The Walking Dead season 9 episode 4 sees Norman Reedus' Daryl Dixon drop show's first F-word

'Relaxed' guidelines means the show can deploy the word twice a seasons

The Walking Dead just dropped its first ever F-word.

Strict rules placed on the AMC series have meant it's had to censor the word “f*ck” from every episode in the past, however, guidelines were reportedly “relaxed” ahead of the show’s eighth season. meaning Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the gang could use the expletive up to twice throughout a season.

Despite this, The Walking Dead kept the word from the entirety of season eight – however, the show’s latest episode saw Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) utter the word in one of its more emotional moments.

Major spoilers follow for episode four, "The Obliged"

In what looks to be one of his final scenes with long-time ally Rick Grimes, Daryl – discussing why he believes Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) shouldn’t be kept alive – says: “You’re a** wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for Glenn. You wouldn’t have found Lori, you wouldn’t have found Carl, and you sure as f*** wouldn’t have found any of us.”

While The Walking Dead seems to have been more hesitant to deploy the F-bomb, spinoff show Fear the Walking Dead used it twice in its third season, spoken by characters Nick and Madison Clark (Frank Dillane and Kim Dickens).

One moment, however, saw Lincoln film a scene using the word, however it's only available to view as an extra on the season eight box set.

The Walking Dead continues in the US on AMC every Sunday with the simulcast airing in the UK at 2am. The episode is also available to watch on NOW TV ahead of its repeat on FOX at 9pm the following evening