‘Walking Dead’: Saying “Thank You” and Goodbye to Negan’s Second Victim

[Warning: This story contains spoilers through the Walking Dead season seven premiere.]

There’s a moment in the fifth season premiere of The Walking Dead that traumatized nearly every single one of the show’s comic book-reading fans. 

It’s right as Gareth and the Terminus cannibals bring Rick, Daryl, Glenn and Bob to the trough, where the man-eating monsters plan to knock our heroes unconscious, slit their throats to drain them of blood and turn the corpses into edible meat. They even succeed in a few cases. (Rest in peace, Sam; hope you’re having an OK time swimming with the fishes in Gotham City.) Hard to forget that scene, right? Even harder if you were a fan who knew the outcome of The Walking Dead #100, the milestone issue of the comics that sees new bad guy Negan bash longtime fan-favorite Glenn’s head in with a baseball bat … because that climactic season five premiere scene culminates in a Terminus goon nearly striking Glenn on the back of the head with a baseball bat of his own. 

The moment knowingly echoes Glenn’s famous comic book death, and now, Glenn’s death on the show. After months of guessing the fate of Negan’s victim, the answer has finally arrived, and the bat has landed on Glenn’s head. In the comics, and likely on the show, Glenn’s death serves as a turning point for the people he left behind, most especially his pregnant wife Maggie. But those scenarios are for another day. For now, let’s take one last opportunity to say goodbye to Glenn, one of the show’s last remaining season one veterans — until he ran into Negan. (Click here for more on how Glenn died in the comics.)

Tank You

Glenn is part of the fabric of Walking Dead from the very beginning of the series, even if he doesn’t appear in the flesh until his second episode. His voice guides both Rick and viewers out of the series premiere, appearing over the radio inside the Army tank keeping Rick safe from a herd of walkers. Glenn’s first line of the whole series? “Hey, asshole!” An uncharacteristically vulgar introduction for someone who provided the show with so much heart, but certainly a memorable one.

It Takes Guts

In his first full episode onscreen, Glenn and Rick navigate their way out of a zombie-infested city street by covering themselves in walker gore. It’s a tactic the show hasn’t leaned on too much, even if Fear the Walking Dead has gotten heavily invested in zombie camouflage. Still, it’s a great early moment for the show, one that’s ripped straight from the pages of Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s comics.

Oh Well

Among Glenn’s great traits, his propensity for getting in and out of tight situations was one of the best. The earliest and perhaps greatest example dates back to season two, when Rick’s gang tied Glenn to a rope and lured him down into a well on Hershel’s farm, where he was to dispense of a walker trapped at the bottom of the well. It did not go well. 

Bookmark THR.com/WalkingDead for news, interviews and theories stemming from the Walking Dead season seven premiere.