The Walking Dead was known for creating plot lines that have been loved by fans all around. The story and its characters kept fans coming back to watch the show week after week, and the writers of the show were great at surprising fans with unforeseen plot twists. As fans continued to watch the show, they knew no characters were ever deemed safe.
The Walking Dead plot created turmoil between characters and fans alike. Some of these plot twists were necessary to carry the storyline forward, while others were proven detrimental to the show itself. Fans either commended these twists or criticized them. Today, we will be looking at six of the biggest plot twists that no one saw coming.
1. We are all infected
Rick Grimes had been keeping Dr. Jenner's whispered secret from season 1 hidden well into season 2. For a whole season, fans were itching to find out what he had told Rick. Finally, during the second season's finale, Rick reveals that Dr. Jenner had told him that they were all infected with the Wildfire virus.
This plot twist set the tone for the show and fans were shocked at the revelation. This wasn't just another zombie show or movie. There was no cure that was going to cure this virus, and this revelation lowered the group's hope for survival.
2. Discovering Carol killed Karen and David
At the beginning of season 4, Rick's group developed an illness while living at the prison. Everyone who had experienced the illness so far had died. Karen and David had been known to be the only two infected with the disease that were still alive. Soon after their diagnosis, their burned bodies were found by Tyreese Williams in one of the prison yards outside. Tyreese was distraught and Rick went into detective mode to find out who killed them. It was a shock to fans when it was finally revealed that Carol Peletier was the one who killed them.
Up until this point, Carol was known as a weaker character who seemed to keep to herself after her daughter died. She was known as the woman who had gone through a tough time with her abusive husband and the loss of her daughter, so no one expected her to do such a thing. Carol was a mother at heart who cared for everyone around her. She had promised Lizzie and Mika Samuels' father she would take care of his children. Carol learned from losing her own daughter the first time around and didn't want to make the same mistake again. She was willing to do whatever it took to protect the ones she loved.
3. Lizzie and Mika's death
In season 4 episode 14, Carol, Tyreese, Judith Grimes, Lizzie Samuels, and Mika Samuels all decide to stay at a house in the woods. Throughout the episode, we see that Lizzie is still struggling to view the walkers as dangerous. She believes that they are her friends and that a part of who they used to be is still present inside. At one point in the episode, the group experiences a horde of burnt walkers. After Lizzie witnesses Mika almost get eaten by one of the walkers, she stands up to fight the walkers with the group.,
After witnessing Lizzie kill off the burning walkers, it seems she now understands that the walkers are dangerous. Sadly, this was not true, and the next day, Lizzie killed Mika while Carol and Tyreese were out. Lizzie wanted them to understand how she viewed the walkers; she thought that they were still human, just different. Fans felt chills when Lizzie stated she was about to do the same thing to Judith. Then watching Carol kill Lizzie was even more gut-wrenching. This plot twist had fans in unexpected tears and brought about one of Carol's most iconic lines, "Look at the flowers."
4. Abraham and Glenn's death
Comic book lovers were bound to expect Glenn Rhee's death by Negan in season 7 episode 1; however, fans never expected there to be two big character deaths one after the other at the end of Lucille.
Fans were sad to see Abraham Ford go as the first death, but Glenn's death came out of nowhere. Daryl's punch to Negan led to his unexpected choice to kill off a second character, and Glenn happened to come to his conclusive comic book fate. Abraham's death also came as a shock since he had survived past his comic book death. Denise took Abraham's comic book death, meeting an arrow through the head. These two deaths left fans heartbroken, resulting in a huge loss to the fan base of the show as a whole.
5. Finding out Carl was bitten
Carl Grimes spent most of his time outside the walls and putting himself in danger for others. However, fans never saw it coming when it was announced that he was bitten in season 8 episode 8. Carl was bitten by a walker while rescuing Siddiq outside the walls in Alexandria. This came as a complete shock to fans of the show.
Carl was a staple character of The Walking Dead series. Even readers of the original The Walking Dead comic book series did not see this twist coming. In the comic book series, Carl outlived Rick and survived through the entire series. Carl was a beloved character, and this death went to prove that no one was safe on The Walking Dead.
6. The Pike's
During season 9, characters in The Walking Dead experience Alpha and the Whisperers' wrath. King Ezekiel decides to throw a fair for multiple communities all around to join together and have some fun. However, during this fair, Alpha decides to take it as an opportunity to take eight hostages and use them to set an example. Among these hostages are Tara, Enid, Siddiq, Henry, Tammy, Frankie, Adeline, and Rodney. Other group members, D.J., Ozzy, and Alec, try and rescue them, but are proven unsuccessful.
In the end Alpha beheads them all except for Siddiq, who she leaves alive to tell the story. Daryl, Yumiko, Michonne, and Carol find Siddiq, who shows them Alpha's border of heads. Alpha creates this border to draw a line between them all, threatening the groups to cease from crossing into their territory. Fans of the comic books had seen this border of heads coming, but were in for a whirlwind when they witnessed whose heads were planted on the pike. Tara, Enid, and Henry were some of the poor victims that fans didn't see coming. In the show, there was only one death that remained the same as the comics, which was the death of Tammy from the Hilltop. Fans were devastated to find some of their favorites met by a cruel death.