The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus knows what happens next and it is 'gut-wrenching'

"I think sometimes people think our show is survivor island and 'Who's gonna eat it this week?' But it's not, and that episode was to show the change of power"

Daryl Dixon

*Warning: spoilers for The Walking Dead finale which aired 04 April in the UK, below*

The Walking Dead fans knew bad days were on the horizon with the arrival of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan); but they may not have guessed season 6 would end on such a tense cliffhanger.

Lining up Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira), Glenn (Steven Yeun), Daryl (Norman Reedus), Rosita (Christian Serratos), Carl (Chandler Riggs), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Aaron (Ross Marquand), Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green); Negan took his choice of who would fall victim to his wire-covered bat, so fondly called Lucille.

Yet, as Negan took the hit, the screen suddenly went black; leaving the final revelation of which character met their grisly death until next season's opening. Though the rest of the cast have so far protested their ignorance about what's ahead, Norman Reedus didn't cut any corners; the actor knows who's kicking the bucket, and he's not happy about it.

"I know what happens, and it's gut-wrenching to me," the actor told Today; further defending the importance of the cliffhanger in terms of progressing the show's narrative."I think sometimes people think our show is survivor island and 'Who's gonna eat it this week?'," he added. "But it's not, and that episode was to show the change of power. Rick goes into that episode real confident, and he comes out of it broken."

Indeed, producer Robert Kirkman had previously stressed the importance of the finale in setting into motion the events of season 7; "I’m feeling, oddly, great. I’m very excited where it’s at. What’s happening in the show is extremely sad and extremely depressing but I think it’s going to put us into a good place going into season 7."

You can read our rundown of who's most likely to have fallen victim to Negan's brutality here. The Walking Dead returns to FOX in October.