Did you think we were going to make it out of The Walking Dead universe without at least one more horribly sad death? Well, think again, because apparently, we’re getting one right at the premiere of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4.
In an interview with TV Insider, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon creator David Zabel was asked who has the best “walker kill” for the final season of the series. While he didn’t have an answer for that specific question, he did have an answer for who has the most heartbreaking one — and that, of course, just has to be Carol (Melissa McBride), and it happens to take place during the first episode:
“I will say Carol has the most heartbreaking one in a way in episode one…I won't say who. I won't say anything more. That's a very heartbreaking one. She can't talk about it. But that's a heartbreaking one.”
Okay, so clearly, we have two things to take away from this. One, whoever Carol kills, it is very sad. On top of that, it is so sad that she can’t even talk about it down the line. Um, what?
Who could be the unlucky victim in the Daryl Dixon season 4 premiere?
There are a few theories about who this could be, but I think the clearest answer is that Carol will most likely have to kill Antonio (Eduardo Noriega), which, if that’s the case, that really sucks.
Look, I was open when I said I had a bone to pick with The Walking Dead spinoffs, and my biggest issue was that I was not okay with them creating side characters and then killing them off so quickly. They did that exact thing with one specific character in the season 3 premiere, Julian (Stephen Merchant), and I’m still bitter about it.
However, because Antonio lasted an entire season, I guess I can’t be too mad if he is the one who gets killed. He and Carol had a bit of a romance in season 3 — where he even ended up running away with them alongside his son and his son’s lover — so maybe she ends up having to kill him.
We’ve also seen some trailers and clips from season 4 so far, and they have been terrifying, to say the least. One showed Daryl (Norman Reedus) alone in a hospital in America, or so it seems, where a man (Jimmy Smits) greets him and says, “Welcome home.” Carol is nowhere to be seen in that clip.
The other was a clip recently released at IGN Fan Fest, where we see a new variant of zombie in the series—a runner — which is horrifying. And we also know that the group runs into this, and it causes them a lot of trouble. Could Antonio have been bitten in this instance? Could they all end up dying, and could Daryl somehow end up on his own?
Frankly, we have so many questions about Daryl Dixon that we really want to see this ending, but now that we know someone is about to kick the bucket in the first episode, I’m a little hesitant. It almost makes that delay until February 2027 worth it, so we won’t need to witness so much sadness so quickly.
It is a bit of a shame, though, since this is essentially the last show to feature these specific characters. Dead City hasn’t been renewed yet, and The Ones Who Live was only ever meant to be one season. The ending that happens here is exactly what was meant to be.
Either way, this is the world of The Walking Dead, which means deaths are bound to happen, and we’ll be feeling a whole lot of pain soon. Let’s hope that whoever does die won’t be gruesome as well, because I don’t think I could handle that.
You can stream the first three seasons of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on AMC+ and Netflix. The series returns in February 2027.
Add us as a preferred source on Google