Comic details and potential TV show spoilers for The Walking Dead are below. You have been warned.
When Season 7 of The Walking Dead started, fans were overwhelmed with expectations for Negan's first murderous act, but the show's death toll got a lot harder to prophesy with the character-specific episodes that followed. The back half of the season, however, will be one where all the communities will come together (possibly even ones we haven't seen yet), and a big war will begin brewing. (Which may or may not have something to do with plastic ducks
Since that makes it a little easier to foresee who might reach the chopping block before Season 8 arrives. Here are the seven characters most likely to die the next batch of episodes, ranked by the likelihood of their dooms.
7. Morgan
The Walking Dead's live-action Morgan bears little resemblance to his comic counterpart at this point, largely because on-the-page Morgan exited this mortal coil earlier in the storyline. Since reaching permanent TV character status, he's been a bo-wielding source of endless patience and sage knowledge, shouldering the show's moral conscience. In just a season and change, Morgan was a saving grace for Carol, a motivational muse for Rick, a builder of jails, and a bridge between the Alexandrians and The Kingdom. As much as I love Lennie James, Morgan has already served enough purposes to make his death a definite possibility, if not the strongest one.
6. Eugene
Sure, Eugene had a big target on his back (and mullet) for Season 7's mid-year finale, as he was taken hostage by Negan for his ammo-making skills, so it's easy to think that he'll eventually make it out of that situation alive, if perhaps with a taste for lamb-and-rice mixtures. But one of these next few episodes would be a good time for The Walking Dead to once again floor viewers with the death of such an established character. Considering how interestingly Eugene's narrative is currently going in the source material, his on-screen death would create all kinds of new avenues for other characters to follow. It would also likely inspire petitions, with yours truly ready to sign.
5. Gregory
In the Hilltop Colony, fans' main points of interesting are in the Maggie-Sasha-Jesus trifecta, while Xander Berkeley's unqualified community head Gregory hasn't quite gone past the chauvinist nuisance stage just yet. But comic fans know that his penchant for selfish decision-making puts Gregory in certain characters crosshairs and does him quite the disservice when it comes to aligning with the good guys. It's possible the TV series might want to keep him around as an additional pain in everyone's ass for a while longer, but excising Gregory would allow Season 7 to end with Maggie ruling Hilltop, and with only one big antagonist left to take down. And his giant army, of course.
4. Arat
Speaking of that army, we're likely going to see a lot of the Saviors get taken out as Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom combine forces. In Season 6, almost all of the initial saviors that were introduced ended up dying, but that changed with Steven Ogg's Simon The Mustache, and Elizabeth Ludlow's Arat is one of the recurring villains brought in for the current season. She's got a signature look, a snappy attitude, and she was responsible for killing Olivia in "Hearts Still Beating." That is a surefire recipe for disaster to come to Arat if she ever finds herself alone with anybody on Rick's crew. (For those counting, I picture Simon living until the middle of the war, and his 'stache outliving us all.)
3. Heath
Since making the jump from Straight Outta Compton to The Walking DeadI, actor Corey Hawkins has been criminally underused as fan favorite comic character Heath, and his lone appearance in Season 7 so far was extremely limited and ended with him going missing. Though we don't know if he's with friends or foes just yet, Heath's absence can largely be blamed on Hawkins starring in Fox's upcoming 24: Legacy, and Walking Dead contracts supposedly bar its current slate of regulars from being regulars on other series. So while Heath could theoretically continue being sprinkled into future episodes, I can't imagine him making it through Season 7 still breathing. (Unlike his still-kicking comic counterpart.)
2. Richard
We don't know much about Richard, but two things have definitely been confirmed. One, he's a loyal soldier of Ezekiel's who has little issue with sidestepping that loyalty if he thinks it's for the good of The Kingdom. Two, he thinks spearheading a separatist attack on Negan and the Saviors will be for the good of The Kingdom, which is a boner move. Everyone reading knows what happens when people aim to assassinate Negan, as well as what happens to people who go against their leaders. The comic version of Richard dies in the midst of the All-Out War that's coming, but I think TV Richard will be The Kingdom's big pre-war casualty. (At least its human one.)
1. Sasha
Oh, Sasha, you brave and lovely woman. Since meshing with Rick's group, Sasha's life has been one stricken with tragedy and grief, and she has lost loves both familial and romantic. But now that she has found Jesus, something I say only half-jokingly, Sasha has become mentally immersed in avenging her friends' deaths by taking Negan down. Her confidence is greatly admired, but should her near-solo plans to attack come to fruition, Sasha will almost certainly not be The Walking Dead's biggest hero, and she probably won't be alive to speak of her failure. Because what's more telling than any of that? Actress Sonequa Martin-Green signed on as the big lead in CBS' Star Trek: Discovery. Sasha's days are numbered, guys.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC and audiences for the back half of Season 7 on Sunday, February 12. Head to our midseason premiere schedule to see everything else hitting the small screen in the near future.
