The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman defends season six cliffhanger

'We weren't trying to game the audience, we weren't trying to drive you crazy'

(AMC)

For thousands of fans, the season six finale of The Walking Dead was infuriating. All season, Negan’s appearance had been teased, with everyone knowing he would, at some stage, kill off one of the main cast members.

However, to most people’s displeasure, they decided to leave it completely open, instead just showing a first person perspective of what was happening without revealing who the victim was.

The Walking Dead’s creator, Robert Kirkman, has said in an open letter - via an open letter in The Walking Dead comic #154 - that he never meant to upset people: he just wanted to get them talking and speculating about the show because that’s “fun”.

"The season six finale has certainly caused a fervour online," he wrote, via Digital Spy. "EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT. Some people love it. Some people are indifferent. Some people HATE it.

“We weren't trying to game the audience, we weren't trying to drive you crazy, and we certainly weren't trying to FORCE you to come back for season seven - we hope you were always planning on doing that and still plan on doing that.

"We did want you to talk. And talk you are. The speculation, the frustration, the possibilities, the theories - honestly, in my mind, that stuff is FUN. I honestly feel like that's something fun for the fans to do during the break.”

Kirkman reiterated that he didn’t mean to make people angry, but that it was just “something to talk about. For some of you, [the cliffhanger] backfired and you're angry. And for that, I'm sorry.”

He continued: ”The only thing I can PROMISE you is that the season seven premiere is going to be awesome. And when viewed as a two-part episode (the same way EVERY SEASON of Star Trek: The Next Generation ended with the first half of a two-part episode that was a cliffhanger...), it's going to be a pretty awesome ride.

"And every minute of the season six finale was important and was setting something up that you probably won't see coming."

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.