The Walking Dead season 7: Steven Yeun explains why he wanted Negan to kill Glenn

**Major spoilers for Walking Dead season 7 premiere ahead**

The day of reckoning came and went: finally, we know which member of Rick’s group Negan killed on The Walking Dead. **Major spoilers ahead**

Opening season seven in such a brutal way was always going to split opinion. Would it be too gory? Would viewers be too upset over who dies?

In the end, showrunner Scott M. Gimple went all out, holding nothing back as both Abraham and Glenn met their maker, while Rick went through traumatic hell and Daryl was taken away.

Despite the premiere being the long foreseen end of Glenn’s time on the show, actor Steven Yeun - who played Glenn throughout the show’s six previous seasons - was glad the character died by Negan's bat.

"Robert wrote such a messed up and incredible way to take something away to make a story as impactful as it is and when you read that comic, you kinda don't want that to go to anyone else. It's such an iconic moment," he said on The Talking Dead, AMC’s after-show discussion, via The Hollywood Reporter.

"Living that out was very wild but at the same time, that moment happening and being realised on television in a different medium and to do it in the way that we did it is brave and at the same time super-affecting and that for me was motivation."

Abraham actor Michael Cuditz - who became a regular in season five after being a recurring character throughout season four - also spoke about leaving the show.

"Denise (Merritt Wever) took his death graciously two episodes prior," Cudlitz said. "At that point, I knew I had gone beyond where he was in the graphic novel. Kirkman said he was not happy with how he took Abraham out in the graphic novel so I was curious to see where we would go from there. I think in the group, he made it very clear to Negan that if he were going to take somebody, take me if it's going to help protect the rest of the group.”

On his soon-to-be infamous last line before his death - “suck my nuts” - Cuditz added: "Suck my nuts: that’s always satisfying, right? If he's going to go out, these guys had a tough job inserting any dialogue with Abraham because of the way we left the end of last season. It was very clear there was full eye contact left with Negan. It was very appreciate for him to go out that way.”

Meanwhile, the trailer for episode two leaked before the premiere started, viewers being made aware that both Rick and Daryl survive the brutal encounter.