Walking Dead fans know that no one is safe when it comes to Rick and his group of survivors. However, it almost always comes as a shock when a main character is killed off. That’s what has happened yet again in the comic book series.
Warning: Spoilers below!
According to Movie Pilot , fans were forced to say goodbye to another main character in the newest installment of the story. In Issue 158, one long-running character met his death and did so in an extremely brutal way.
This time, it was Father Gabriel who was written out of the comic book series by Robert Kirkman. As fans of the Walking Dead comics know, Negan has returned to Alexandria under the banner of friendship after getting in with the Whisperers and decapitating their leader, Alpha. The group’s second in command, Beta, was furious and rallied his group to drive a horde of walkers toward Alexandria in retaliation.
As the massive group of walkers approaches, Gabriel panics and attempts to climb down the ladder of the water tower as quickly as he can. However, he loses his grip and slips. Gabriel is left hanging by one ankle on the ladder, which snaps his leg and traps him.
He cries out for help, and it is Beta who finds him. Beta tells Gabriel that he’ll help him before disemboweling him in true Walking Dead fashion as he hangs upside down from the ladder. As if this death wasn’t brutal enough, the character is left to hang there and bleed out before the walkers approach him and begin eating his upper body.
While Walking Dead comic book fans wouldn’t necessarily call Father Gabriel a favorite character, he has been in the comic series for quite some time. Gabriel was first introduced back in Issue 61 as a cowardly man who didn’t know how to fend for himself in the new world. However, he eventually learned what it took to survive and got back into the good graces of Rick and company after saving Eugene and Nicholas. He later joined the militia in Alexandria, which is what ultimately led to his gruesome death.
Gabriel made it through nearly 100 issues of the Walking Dead comic, which is a feat that not many characters have done. Now that fans know how, and when, Gabriel dies, it seems that they’ll be on the lookout for a similar storyline on the TV series, which is behind the comics as far as the timeline.
Meanwhile, Walking Dead fans are excited for the return of Season 7 of the TV show in October. After the shocking Season 6 cliffhanger finale, viewers are dying to know who Negan killed. Did the show stay true to the comic book storyline and kill off Glenn Rhee, or have the switched the character death like they have many times in the past?
On the television series, the characters of Carol, Sophia, Hershel, Abraham, Tyreese, and others have all their comic book deaths altered. On the show, Carol is still alive while her daughter, Sophia, died early on. In the comics, it is Carol who is dead and Sophia who lived to be raised by Glenn and Maggie. Meanwhile, Tyreese’s comic book death of being decapitated by the Governor was shockingly given to Hershel, and Abraham’s death of an arrow through the head was given to Dr. Denise.
This leaves Walking Dead fans hopeful that somehow Glenn may survive in Season 7. However, as the Inquisitr previously reported, actor Steven Yeun has only filmed one episode of the new season, which likely hints that he was the unlucky victim to meet Negan’s deadly bat, Lucille, in the Season 6 finale.
What are your thoughts on the latest Walking Dead news and spoilers?
[Image via AMC]