SPOILERS: ‘The Walking Dead’ Kills Off Major Characters In Shocking Episode

This article contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 9 episode: “The Calm Before.”

If you’re a reader of The Walking Dead comic book, you no doubt remember the moment in 2015 that came with the release of issue #144. That moment has now been brought to life in the AMC series, albeit with some changes, but still a shocking reveal nonetheless.

The episode, the aptly titled “The Calm Before,” featured the culmination of everything that Rick Grimes had been building towards to honor his son: uniting the communities. With the fair finally beginning at the Kingdom, people from the Kingdom, Oceanside, Alexandria, and the Hilltop came together to catch up, trade, and just have a good time. But in the background of all of this, we still had the ever present threat of Alpha and her Whisperers, always lurking since their introduction to the world of The Walking Dead.

But let’s not bury the lede and beat around the bush. Towards the end of the recent episode of The Walking Dead, Alpha and her Whisperers surround the group of Daryl, Michonne, Carol, and Yumiko. Alpha takes Daryl to a spot where she reveals that she has a massive herd of walkers that she can and will unleash upon the communities if the survivors cross her again. To hammer her point home, she tells Daryl that she’s created a border that his people are to never cross again. Daryl would notice the border when he saw it.

Indeed, he did, as The Walking Dead gets all Game of Thrones on us and gives us its own rendition of the Red Wedding. After the four find Siddiq, he points them to the aforementioned border, which is a series of 10 spikes, all bearing heads of various people from the communities. They are as follows: Ozzy and Alek (two of the new Highwaymen), DJ the former Savior, Frankie, Tammy, Addy, Rodney, Enid, Tara, and Henry.

For comparison’s sake, in the comic, we had 12 deaths, and the gut punches came in the form of finding out that Rosita and Ezekiel were among the dead. The two are alive and well in the show, but the loss of key characters such as Enid, Tara, and Henry are still a shocker, both for viewers and the characters alike. After all, how long had people been thinking that Tara wasn’t long for this world, but she still managed to survive. With her death, though, the Hilltop is again without a leader.

Strangely, though, this death, while shocking, could have easily served as the season finale for The Walking Dead‘s current season. But between Siddiq’s speech to the people — as he was left alive to tell the others what happened — and the arrival of snow, there’s still plenty that can be done as we head into the actual finale next week. It’s a moment that comic readers saw coming, but like the death of Glenn, it doesn’t make it any less impacting.

With that said, what did you think of the reveal on The Walking Dead? Was it shocking to you? Are there any deaths you would have switched or are you fine with the lineup presented? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Season 9 finale of The Walking Dead will air this Sunday at 9PM on AMC.