The Walking Dead season 8 brand new trailer teases show's most heartbreaking episode to date

Get the tissues ready

The brand new trailer for The Walking Dead season 8 has teased the dramatic moments to come when the series returns later this month.

It seems that Carl's impending death - which is confirmed to arrive in the very next episode following the shock reveal in the midseason finale's climax - will only scratch the surface of what's to come as the war against The Saviour grows ever more complicated.

“How you stopped fighting: it was right - it still is; you can still be like that again,” Carl tells a devastated Rick (Andrew Lincoln) as he succumbs to his walker bite, desperate to impart some wisdom to his father before breathing his last breath.

Referencing the departure from the comic book series the show is based upon, in which Carl replaces Rick as the group's leader, Carl states: “Before Mum died, she told me I was going to beat this world... you will.”

Other things fans can expect when the series resumes its eighth season are tearful reunions - Daryl can be seen with Maggie and Carol at the Hilltop - and a showdown between The Saviours and the Jadis-led Scavengers.

One moment that has fans worried, however, is the scene which shows Michonne (Danai Gurira) struggling to escape a horde of walkers in the Junkyard pit. With Gurira scoring rave reviews in groundbreaking new Marvel film Black Panther, could the AMC series be about to lose one of its major players?

And then there's the ever-present Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who is infuriated that the people of Alexandria found a way out following his assault on the community in the midseason finale.

“I am the answer,” he proclaims at the end of the trailer. Could he save Carl from his fate? Almost certainly not considering the first trailer for the next episode - titled "Honor" appearing to feature what is assumed to be Carl's grave.

It was revealed earlier last month that writer Angela Kang will take over as showrunner for the newly-confirmed ninth season following Scott Gimple's appointment as overseer of the entire Walking Dead franchise.

You can read our review of the midseason finale here.

The Walking Dead season 8 returns to AMC in the US on 25 February 2018 with the UK premiere arriving the next evening on FOX. The episode will also be shown on NOWTV.

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