The brutal death of Glenn Rhee at the hands of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) had a ripple effect on both The Walking Dead and its impassioned following.
Steven Yeun’s fan-favorite, who was introduced as Rick’s first true ally all those years ago on the ravaged streets of Atlanta, bit the bullet in the season 7 premiere, “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be,” and it’s fair to say that Glenn’s absence has left a fairly sizeable hole in The Walking Dead family.
But don’t fret; as Lauren Cohan revealed to ComicBook.com, Glenn’s legacy will still be felt in the upcoming season 8 and beyond, as her Maggie Rhee prepares to raise their fatherless child amidst a dark and dangerous world teeming with Walkers and vengeful humans. Not only that, but Glenn and Maggie’s baby will be informed by the heroic stories of Hershel, Beth, Abraham, and all of the other allies that have lost their lives in AMC’s zombie apocalypse.
What [Glenn] would have wanted to teach the baby, or expose the baby to, is just that bravery and comedy and impulsive energy that he had. It’s probably hard to say but I hope that everybody of the family that is alive is gonna pass those things on and tell those stories to this little girl or guy, as well as who Hershel was, who Beth was, who Michael [who played Abraham] was…
Yeun echoed those comments while soliciting questions at San Diego Comic-Con, where he noted that Glenn’s death was necessary to propel the story forward.
I think the storyline that came after had to happen, which is this rise of these awesome women characters on the show… It’s because, if they keep getting pushed around like that, they’re gonna get pissed and they’re gonna whoop your a—! … I don’t know how much would’ve changed…
As for Glenn’s better half, Steven Yeun has no doubt about Maggie’s chances of survival, after waxing lyrical about Lauren Cohan and her character’s selfless qualities.
She’s strong, she’s tough, she’s like a bad-a— woman. You look at her and really wonder what makes her so strong tough and bad-ass but I think it’s because she never lived selfishly or for herself. She always lived selflessly for either her child or the legacy of her sister or the legacy of her father or the legacy of her husband. A person like that will continue regardless.
The Walking Dead‘s eighth season begins October 22nd. Elsewhere on AMC’s slate, the companion series Fear The Walking Dead has been penciled in to return on September 10th, meaning zombie fans needn’t worry about a lack of content to chew through this fall.