9 Reasons That Death on The Walking Dead Didn't Actually Happen

Most of the show's biggest deaths have occurred at massive turning points. Beth dies during the midseason finale of season five. The Governor beheads Herschel in season four's midseason finale, and Michonne kills the Governor in the same episode. Andrea takes her own life in the season three finale. Glenn's perceived death does not occur in a midseason or season finale, and there's just no focus on it at all. It happens in the middle of the episode, pretty quickly, as though it were a passing thought. For someone who's been around since the show's second episode, we would think his death would be given a little more attention.

Here, you can clearly see how Nicholas falls right into Glenn after he shoots himself. You can even see Glenn sort of tuck under him as they plummet to the ground. Is it possible Nicholas shields Glenn from the hoard of walkers? Absolutely.

This seems to be a contentious point among viewers, but most people in the world have seen at least one dumpster. They're on wheels. They absolutely have room underneath them. There's a slim chance Glenn used Nicholas as a shield while he wriggled underneath the dumpster.

We do see intestines getting ripped out, sure, but the shot is very strange. It's so tight, it's hard to tell what's what. Plus, it looks like the intestines are coming from . . . Glenn's chest? It's very possible the intestines belong to Nicholas, who is perhaps lying across Glenn's body.

Here's what we see: we see both Glenn and Nicholas fall. We see intestines getting ripped out of something while Glenn screams in horror. But do we see blood pouring out of Glenn's mouth? No. Do we see a definitive shot of his body getting ripped to shreds? Not quite. Do we see his eyes roll back and glaze over? No! Do we see his lifeless corpse? We don't!

In the comic books, Glenn dies at the hands of a yet-to-be-introduced villain by the name of Negan. Rumor has it Negan may appear at some point in the sixth season. Glenn's death is arguably one of the most iconic and brutal moments in the entire comic book series. Seeing as Negan might be showing up soon, and the death is such a standout moment, it makes sense that the creators would want to play this one by the book.

In the scene in question, Negan and his group — called The Saviors — ambush Rick and the gang in the dead of the night. Negan selects Glenn for execution and bludgeons him with a barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat. He beats him until he's unrecognizable.

We know, we know, there have been plenty of instances in which the TV series has strayed from the events in the books. We just figured this is one sequence the series might not want to skip.

In terms of the show's long-standing postmortem show, The Talking Dead, this is not your average character death. First of all, whenever a major character dies on TWD, the actor usually shows up as a surprise guest to talk about their departure. Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn, does not show up in Sunday's episode.

What also struck us as weird was Chris Hardwick's language. He keeps saying things like, "Glenn appeared to be ripped apart," or "what seemed to be Glenn's intestines." To be fair, Hardwick makes it clear that he knows nothing about what's to come, but his doubt breeds our doubt.

Finally, Glenn actually isn't included in The Talking Dead's "In Memoriam" segment this week. It could be denial on their part. Or it could be something else.

Another interesting thing that happens on The Talking Dead this week: creator Scott Gimple leaves us with a cryptic statement: “In some way we will see Glenn, some version of Glenn, or parts of Glenn again, either in flashback or in the current story, to help complete the story.” There's no confirmation of whether he's alive, or dead, or what, but we do know he'll be back.

He's just not. Call it denial or whatever. We just refuse to accept it. The End. Goodbye. Talk to you next week.