The world of The Walking Dead lasted eleven seasons, and even now, with several spinoffs out and completed, I sometimes reflect back on characters who came and went and wonder what could have been. Would they have gotten a spinoff too, if given the chance? Or would their story have been squandered like so many other great characters before them?
For me, one character from the mainline show could have done phenomenal things if they'd been given the chance to live much longer. While I could state the obvious—like Glenn (Steven Yeun) or Carl (Chandler Riggs)—I'm going to go out on a limb and mention a name plenty of people have stopped talking about.
I’m going to talk about Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) and how he could have done fantastic things for this show.
Tyreese’s death felt unnecessary
The Walking Dead pretty much has a history of killing characters at some of the craziest or most inopportune moments. Sometimes the shock works. Most of the time, it causes crazy backlash. Two of the biggest examples are obviously Glenn’s death and, later on in season 8, Carl’s death.
But no one ever really talks about Tyreese’s death as much anymore, and that’s mainly because another death overshadowed it that really does still hit me years later—Beth Greene’s (Emily Kinney).
Back in season 5, the mid-season finale, “Coda,” Beth was killed by a reflexive shot to the head by Dawn (Christine Woods). Beth had gone to stab Dawn in the shoulder, and because of that, she was shot point-blank by the gun in Dawn’s hands. It was a harrowing moment and one of the darkest deaths of the show—the symbolism of her light dying out, as Beth was seen at that in the group.
However, the show didn’t give us a break; instead, the series killed Tyreese off in the next episode, the mid-season premiere, “What Happened and What’s Going On.” Tyreese is bitten by a walker while scavenging supplies and has his arm cut off but eventually dies due to blood loss. To me, who genuinely loved this character, it felt like a slap in the face and just another way to make fans angry and turn in to see what the fallout would be.
The only real thing that happened was that Tyreese’s death was more like a catalyst for Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) to enter a major depression. But other than that, his death meant nothing to the storyline. It makes me wonder what could have happened if he'd stayed around.
Tyreese could have become the next moral compass
The thing I loved most about Tyreese was that he was genuinely kind. He was a strong man who knew his way around a gun and could protect the ones he loved, but he also knew right from wrong and could tell when someone deserved punishment. He could have easily become another right-hand man to Rick (Andrew Lincoln), if given the chance.
His role in the group might have grown even more if Glenn hadn't died, since he also served as a moral compass. He could have been a soldier against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) but also supplied a lot of good advice and kept morale up. He had that kind of attitude that would brighten anyone’s day.
If he had stayed around, we could have gotten so much more of that. But instead, it was lessened.
Tyreese could have become a major fighter and leader
Another route we could have taken was for him to become a major fighter in the war against not only the Saviors but the Whisperers as well. Tyreese was good at combat and using a weapon, but he also had a face you could easily trust.
I could easily see him becoming almost like a spy for the group to get information. The biggest thing is that his involvement would have stopped Sasha from doing such impulsive things during her time on the show (which ultimately led to her killing herself to try to take out Negan as a zombie).
He was smart in the ways he had to be, but the way the show chose to kill him made those past choices feel moot.
He did outlive his comic death, but it’s not enough
Tyreese was also a character in the comics, unlike some characters created just for the show. And his character also dies in the comics. In fact, he gets Hershel’s (Scott Wilson) death in the show, where he’s decapitated by Michonne’s katana by the Governor, thanks to him getting kidnapped.
But even if he did make it past this in the show, it’s the way his character was built up only for him to be taken down so quickly that turns this death into something much shallower. There was no point in killing him off instantly after Beth when he could have been so much more, or at least let him live for a season or two.
There are better ways this could have ended, but not with Tyreese biting the bullet so quickly after another main character died. Instead, it led to a clunky season 5 that only really got good once they got to Alexandria. In my mind, he still makes it there, but I can only imagine “What if?”
You can watch all 11 seasons of The Walking Dead on Netflix.
Add us as a preferred source on Google