In the Season 8 premiere of The Walking Dead, we saw Rick Grimes in what appeared to be multiple timelines. While we can't say at this point if that flash forward is actually real or not, the glimpses of a teary Rick standing over two graves seemed to be very genuine. The episode didn't make it clear just when Rick was visiting those graves, and fans have been wondering if the scenes were clues that two more big characters would be biting the dust in the not-too-distant future. Now we can stop worrying, as star Andrew Lincoln has revealed whose graves they were: Glenn's and Abraham's. Lincoln had this to say about Rick at the graves:
I think it's a key moment when Rick is by the graveside of two of his dearest friends. It was a very powerful moment of harking back to the beginning of last season and the brutal way they were taken from us. I don't think he's ever recovered from that. I don't think any of them have.
Andrew Lincoln revealed whose graves were in the Season 8 premiere in an AMC featurette (via ComicBook.com), and his comments probably come as a relief to fans who have been afraid that the glimpses of Rick at those graves meant that a couple more big characters would be dying. After all, there aren't that many characters left who would necessarily provoke quite that traumatized of a reaction out of him. Carl, Michonne, and Judith would obviously devastate Rick, although even the most paranoid of us could rule out Judith as one of the people in the graves. She's on the small side.
It definitely makes sense that Rick would still be upset by the memory of what happened to Glenn and Abraham. The two men died horrifyingly brutal deaths within the span of a few minutes, and I don't think any of the survivors will be forgetting what Lucille did to Glenn and Abraham any time soon. As the all-out war between the Saviors and the united forces of Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom escalates, it's easy to understand why Glenn and Abraham would be on Rick's mind even more than usual. After all, killing Negan would be revenge for what happened to them as much as guaranteeing the safety of everybody else.
Of course, the fact that the graves in the Season 8 premiere belong to characters who already died doesn't mean we shouldn't expect more big deaths in the coming weeks. Rick made a decision not to just kill Negan in the assault on the Sanctuary, and it's possible that decision will come back to haunt him. A lot of changes are in store, and we may even see another leader take Rick's place. Whether this happens because Rick loses more people and just can't take it remains to be seen.
New episodes of The Walking Dead Season 8 air on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. The ratings (and some unexpected other numbers) were surprisingly low for the premiere; it should be interesting to see if they rise or fall moving forward. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in zombie apocalypse news, and don't forget to check out our fall TV guide.
