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AMC’s The Walking Dead has had quite a successful run for over a decade. Season 11, which was split into three parts, is set to be the show’s final season. Many fans were left shaken by the news, given that they had followed the show through its numerous plot twists for more than ten years. It is reported to have come as a shock not only to viewers but also to the show’s creative team as well.
In an interview with Collider, cast member Jeffrey Dean Morgan revealed that the show’s conclusion caught Chief Content Officer Scott M. Gimple and showrunner Angela Kang off guard. However, all good things have to come to an end, even the zombie apocalypse.
The series' final season has come out with all guns blazing, and the team behind the show has done their best to stretch the season out in one last treat for fans. As such, the show has been broken into three parts, consisting of 24 episodes. The first part aired from August to October 2021 and gave fans eight episodes. The second part, again having eight episodes, ran from February to April 2022, leaving its final eight episodes for the third leg of the season. The first episode of the series’ third and final part, episode 17, is scheduled to premiere on October 2, 2022.
With the show on its home stretch, fans have come up with their own assumptions of what it may bring. Here are some predictions for the concluding chapter of season 11.
Rick Grimes Will Make a Return
Rick Grimes, the original protagonist of The Walking Dead series, made a surprise departure from the show at the end of season 9. After leading a herd of white walkers to a bridge, Grimes, hoping it would collapse, ends up shooting dynamite by mistake. The result is his apparent death. However, Rick survived the explosion after being rescued by a woman named Anne.
Knowing Rick’s fate, fans have remained eager to see the character return to the show. Given that we are now moving on to the series' final eight episodes, and Grimes has not yet made an appearance, it’s likely that he may appear in the finale. Being an integral character through many seasons of The Walking Dead, it is only fair that the character’s storyline on the show is given closure.
When Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln was asked about a possible return for the finale, he told SFX Magazine:
“The easy answer is I have no idea. I don’t think it’s written yet, but I would never say never to that because everybody that’s still doing the TV show are dear friends, and it’s an extraordinary feat that they’re still going and making this beautiful and ground-breaking show that still resonates with the world."
Negan Is Going to Die
The love story between Maggie and Glenn is regarded as one of the most tragic. The couple, meeting early on in season 2, grew their relationship amidst quite a few obstacles, especially the disapproval of Maggie’s father, Hershel. Fans absolutely adored the couple throughout their nail-biting survival in the more dire of circumstances. Given this, when Glenn is murdered in the most gruesome way possible, with multiple blows to the head, by Negan, it is not only Maggie that was left outraged but also viewers.
Now that the show is drawing to a close, will Negan finally pay for the death of Glenn? Maggie may avenge her husband by directly taking Negan’s life, or she may leave him stranded at the mercy of the dead. Even if Maggie doesn’t go after Negan, he is definitely a character who has made many enemies throughout the season. Given this, there is a high possibility that the close of the series may bring the close of Negan’s life with it.
Judith Will Pull Through
The adopted daughter of Michonne Grimes, Judith, was a toddler in the background until the end of Season 8. However, the six-year jump in time for the ninth season saw Judith become one of the show's main characters. Judith is given a low possibility of death due to her story arc thus far. As per the comics that the series is based on, Judith should have died when she was just a baby. However, the decision to keep her alive on the show speaks to the fact that showrunners may have a higher purpose for her character. She is also quite the survivalist, getting through situations when most others, who were much older than her, couldn’t.
Given this, it's pretty likely that Judith will pull through and survive at the close of the season. Her survival will also be quite apt as she was one of the first children born after the zombie apocalypse. She learned from other characters to become the tough young lady we are bound to see in the last leg of the season. It's plausible that Judith then becomes a character who not only carries her own legacy but the legacy of many others and lives to tell the tale.
Only time will tell if any of our predictions do come true. Luckily, fans don't have long to wait since the scheduled release of the first episode of the final leg of the series is less than a month away. In a bit of positive news, despite the much-loved show drawing to a close, it's not the end of the road for The Walking Dead’s fans. A few show spin-offs are in development, so fans will get to see characters they both know and love on screens once again.