Top 10 Depressing Walking Dead Deaths

Someone’s gotta be first. Amy Harrison’s death was the first for a major character in “The Walking Dead,” and it served as an important early turning point in the series. It proved that no one was safe, and that every character in the series would suffer some form of loss. For the Harrison family, it’s older sister Andrea who has to shoulder the burden of being unable to save her younger sister from walkers, finally putting a bullet into Amy after she reanimates. Sadly, neither Harrison sister would survive the series’ run, as Andrea herself is finally bitten later in the season 3 episode, “Welcome to the Tombs.”

There are precious few voices of morality in the zombie apocalypse, yet it was the strong shoulders and warm words of Tyreese Williams that served as sources of comfort for anyone lucky enough to have known the ex-football player. But Tyreese was also full of self-doubt concerning his own inabilities to act in times of pressure, and it’s these doubts that come to the forefront of his mind after he’s bitten by a walker while clearing out Noah’s family home; he hallucinates from blood loss after Rick and Michonne amputate his arm in an attempt to save his life. Tyreese’s end is bittersweet, as we know he’s found peace, yet the group deeply mourns his loss.

If there was one character that showed real growth during her arc on “The Walking Dead,” it was Beth Greene, Hershel’s youngest daughter. This progression made her loss all the more depressing during the season 5 episode, “Coda.” Beth is shot by hospital lieutenant Dawn Lerner during what should’ve been a normal “prisoner for prisoner” transaction. Although the situation is defused after a brief exchange of gunfire, it’s the quick and sudden loss of Beth that shocked audiences; so many had come to love the bold and brave Greene sibling. The grief of Daryl and Beth’s sister Maggie at her loss only serves as the tragic icing on what was a truly heartbreaking cake.

Speaking of the Greene family, was anyone prepared for this character’s death during the season 4 episode “Too Far Gone?” The family patriarch was beloved by fans, almost as much as The Governor was detested. Knowing this makes Hershel’s decapitation at The Governor’s hands all the more difficult to watch, especially as we’re forced to see Maggie and the group’s horrified reactions. Granted, The Governor finally meets his end in the skirmish that follows, but this is little comfort to fans who’d grown increasingly attached to Hershel and his family.

Daryl Dixon’s older brother Merle was the character “Walking Dead” fans loved to hate; a captivating, yet ruthless antagonist who nevertheless elicited a passionate reaction from the audience. This is, in part, what made Merle’s death in the third season episode “This Sorrowful Life” so powerful. It’s here where Merle turns a corner, as he attempts a heroic final stand with an assassination attempt on The Governor. Although he’s initially successful, his sniper position is eventually revealed, and he’s shot by The Governor after suffering a brutal beating. The most heartbreaking aspect of Merle’s death, however, is the fact that it’s Daryl who has to put down a zombified Merle after all’s said and done.

Some death scenes on “The Walking Dead” are shockingly brief, while others are drawn out to almost unbearable lengths. Unfortunately, the death of Noah was one of the most gruesome sequences in the entire series’ run. Noah is devoured by walkers in disgusting slow motion after being betrayed by an Alexandrian named Nicholas. There’s no upside to this scene, as we’re not only forced to watch Glenn’s horrified reaction, but Noah’s terrified facial expressions of pain are also almost unbearably realistic. If ever there was a character that deserved a more dignified death, it was Noah.

There were few storylines on “The Walking Dead” as profoundly tragic as those of sisters Lizzie and Mika Samuels. The show did a great job displaying how powerfully life and death can affect young people in the zombie apocalypse, with Lizzie spiraling tragically into psychosis, and Mika remaining strongly empathetic. Sadly, it’s Lizzie’s obsession with the walkers that leads to Mika’s death at her sister’s hands. Lizzie herself is finally put down by Carol in what has to be one of the series’ most controversial and depressing moments: she shoots Lizzie in the head while calmly telling her to “look at the flowers.”

We’ve mentioned how morality can often be skewed in “The Walking Dead” universe, but for Dale Horvath there was no confusion as to the nature of right and wrong. Dale was the group’s moral compass for his entire run, which made his loss in the season 2 episode “Judge, Jury, Executioner” all the more depressing. Although Dale’s argument for humanity and the world left behind by the apocalypse could be seen as futile, audiences had come to love the character for sticking to his guns. Ultimately, though, it’s the reality of the post-apocalypse that serves as Dale’s undoing, as he’s surprised by a walker, bitten and then finally put down by Daryl and the broken-hearted group.

The death of a child is always a troubling thing to show on any television series, but “The Walking Dead” drew out the search for Carol Peletier’s daughter Sophia to an almost agonizing length. Perhaps this is why there’s almost a sense of perverse relief when the reanimated corpse of Sophia is found trapped in the barn on Hershel Greene’s property. The group and the audience are both heartbroken as Rick is forced to finally put Sophia down, and this scene showcased that there were truly no taboos or boundaries “The Walking Dead” wouldn’t erase in its realistic depiction of the zombie apocalypse.

Before we mourn our most depressing deaths, here are a few tear-jerking honorable mentions.
- Lori Grimes
“Killer Within”

- Bob Stookey
“Four Walls and a Roof”

- Denise Cloyd
“Twice as Far”

You all knew this one was coming, right? Although Abraham Ford also meets his demise in the season 7 opener of “The Walking Dead,” it was the loss of audience favorite Glenn Rhee that shook fans to their very core. Maybe it’s because fans felt that Glenn would somehow always be there, or that the show’s writers wouldn’t go through with it and would choose to kill off a different character at the last minute. Either way, it’s both the brutal manner in which Glenn is bludgeoned by Negan’s baseball bat Lucille, and the horrified reactions of the group as they’re forced to watch, that makes this “Walking Dead” death the most depressing for us, by far.