- Warning: There are spoilers ahead for season 11, episode 18 of "The Walking Dead."
- In a twist, "TWD" killed off a character who murdered Rick in the comics.
In a huge departure from the comics, "The Walking Dead" unexpectedly killed off Governor Milton's spoiled son, Sebastian (Teo Rapp-Olsson).
On season 11, episode 18, "A New Deal," Sebastian receives a zombie bite to the neck and slowly dies surrounded by Commonwealth citizens who refuse to step in and help.
It's a big shock for comic fans. In Robert Kirkman's series, Sebastian winds up killing the series' protagonist, Rick Grimes, shooting him defenseless while in bed.
Since Sebastian's introduction on the show, fans have wondered who might receive Rick's iconic comic death. Unless it will be remixed in episodes to come, it seems the answer is no one.
For Ross Marquand, who plays Aaron on the series, that's welcome news.
"It's a really lame way to kill someone," Marquand recently told Insider over Zoom of how Rick died in the "TWD" comic. "I'm glad they didn't go that road."
Ever since Rick (Andrew Lincoln) departed the show in 2018, fans have feared that Aaron may get Rick's comic death. Nowadays, Aaron bears an uncanny resemblance to Rick at this point in the comic with a missing forearm and long beard.
Before the final season of "TWD" was announced, plans were being outlined for future seasons. But when asked if there were ever discussions for Aaron to go out the same way as Rick, Marquand said, "No, that was never really discussed, at least with me."
Marquand then surprisingly added: "I die a very different way from the comic."
Ever the jokester, it was tough to discern whether or not Marquand was being serious.
After a brief pause, Marquand said he never had any conversation with showrunner Angela Kang about potentially taking Rick's comic death.
"That was never addressed," he said. "At least, Angela never talked to me about that."
If Aaron does die before the show's end, that would be surprising.
He survives "The Walking Dead" comic, living out the rest of his days with Jesus. The latter was killed off the show a few seasons ago.
But, as we've seen many times now, AMC's "TWD" has made many departures from the comic and it wouldn't be out of the norm to see Aaron sacrifice himself if it meant the survival of his daughter, Gracie, or his community, Alexandria.
The final episodes of "TWD" air Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC. You can follow our coverage here.