When does Lori die in The Walking Dead?

Lori Grimes was the wife of Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and mother to Carl and Judith in The Walking Dead series. This is a character seen in the series and the comic story created by Robert Kirkman, from where the series gets its source material. Each of these stories varies, but one thing remains the same, Lori dies early in the story.

In the series, Lori is portrayed by Sarah Wayne Callies. Upon believing her husband’s partner and best friend Shane’s (Jon Bernthal) story that her husband died after sustaining a bullet wound in the line of duty, she clings to Shane, who promises to protect her and Carl (Chandler Riggs). The reality of Rick’s condition is that he was still in a coma in the hospital when the outbreak occurred.

Lori and Shane would partner with a group of survivors from Atlanta and eventually become intimate. When it is discovered that Rick survived and returned to his family, Shane’s jealousy would be his undoing. It was soon after Rick’s return that Lori discovered she was pregnant.

The Walking Dead – Lori

During the season premiere of season 3, Lori’s pregnancy was quite advanced as the survivors continued to look for a safe place to live and for Lori to give birth to the child. In season 2, Lori confided to Rick about her relationship with Shane, and Rick’s admission that he killed Shane to protect the group, compounded with her reaction, greatly strained the couple’s relationship. When they find the prison, it appears this is the answer they had been searching for.

During the fourth episode of season 3, “Killer Within,” Lori experiences one of the series’s most heartbreaking and gruesome deaths. Carl, Lori, and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) escape into a cell block when walkers overrun the courtyard. As they wander through the halls, Lori goes into labor.

Maggie readies Lori to deliver, with Carl looking on when she begins to hemorrhage. She realizes that the only way to save the baby is via c-section, for which she won’t survive. Lori then breaks the fandom’s hearts when she says her goodbyes to Carl, saying to him, “You’re the best thing I ever did.” Maggie performs the c-section, and as Lori bleeds out, the baby, Judith, is born.

As if that wasn’t heartbreaking enough, Carl steps up to do what he must, as he shoots his dead mother in the head so she won’t be able to reanimate.

Lori is a character many viewers weren’t fond of due to her manipulation of Rick and Shane, but most can agree this was one of the worst deaths of The Walking Dead. 

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