Every character on The Walking Dead has their own fan following by now, but none more so than the originals — you know, the characters that have been with us since season one. The ones that you get tricked into thinking will survive until the end — until producers remind us, like when they killed off Carl, that no one is safe in this zombie-infested world. So, does Carol die in The Walking Dead? We know those of you in her fan group want to know.
I’m going to go ahead and editorialize here and say, for the record, Carol is amazing — because, yes, I fall solidly into the camp Carol fan group. That doesn’t mean what I say isn’t true. But what’s going to happen to this fiercely independent women who can play the part of a meek little mouse when it helps her survive?
But answering the question does Carol die in The Walking Dead is a little complicated — after all, there’s both the comic books and the hit AMC show to consider. We’ll break both of them down.
Does Carol die in The Walking Dead — the comic books
First of all, Carol is a wildly different character in the comic books than she is in the AMC post-apocalyptic drama. Safe to say that many fans in camp Carol would be rooting for someone else if the character on AMC were the same as she is in the comics.
That grit and determination that sets Carol apart from so many characters on the TV show just isn’t there in the comics. The comic book character is basically Carol as we first meet her on the AMC series before we move beyond that first impression of a meek and abused housewife. In the comics, Carol simply cannot function alone. Sure, she’s calm and collected as long as she’s getting support from other characters, but once that falls away, she not only loses her cool but also her grip on reality.
And it’s ultimately this dependency on other people, and inability to function without support, that contributes to her death. That’s right, Carol does indeed die in The Walking Dead comic books. The semi-unhinged character is brought down by a walker bite to the neck, and her journey ends when Andrea (still alive in the comic books) shoots her in the head to prevent her from turning.
Does Carol die in The Walking Dead — the TV show
We know this is really what you’re wondering: Does Carol die in The Walking Dead, the TV show? Well, not yet. The show’s solidly into season 8 and Carol’s still going strong.
If you’re a fan of the AMC show, you know that the series creator and producers stay tight-lipped about what’s in store for their characters. The only real clues we’ve ever gotten about their fates are social media posts by the actors themselves about upcoming projects that would take the place of filming for The Walking Dead.
Melissa McBride, who brings life to Carol on the small screen, was open with Entertainment Weekly about the tough times ahead for her character before season 8 kicked off. Although the warrior woman has survived the first half of the current season, foiling claims she was going to be the big death teased in the midseason finale, there’s still the back half to go. Mentally, Carol’s not sure she’s ready for the fight ahead, but there’s no doubt she’s capable of surviving if she’s on her game.
So does Carol die in The Walking Dead? We’ll just have to wait and see if any more clues are dropped about this season, but we know what the answer would be if her fans had anything to say about it.
