Bad things are about to happen on The Walking Dead's Season 4 finale. The finale airs on Sunday and the most recent episode, "Us," ended so calmly that only absolute chaos can follow. Glenn and Maggie were reunited and both of their groups safely made it to Terminus, with Daryl and Rick on their way to the supposed sanctuary. But The Walking Dead isn't the kind of show to end a season with everyone having a blissful barbecue. No, everyone is in danger, the question is, exactly which Walking Dead characters will die?
Consider the last two season finales of The Walking Dead. When Season 2 ended, Hershel's farm was attacked by an army of walkers and subsequently burned down; as a result, Rick's group was separated and had nowhere to go. The third season finale featured an all-out war between Rick's group and Woodbury, ending with the death of Andrea and the Governor escaping. What sets this season apart, however, is that it hasn't been building to any specific conflict. The second season's walker attack was preceded by Rick killing Shane and the hoard of walkers approaching the farm, while the end of Season 3 continuously built the tension between Rick and the Governor, making a conflict inevitable.
So far, the second half of this fourth season has only steered the various groups towards Terminus, with some finally arriving in "Us." This setup actually mirrors the show's first season, which had Rick's original group find the supposedly safe CDC in the penultimate episode, only to find out in the finale that it was about to explode and kill them all. While it's doubtful that Terminus is on the brink of self-destruction, there's definitely something up with the "community for all," and it puts all of The Walking Dead's characters at risk.
Here's who you should be most worried about:
Carl
Carl has had his ups and downs throughout the course of the show and now that he's finally settled into a tolerable, occasionally amusing place, it might be his time to go. Rick is safe, because 1) he is the show's main character and 2) The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman said the finale will push him to his limits and "the Rick Grimes that comes out of this is really going to shock people." So Rick lives, but goes through a lot in the finale.
Losing Carl would absolutely shatter Rick. Through everything that's happened, he's had Carl and would probably never be able to forgive himself if something happened. Carol and Tyreese are also on their way to Terminus with Judith, and it would be an awful but effective twist if Rick were to get back one of his children only to lose the other.
Then there's Carl's growing friendship with Michonne. When we first met Michonne, she was a stone-faced badass with a soft spot for Andrea, and she somehow became even more stoic after Andrea's death — until she started bonding with Carl. He's made Michonne smile, laugh and even share details about her life, and is one of the few people she's opened up to on the show. If something happens to Carl, it will completely destroy both Rick and Michonne, making his death even more likely. Nothing fuels a violent, horror-based show like despair and revenge.
Bob
Because seriously, who even is Bob? We know he's a recovering alcoholic who tends to be the last one standing of a group, but that obviously won't be the case when his group is filled with main characters the audience is way more invested in than him. The episode "Alone" opened with a look into his past and he later kisses Sasha. That's just enough exposition to make us care when he dies, without getting too upset. Sorry Bob, we'll (kind of) miss you.
Glenn
Last week's tearful reunion of Glenn and Maggie might have been just a little too much of a happy ending for The Walking Dead. Glenn might die trying to save Maggie, or be killed in cold blood only to have Maggie swear revenge for next season. io9's Rob Bricken also pointed out how foreboding Maggie burning her photo was.
There's another big reason to worry for Glenn in the season finale. (Comics spoilers ahead.) Where the Walking Dead TV series is now wasn't in the comics, unless Terminus turns out to be a comic location under a different name, but either way, Glenn dies in the comic series and that puts him in danger on the show. If he and Maggie seem a little too happy, so watch out.
Beth
If being abducted into a stranger's car during the zombie apocalypse doesn't guarantee TV death, I don't know what does. Beth is definitely in trouble and while we'll probably see her alive in the finale, it probably won't last. Depending on just how sinister Terminus turns out to be, she could already be there when everyone else arrives as a prisoner of some kind, or she might've been taken by someone associated with Daryl's new, suspicious group. It also may have been someone else entirely, but regardless, people aren't usually taken against their will for good reasons.
Beth's newfound closeness with Daryl also spells trouble. Like Carl and Michonne, Beth has made Daryl open up a little more and he seems to genuinely care for her, so her death is yet another that would bring huge repercussions for a major character. However if Beth dies, then Glenn is probably safe and vice versa. It would just be too much for Maggie to lose both her husband and sister in one episode, especially after watching her father be decapitated just a few weeks earlier.
Tara
If The Walking Dead wants to kill off characters for a dramatic season finale without actually upsetting any viewers or having to deal with a lot of emotion, Tara is the way to go. Her closest connection is Glenn, who she only likes because she feels like she owes him and in return he let her accompany him into a dark tunnel filled with walkers while injured. She doesn't exactly make the best decisions and she may make her final mistake in the season finale.
Images: AMC (6)
