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Rick Grimes has officially left The Walking Dead bowing out as the character (minus three feature-length TV movies ) during the episode ”What Comes After”.
While the fandom has largely bees discussing the leading character’s departure, the episode was also notable for jumping ahead in time.
The final scenes see newcomers Magna (Nadia Hilker), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), Luke (Dan Fogler), Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Kelly (Angel Theory) battling a group of Walkers. The characters – who all come from the comics – are eventually saved by a now grown Judith Grimes.
Showrunner Angela Kang has since confirmed the length of the time between the previous scenes and the newest one.
“We’re calling this a six-year time jump,” she told Entertainment Weekly
Chief content officer and former showrunner Scott M. Gimple has also spoken about the jump, revealing to The Hollywood Reporter The Walking Dead will be very different.
“When people come back for episode six, they’re in for another new beginning,” he said. ”The way that episode five ended with Little Ass-Kicker being not so little, but still very much an ass kicker… we’ll see these new characters [and how] the world has changed and not only in just the way it will look, but in the relationships of all these characters and the history that has transpired between the end of Rick’s story [in] 905 and the start of 906. A lot of time has passed.”
Show all 15 1 /15The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Sophia's a walker When: Season two, episode seven What happens? Much of season two's opening half is spent looking for Sophia, the missing daughter of Carol (Melissa McBride). Turns out she was locked up in Hershel's barn as a zombie all along.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Shane re-animates When: Season two, episode 12 What happens? When Carl (Chandler Riggs) guns down a deranged Shane (Jon Bernthal) to protect his father, viewers were shocked to see him turn into a walker despite not being bitten, leading to the revelation that everyone's infected with the virus and will turn, whichever way they die.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Lori dies in childbirth When: Season three, episode four What happens? Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) goes into labour at the very moment a walker siege breaks out at the prison. Unfortunately, she doesn't make it through the procedure leaving son Carl to be the one to put a bullet to her head. That it came in the same episode which saw T-Dog (IronE Singleton) die didn't help matters.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments The Governor slays Hershel When: Season four, episode eight What happens? The Governor makes his dramatic return for a showdown at the prison after he captures Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Hershel (Scott Wilson). Rick attempts to reason with him – but The Governor starts a war when he proceeds to decapitate poor old Hershel instead.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments "Look at the flowers" When: Season four, episode 14 What happens? In a standout episode from the show's fourth season, Carol is forced to take drastic measures when young teenager Lizzie murders her sister Mika in the belief that she'll live on as a zombie. Realising Lizzie's depraved mind would endanger those around her, Carol puts a gun to the young girl's head and, telling her to "look at the flowers," pulls the trigger, fighting back the tears.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Rick turns feral When: Season four, episode 16 What happens? Ambushed by a group of redneck peadophiles, Rick takes matters into his own hands Ambushed by a group of redneck peadophiles, Rick takes matters into his own hands – by taking a chunk out of the leader’s neck before gutting another and mercilessly stabbing another in the stomach. It’s one of the more shocking moments from a character whom, at this stage of the show, blurred the lines between heroism and villainy.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Bob gets eaten When :
Season five, episode two What happens? The threat of Terminus is cemented when we disocver they haven't just kidnapped Bob (Larry Gilliard, Jr) but that they're slowly eating him body part-by-body part.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Beth bites it When :
Season five, episode eight What happens? Beth (Emily Kinney) is kidnapped and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital managed by Atlanta Law Enforcement. Forced to reside there against her will, the group – including Rick and Daryl (Norman Reedus) – eventually find her, only for Beth to be accidentally shot in the head by her captor. The worst thing? Her sister Maggie (Lauren Cohan) had just arrived outside.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Glenn's fake death When: Season six, episode three What happens? With an innumerable number of walkers catching up with the group on their way back to Alexandria, Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Nicholas find themselves trapped in an alleyway. Climbing onto a dumpster, the two are surrounded by the undead with no discernible escape. Nicholas draws his gun, utters a "Thank you" to Glenn before shooting himself in the head, his flailing body pulling Glenn into the pit of walkers below. Despite the episode leading you to believe he died, it emerges four episodes later that he managed to crawl away as the walkers feasted on Nicholas' corpse leading to fan furore.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Carl takes a bullet to the eye When: Season six, episode nine What happens? Season six returned from its mid-season break in typically dramatic fashion when an iconic moment from the graphic novels came to life: Carl takes a bullet to the eye.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Richonne When: Season six, episode 10 What happens? Following the stress of Carl surviving a bullet to the eye, Rick and Michonne realise they have more than just friendship in common. It was a welcome deviation from the comics that disarmed a number of the show's fans, and has been a relationship that's continued to shape the DNA of the series to this day.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Negan kills Abraham When :
Season seven, episode one What happens? Season seven opened in brutal form as we discovered it was Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) at the opposite end of Negan's baseball bat. "Suck my nuts," the soldier growls as the Saviours' leader brings Lucille raining down on his head until nothing remains but a pulpy mess.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Glenn's actual death When: Season seven, episode one What happens? ...that wasn't all. Negan decides to punish the group once more after getting clocked round the face by Daryl. Without expectation, he thwacks Lucille round the head of poor Glenn. With his eyeball popping out of his head, he manages: "I'll find you, Maggie" before Negan proceeds to finish the job, ending Glenn's life.
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Shiva When: Season seven, episode two What happens? In a moment that comic book readers never expected to manifest on screen, we meet Shiva – a living, breathing tiger belonging to the Kingdom's leader, Ezekiel (Khary Payton). Carol summed it up best: "I don't know what's going on in the most wonderful way."
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The Walking Dead: 15 most controversial moments Carl dies When :
Season eight, episode nine What happens? Having had a near-miss with a walker episodes before, fans were left blindasided by the reveal that Carl, in fact, giot bit by the walker and was slowly succumbing to his wounds. It's been the biggest deviation from the comics and one that fans were unanimously upset by.
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Rick Grimes’s story may have ended in the main TV series, but Lincoln and Gimple have confirmed that the character will return in an upcoming trilogy of movies. Read further about all the biggest talking points from the new episode here .
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