The Walking Dead: Deaths that SHOULDN’T have happened

4) Henry

A good place to start here is, basically, take most of what I said about Carl’s death, and paste it here because, for all intents and purposes, Henry’s death was like Carl’s death revisited.

Why? Well, mostly because Henry was taking on much of Carl’s role in the Whisperer War from the comics, making him a surrogate for Carl in season nine of the show, and making Henry’s death sort of like killing Carl a second time.

This death has always confused me because it (Along with Siddiq’s death in season ten) made Carl’s death feel…kind of pointless.

I know, I know, realistically, in a zombie apocalypse many times, deaths would be pointless, but I’m talking from the perspective of it being a TV show; it feels pointless. First, Carl gets killed off, then Henry, serving as Carl’s replacement in the story, gets killed off, then Siddiq, who Carl risked and ultimately lost his life trying to bring back to Alexandria, got killed off. All of this makes all of what Carl and Henry were doing to feel moot.

If it weren’t for the fact season eleven is the final season; I would seriously expect Lydia to die just to make everything come full circle. Having the person, Henry essentially died for getting killed off, just to make that moot, too!

Realistically, the show could have just as easily had King Ezekiel die, like in the comics, and use that as Carol’s motivation to kill Alpha. You didn’t need to have Henry die. Having Alpha kill, Ezekiel could have added a serious new wrinkle to Henry and Lydia’s relationship, with Henry possibly lashing out at Lydia because of his dad’s death.  This would put their relationship, and Lydia’s loyalty to the communities, in doubt, forcing Henry to have to work toward getting past his grief and repair he and Lydia’s relationship.

I mean, this is just one thing you could have done had Henry survived. My overall point is: Henry’s death feels unnecessary, and especially with Alpha gone, makes Lydia feel a little directionless at this point. She’s not being “adopted” by Carol, her mom is gone, and the boy she left her mother for is now gone, too. With Henry around, he and Lydia could always have something to do as their relationship grew and had ups and downs. With Henry gone, and now, with the Whisperers gone, I don’t want to see Lydia become an afterthought and confirm my fears about Henry’s death being unnecessary and his actions in his final season becoming moot.

That would be like killing him all over again since his death is like killing Carl all over again; it’s just too much.

But what do you think? Do you agree? Do you think there were any other deaths in The Walking Dead that shouldn’t have happened? Let me know! I’m curious to hear! If you enjoyed this and want to learn how to avoid your own unnecessary death in a zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can also get it at Amazon here, on iTunes here!