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Summary
Robert Kirkman - the God Almighty of mega - hit repulsion franchiseThe Walking Dead- just revealed how he originally planned for the dealership to end , and it would have changed the entire substance of Rick Grimes ' engagement to come through the undead apocalypse . In a fascinating reveal , one detail of the original ending really experience on , but with a very different meaning .
Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln make out how the franchise was meant to end , with Kirkman remark he was"nice enough to dissemble it was coolheaded . "
InThe Walking Dead Deluxe # 84- a rerelease of Robert Kirkman , Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore ’s original serial publication with colors from Dave McCaig - Kirkman reveals that this consequence set the original period in the story where he ’d intended to end the franchise . Conceived while writing issue # 50 , Kirkman planned to portray an inspirational speech from Rick Grimes before jumping ahead decades , transition to a statue of Rick which shows he became a folk hero to man , and helped them reach a point of unchanging refinement once again . However , Kirkman would then have had a zombie walk past the statue , pulling back to show Alexandria in ruination , suggesting thatdespite Rick ’s temporary triumph , world still finally fell to the undead .
In the Jehovah notation for the issue , Kirkman explains :
So , the canonical essence is that this massive zombie attack would have happened in Alexandria , Carl would n’t have been burgeon forth , but everyone would have number together , as they did in this issue , and overcame the zombie . Rick ’s hopeful speech to Carl at the end of this outlet would have instead been a rousing words about hope for the hereafter , and how they were going to put down roots in Alexandria and reconstruct civilization there , etc . As the speech winded down , we cease on a cool snap of Rick standing up in front of the crowd , then you ’d plow the page and Rick would be in the same pose , but now he ’s a statue mark that speech . An undetermined amount of time would have pass but the statue would ’ve look old and haggard , and we ’d start zooming away from the statue , as we obtain further and further away , we ’d see that Alexandria was in ruins , long abandoned and the final image as we cut away , ending the series , was a automaton nonchalantly walking by .
Kirkman calls the planned ending"bleak , sorry … possibly severe . "
Walking Dead Was Meant to End with Humanity Falling to the Undead
Rick Became a Hero, But It Didn’t Last
Kirkman calls the contrive ending"bleak , pitiful … perhaps abominable . “Typical to the comic series ' sensitiveness - where the survivors never notice outwhat caused the zombie apocalypse- the moment would n’t have offer absolute , definitive proof that none of humanness pull round , but that was very much the implication . Kirkman clarifies :
The Walking Dead has a tremendously satisfying end that ties up a lot of loose threads , but one unaddressed threat spell disaster for the survivor .
Despite this modification , Kirkmanwassure enough about where he was heading to recite Andrew Lincoln(who plays Rick in theWalking DeadTV adaptation ) and Greg Nicotero ( executive producer and theater director of same ) this ending . Kirkman notes,“they were nice enough to pretend it was nerveless . "
The Walking Dead ’s literal ending takes situation after a 25 - year metre jump , revealing that humanity has efficaciously beaten the zombie irruption and turned Rick into a folk hero .
Walking Dead’s Actual Ending Explained
Rick’s Statue Ends Up as a More Complicated Symbol
The originalWalking Deadcomic serial actually ended with issue 193- a surprisal conclusion that shocked sports fan with a major time - start forward , depicting anadult Carl exist in a rebuilt lodge . The fact that Kirkman conceived of the close with issue 50 and think it for around upshot 84 shows how good his instincts were that the story was n’t actually over , give way these issues are n’t even midway through the epic poem of Rick ’s group of survivors .
The actual end takes stead followingRick ’s slaying by Sebastian Milton- the bad son of former Commonwealth ruler Pamela Milton , who lost power due to Rick ’s more egalitarian visual modality for human beings ’s survivors . The narrative then jumps onward 25 long time afterward , revealing a vastly exposit Commonwealth . Zombie number have dwindled , and the Commonwealth ’s security measure intend that its citizens live on in safety , with the immature propagation only take about the undead in classroom . Now last with his family , Carl has become something of a loner , feeling profoundly acrimonious about the direction humanity is forgetting its grim hour and simplify his father ’s bequest .
While The Walking Dead does n’t pull many punches with its undead Book of Revelation , there ’s one zombi serial that even creator Robert Kirkman obviate .
The risible reveal the fate of various character - Michonne has become the Commonwealth ’s most well-thought-of justice , Maggie is the chairwoman of the Commonwealth , and Negan remains in a ego - imposed exile - andends with Carl reading his daughter the news report of Rick ’s adventures . Crucially , Rick ’s statuedoesstill exist in this closing , with the survivor ' former leader acting as a cultural physical body . However , Carl feels that the cultural picture of Rick is grandiloquent and exaggerated in the untimely ways , especially in how it presents the zombi outbreak as a thing of the past . While the issue ends with the proffer of humanity having firmly reestablished itself , Carl still fears that growing complacence towards the undead could result in disaster .
The Walking Deadis about what humans are subject of once life is once again ruled by necessary , but Kirkman ’s original termination would have betray that idea .
Walking Dead’s Actual Ending Is Better
Humanity’s Survival Has a Very Specific Meaning
While Kirkman ’s originally - be after end forThe Walking Deadis stunning and bleak , it would finally have gone against the serial publication ' message . The back ofThe Walking Deadcomics was emblazoned with a short paragraph driving home its main theme , and issue 193 reveals that this textbook is emblazoned on the base of Rick ’s statue in - mankind , again emphasizing its importance to the series :
How many hours are in a day when you do n’t spend half of them watch television ? When is the last time any of us really worked to get something that we wanted ? How long has it been since any of us really needed something that we wanted ? The world we knew is gone . The reality of commerce and frivolous requirement has been supersede by a cosmos of selection and responsibility . An epidemic of apocalyptical proportion has cross the globe , causing the dead to rise and feed on the keep . In a thing of months society has crumbled , no government , no grocery depot , no ring armor saving , no cable TV . In a world ruled by the dead , we are impel to eventually start living .
The paragraph emphasizes thatThe Walking Deadis about what humans are capable of once living is once again rule by requisite , and this is a theme the series persist truehearted to from beginning to end . The survivors ' decision , mercifulness , and cooperation are held up as the key property to survival , while villains like Negan and the Governor demonstrate the selfishness , barbarism and call for for control that the worst people are bring down to when liveliness gets hard . In the last issue , it ’s let out that the time before the Commonwealth ’s expansion isknown as the Trials , with bon ton seeing it as a period of time that tested humanity to its limits and ultimately produced a better world .
The Walking Dead most had a different first prominent villain in the comic books , as Robert Kirkman explained Shane was almost give an even sinister character .
That meaning would have been betrayed by an ending where human beings totally expire out , as it would have paint a picture that all the positive trait Rick ’s group were able-bodied to summon were ultimately no ranking to Negan ’s depravity or the Governor ’s fascism : each would have been a failed organisation which dire humankind embrace for a nonexistent chance of survival . The Walking Dead ’s ultimate termination make up far more of a distinction , making it clear thatRick ’s mercifulness and cooperation is the only way that humanity has a future , while also teasing that once the hard clock time are over , humanity may not be capable of continue to prioritise these qualities .
Walking Dead Got the Ending It Deserved
Rick’s Journey Is an Epic About the Best and Worst of Humanity
at long last , The Walking Dead ’s existent finish is far more meaningful . It not only ask hard questions of the franchise ’s substance musical theme , but is also more challenging as speculative fiction , as readers tour this new world and see what man has accomplished 25 years after Rick ’s death .
The Walking Dead Deluxe # 84is useable now from Image Comics .
It also mean that the series begins withRick waking up in hospitaland ends with his death , to the full turning it into the story of how his efforts helped lead humanity from catastrophe to a second hazard - albeit a probability that is in no way guaranteed , specially if succeeding propagation fail to learn the lesson ofThe Walking Dead .
