The Walking Dead mid-season premiere: 5 takeaways from Honor

Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes – The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 9 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

The Walking Dead mid-season premiere for season 8 saw the death of Carl Grimes, and nothing will ever be the same.

On the last episode of The Walking Dead, Carl Grimes told everyone that he was bitten and would die. This episode saw everyone say goodbye to the young hero as he let his dad know what needed to be done if he wanted to make this a world worth living in for Judith.

On top of Carl Grimes death, there was also some progression for Morgan, a look at Carol and Ezekiel, and the struggles for morality that has risen over the past season on The Walking Dead.

With The Walking Dead mid-season premiere in the books, here is a look at five takeaways from the massive episode.

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne – The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 9 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

1. Carl’s death takes center stage on The Walking Dead

The most significant story when it comes to The Walking Dead mid-season premiere was the death of Carl Grimes and how it affected everyone around him — specifically his dad Rick Grimes. This was what took up most of the running time of this episode, deservedly so.

Chandler Riggs was easily the MVP of the episode, but a lot has to be said about the writing as well. Carl delivered some of the best lines of the entire season, as he explained the problems with how Rick and company have been doing their business, especially when it comes to killing becoming too easy.

There was also a great moment at the very end of the episode where Rick said that his entire goal was to build the new world for Carl and Judith and that his job as a father was to protect his son. Carl corrected his father, saying explicitly that Rick’s job was not to protect Carl but to love him. It was a powerful moment, and to say that the tears easily flowed this episode is an understatement.

There have been a lot of complaints about the eighth season of The Walkling Dead, but the scenes with Carl proves that this series can still create great television. Chandler Riggs deserves all the praise he will get for his performance here.

Also, who thinks that Carl giving the cowboy hat to Judith was passing the torch, similar to what Robert Kirkman hinted at before?