Why did Glenn have to die, and why in this manner? Didn't he deserve a better death? originally appeared on Quora: The best answer to any question.
Answer by Robert Thompson, site developer and combat vet, on Quora.
This is something I'm kind of confused about myself, and to be 100% honest with everyone, I'm not even sure he's dead, here's why.
SPOILER WARNING
When Nicholas shot himself in the head, he dragged Glenn into the horde with him and landed on top of Glenn. We never actually hear Glenn's screams of pain, we only see him screaming which could very easily be of fear of his own inevitable death. Now don't get me wrong, based on what happens and from all appearances, Glenn is indeed walker lunch. That was him being torn apart, not Nicholas, but there's something very odd about the whole thing and it actually has to do with the follow up show, Talking Dead.
In every show, they do a memorial/tribute to everyone/thing that has died in the episode. In the last one, they did one for the Alexandrians that no one remembers. They did one for each scene's walkers. They even did one for Nicholas. What did they do for Glenn? One repeated sentence three times on the screen.
"Please don't let this be real..."
"Please don't let this be real..."
"Please don't let this be real..."
It seems incredibly odd that they wouldn't do an extended memorium for such a loved character. They did one for Dale in Season 2 and he was not a likable character. They did one for Merle in Season 3, and he was a complete asshat who needed to die. They did one for the Governor in Season 4, and they even did one for Gareth and the rest of the Termites in Season 5. Hell they did one for the turtle in the second episode. Yet Glenn gets one sentence. To me that seems very odd.
Aside from Daryl, Carol, Morgan, and Rick, Glenn is easily the most likable character on the show, if not some peoples' favorite character. Yet he suffers the same death that what's her name did with the twisted ankle. In the comics, he is brained by Negan, a character that we have yet to meet in the show, but has been alluded to for a while. I completely understand that they want to show that the "untouchable" characters are not actually untouchable, we're not even sure what's going to happen to Rick, all of the trailers before the season showed all of Rick's scenes so far. Next week is a Morgan centric episode. A character like Glenn shouldn't have died this way though.
Another thing that's bugging me is the fact that Scott Gimple actually took the time to prepare a statement concerning Glenn, something he's never done before. Basically he said, we will see Glenn again this season as his story has yet to be wrapped up. Again, every character that has died has done so at the end of their respective story, but Glenn's story has yet to be finished? Sure Gimple could be simply telling us that we're only going to be seeing Glenn in flashbacks, which is something they've said are going to be happening a lot this season, but the fact that he said that Glenn's story is not finished makes me think that Glenn somehow found a way to escape. It wouldn't be the first time he's done so.
In my honest opinion, we will see Glenn alive and in the present day again, but he won't stay that way for long. What I think is going to happen is that Glenn is actually going to be saved by the Wolves, specifically Negan. Someone among them will recognize Glenn as being from Alexandria and when they attack again, Negan will reveal Glenn to be alive, have his infamous confrontation with Rick, and proceed to recreate Glenn's death from the comics. I could be wrong on this, but that's what I think is going to happen. The TWD writers and showrunners have never left the fate of a character to ambiguity, yet Glenn's "death" fell right in that category's lap. We never actually see Glenn get killed.
Mark my words. Glenn is alive, but when it's revealed on the show, it will be for his actual death scene.
This question originally appeared on Quora. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and access insider knowledge. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.