking Dead comic Jesus is still alive and many fans who read the comic as well as watch the show were shocked to see Jesus get killed off because in the comic he plays a large role in several different key storylines. Fans were upset at the death of Jesus because they felt like even though the character has been around for several seasons now the show never really developed Jesus and never use the considerable talents that Tom Payne had to make Jesus the kind of character that he could have been.

While Jesus’ death must serve the overall narrative of the story that will be revealed later on right now fans are upset with the death and the midseason premiere brought back their grief as they watched Hilltop residents bury Jesus. Perhaps this piece of fanart by Walker Wyn can help fans get over their grief. You can follow her on Twitter @WynTheWalker.

Losing Jesus was another grim reminder that no matter how peaceful things seem there are always threats looming. And with the Whisperers fully on the scene now Jesus is probably not the last main character that will before this season of The Walking Dead ends.