Death is one of the things that continually permeates The Walking Dead, and Season 9 is set to be no different. In a new clip that has been released ahead of the series' ninth season premiere, Rick and the group can be seen paying a visit to the Sanctuary. While walking through, the mood already seems a bit heavy, and then Daryl makes a potentially devastating reveal after he asserts he will not be getting on stage to grandstand with a Negan-esque speech. Here are his words verbatim:
It's bad timing. We just lost someone out there.
The group's morale already seemed down when they entered, so when Daryl revealed that they'd just lost someone, those pieces snap into place. The question is whether The Walking Dead death that has unsettled everyone is a major or minor one for the show. There are arguments for both sides. When it comes to it being a major death, the evidence is there in the form of Daryl being particularly morose. If it was an extra or nondescript character nobody ever heard of, his mood makes a little less sense.
As stated earlier, death is an integral part of these Walking Dead characters. Therefore, Daryl and everyone else have had to grow somewhat accustomed to that aspect of their lives, especially since they have had to say so many bitter goodbyes. The time jump is meant to move beyond a relatively peaceful span that presumably had a smaller body count than other points in time. With Daryl seeming quite a bit irked, it stands to reason this was someone of greater importance to him. Watch the clip so you can better gauge Daryl's reaction to help decide for yourself.
The case against this death being that of a major character is that a death has been disclosed in the first place, and for the season premiere of all episodes. One would initially think that the demise of a substantial character so early would be kept under wraps, even if it is as subtle a hint as this. Not to mention, reactions such as Daryl's are going to lead to speculation. The other side is that The Walking Dead's creative teams could expect fans to think just that.
If the show goes ahead and divulges that a death is going to take place, fans could be less apt to suspect a significant character is being killed off. It is a move that would make such a death all the more shocking, considering that avid fans, paying attention to the previews, would be semi-prepared for it. It all depends.
What if Daryl just meant that they literally misplaced someone? That can't be it, right? Right?
One thing we know for sure is that Rick is not the character who died, as he makes an appearance very early on in the clip, and he'll be around for another four episodes. So, we can rule him out as a candidate, for now. Find out who died when The Walking Dead returns this fall, along with a ton of other shows. Season 9 will premiere Sunday, October 7 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
