Spoilers for The Walking Dead are below.
Say you’re a fly buzzing around, and you find yourself caught up in a massive spider web that currently has over 1,000 starving arachnids heading your way. You would still have a better chance of surviving than 80% of the characters still breathing on The Walking Dead, a show that has proven time and again just how unpredictably dangerous the Eastern U.S. can be. Season 6 has been particularly devastating for the Alexandrians, and later the Saviors, and we are definitely going to have at least one more casualty (or 40) by the time the season finale’s credits roll. Here are 7 characters who could meet their maker during the remainder of Season 6, ranked by who is the most likely to say a blood-gurgled goodbye.
7. Glenn
When Season 3 of The Walking Dead premiered in 2012, fans of the source material already experienced the comic’s worst tragedy at that point (and possibly ever) when the monstrous Negan introduced himself by bashing Glenn’s skull to avenge the many deaths of his Saviors. It seemed like the show would be faithful to that scene, at least until Season 6 came along and faked Glenn’s death. He could still meet that bloody fate, though, since general speculation about Negan’s victim has come to include every other character, too. And anyway, why would Glenn get his first kill a few weeks ago, by murdering Saviors, just to have it go unchecked?
6. Rosita
Back in Season 4, viewers got to meet live-action versions of Abraham, Eugene and Rosita, and the show was changed for the better. After all, a complete trio of new characters lasting more than two seasons is a pretty rare thing on The Walking Dead. Unfortunately, Rosita got the short straw on character development, and while she’s as dependable a B-character as you can get, it’s hard to describe her without going straight to her former relationship with Abraham. So unless she becomes the focus of a major story arc in the next episode’s cold open, I don’t think jerky stroganoff dinner dates with Spencer are enough to guarantee her survival into Season 7.
5. Tobin
Tobin has just the kind of mini-arc that makes him ideal for a late-season casualty. He started out not totally being behind Rick, but now he’s fine with him. He didn’t have much going on otherwise, and then suddenly Carol took an interest in him, and he became the brief target of her affection. Now she’s gone, and he’s doubtlessly worried about her. I don’t think Rick would willingly let this guy go out on the hunt, but maybe Tobin has the balls/stupidity to strike out on his own, sealing his own fate while she lives on.
4. Heath
Last week, The Walking Dead killed off Denise in a moment horrifying enough to dull the memory of how underused the enjoyable Merritt Wever was during this season. Which means the similarly neglected Heath, played by Straight Outta Compton’s Corey Hawkins, doesn’t have a great shot at making it much longer in this show, regardless of what happened to his character’s comic counterpart. Like Glenn, he only recently got his feet wet in human murder, and wasn’t too enthused by it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same kind of momentary hesitation is a fatal flaw in the next two episodes.
3. Sasha
A history of Sasha: she’s one of the few characters on this show, along with Rick and Carol (somewhat), that got to experience a full psychic break for a short time, back when she wanted to kill all the walkers and went so far as to sleep atop a pile of them. (Still one of my favorite Walking Dead visuals.) She’s been around since Season 3, and in that time has experienced tragedies both in her family life (Tyresse) and her romantic life (Bob). Abraham recently broke up with Rosita because he became attracted to Sasha. She has run the gamut when it comes to narrative hooks, making Sasha a prime “core survivor” candidate to take the eternal fall next.
2. Tara
On the opposite side of the spectrum from Sasha is Tara, who was introduced in Season 4 as a Woodbury citizen who fistbumped The Governor after he saved her life. Dozens of episodes later, she kissed Denise in a surprising and surprisingly sweet moment. But in between those two scenes, it’s pretty damned hard to nail down any bullet points for crazy or important moments that Tara was central to. She’s good for conversations and group scenes, certainly, and she’s notable for being the rehabilitated Woodbury person who made the switch from The Governor to Rick. But there’s nothing about Tara that should really keep her from joining this season’s remaining body count.
1. Abraham
Love it or hate it, it’s time for The Walking Dead to take out one of its biggest remaining characters. And if the show isn’t going to be comic-faithful by going with Glenn, Abraham is the most likely choice to meet Negan’s bat in the finale. Yes, Sasha and Rosita both hit the “been there a while” angle, but Abraham is the more iconic character, both in his striking red-haired appearance and his sublime dialogue. His death would be a major punch to the gut and the feels, but it wouldn’t be particularly shocking, since Denise’s death was how Abraham died in the comics, making him a likely candidate for the more notable tragedy.
I kind of need a palate cleanser after all that. So how about three characters who almost made this list, but were left out for one specific reason or another? That’s what you’ll find next.
Eugene
As big of a fan favorite character as anyone else in The Walking Dead, Eugene has had a couple of pretty huge moments in Season 6, and he has now become the confident and courageous walker-killing survivor that staying in Abraham’s shadow led him to be. And that victory of self seems like almost enough to predict impending death. (Especially since he got that groin-biting scene in.) But the show still hasn’t explained his mysterious radio conversation with the untrusting stranger. We need that answered before conversations about dead Eugene can really begin, before then ending quickly, because Eugene is the shit.
Carol
The cards are stacked against Carol right now. She flipped her personality script and piled on the mental duress over how many people she’s killed, deciding that’s not how she wants her life to go anymore. She took off into an outside world where deadly Saviors are potentially always in wait. Plus, her comic counterpart ended things once a similar depression took over. But they show can’t kill Carol, right? That’s what Robert Kirkman said in the past, but it’s not like he hasn’t fibbed before. Still, we have faith…just like she does.
Dwight
Dwight has been a thorn in Daryl’s side, foot, back and neck for a while now, having kidnapped and robbed him of his motorcycle and crossbow after he’d saved Dwight from then-unknown threats. The next time Daryl saw Dwight, he’d killed Denise with that same crossbow, later escaping after a scuffle. Dwight’s days are definitely numbered, since Daryl isn’t the kind of guy to forgive and forget. But I can’t help but think Dwight is just too important in the comics to become a victim already. But I won’t really be surprised if it happens sooner rather than later.
The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC.
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