The first half of The Walking Dead‘s eighth season is set to draw to a close this Sunday, as episode 8, “How It’s Gotta Be,” marks the midseason finale. It promises to be an action-packed, emotional spectacular, too, and with the Saviors looking for revenge after Daryl’s stunt at the Sanctuary, expect some major drama to come this weekend.
That’s what one member of the cast is teasing, anyway. While talking to The Independent, Katelyn Nacon – who’s played Enid on the show since season 6 – was on hand to hint that some “horrifying things” will happen in this Sunday’s episode. She did say that there would be “beauty,” too, though.
“There is going to be some tough stuff to come but I feel like it will come with a silver lining because there are a lot of horrifying things to come, but also a lot of beautiful things that comes with it, comes because of it. It’s a big win-lose situation because it is a tough show to get through – it can punch you back – but I would say that a lot of beauty comes from the horror. We have to wait and see what’s going to come after and how it’s going to affect the show.”
If a prevalent fan theory is to be believed, we might already have an inkling of what this “horror” could be. Following Chandler Riggs’ haircut and announcement of new upcoming projects, it’s thought that Carl Grimes’ days on The Walking Dead might be numbered. This was further fueled by the Talking Dead aftershow teasing a massive shock to come in the midseason finale.
Of course, those paying attention will know that Carl’s death would conflict with the “Old Man Rick” flashforward seen in the season 8 premiere, which featured Rick’s son with his white-haired pa in the near future. On the topic of that scene, Nacon spoke about how she thinks it’s likely that Carl could eventually take over from his dad to become a leader in the Alexandrian community.
“Well, that’s how it’s written in the comic books – it’s very very prevalent – so I feel like it’s definitely a possibility,” Nacon said. “Carl really does become a huge leader role in the community so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s one of the routes they want to take. But at the same time also this is a show that can veer clear of the comics as well so it’s just whether or not they want to try and keep it in Rick’s realm or have a younger leader.”
So, does this mean we should expect Carl to make it out alive? Or are Nacon’s comments and the “Old Man Rick” scene just misleading us about his imminent demise – after all, that sequence could easily be a dream.
Hopefully we’ll get some answers when The Walking Dead airs its midseason finale this Sunday on AMC.