It goes without saying that The Walking Dead franchise is no stranger to shocking deaths. Heck, when it comes to consistent, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching deaths, you are looking at the undisputed champion of that. Remember Negan's vicious debut when he killed Glenn? What about that horrifying moment with Glenn's friend Noah? And how could we forgot the season 2 deaths of Dale and Shane, or the tragic falls of Lori and Carl.
That's just the original series we're talking about. The TWD Universe hasn't shied away from these moments outside of the original series, offering up shocks in spinoffs The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live and, of course, The Walking Dead: Dead City. The third season of Dead City, in particular, hasn't held back - but there was one that we didn't see coming. In fact, many of us still haven't noticed.
Benjamin Pierce killed in Dead City season 3 (and nobody is talking about it)
Remember Benjamin Pierce? If you do, it appears that you and The Walking Dead: Dead City have very different memories because the show clearly doesn't. The New Babylon Federation resident became a prominent figure in season 2 of the spinoff as he was forced to align with The Dama, the Croat, Negan and their crew upon being discovered in hiding. The Dama then installed him as the Burazi's historian upon learning that he was previously New Babylon's historian, too.
A good soul, he formed a genuine bond with Negan and vowed to stay behind at St. Patrick's Church to care for Ginny when the war broke out in the season 2 finale. However, that was the last time that the show saw him. Shortly after that, in the season 3 premiere of Dead City, that church exploded - killing the newly-arrived soldiers from the New Babylon Federation. And with that, the show started a brand new era without much of the baggage from the second season. Unfortunately, that was also the last that we saw of Pierce.
We're well over halfway through Dead City season 3's run and the character hasn't even been mentioned. While there was admittedly a time jump after the season premiere, it still doesn't explain what actually happened to him - especially as Negan never once addressed it. And therefore, there is only one unfortunate solution: Pierce was killed while still in the church's basement.
The most telling sign here is that actor Keir Gilchrist's name was just quietly removed from the opening credits between seasons. So this wasn't an oversight, a creative decision was made to move on from the Pierce character, which honestly isn't all that surprising considering that season 3 has been all about clearing house.
The first two episodes of season 3 featured some shocking deaths as both of the show's main villains, The Croat and The Dama, were unceremoniously killed off promptly, allowing the spinoff to completely move on from the first two seasons and start afresh. After all, that's what new showrunner Seth Hoffman's intentions always were, as it was clear that Dead City was in desperate need of a reset.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan in the TWD franchise, revealed that he was dangerously close to walking away from the character altogether, feeling that the former villain had lost his spark in the second season of Dead City. He wasn't the only one who felt that way either, so a completely different idea was crafted for the third season that allowed the show to do a soft reboot. Negan and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) are still in each other's orbit but they have moved on from their feud in a creative decision that was oddly well-received - with fans and critics branding Dead City season 3 easily the best season yet.
Unfortunately, that transition came at the cost of the remaining plot threads from seasons 1 and 2 that were promptly wrapped up in the season 3 premiere and completely dropped by the second episode. That obviously includes the New Babylon's historian, whose fate will likely be left unaddressed on-screen - because let's be honest, we all know what happened to him.
With the church explosion being solely responsible for ending the New Babylon Federation's presence in the TWD Universe (as well as eradicating the Burazi's base), it would make sense if the show decreed that the one person who served as historian for both of them also met his untimely end there. It's just unfortunate that it had to happen because, in all honesty, Pierce's character was easily one of the most interesting from the show's original iteration. And, considering that he bonded with Negan, told him that he would stay with him, it's really unfortunate that the show just cast him aside like that.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 is currently airing on AMC each Sunday night. It's also available to stream weekly on AMC+.
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