Fans think 'The Walking Dead' may make a big change to one character's storyline
Warning: There are spoilers for "The Walking Dead" ahead.
This didn't take long!
The second episode of "The Walking Dead" season seven introduced fans to yet another settlement that cropped up in the wake of the zombie apocalypse, The Kingdom. While fans were excited to meet new characters including King Ezekiel and his pet tiger Shiva, more fans were excited at the possibility of a budding new romance between Ezekiel and long-time fan favorite Carol.
Fans even came up with a couple name already for the two: Carzekiel.
Though skeptical of the Kingdom and King Ezekiel at first, it seems like Carol may be warming up to the King, especially after he sat her down and came clean with her about the whole "fantasy world" of the Kingdom.
As Ezekiel later told Carol, his people needed someone to follow, so he acted the part of a larger-than-life being. As someone who has been living through life faking it - we learn that Ezekiel was a zookeeper who tended to Shiva before the outbreak - he was able to easily see that Carol was also putting on a fake cheery persona in the Kingdom. He saw right through her as she saw through him.
"When you are pretending and being something that you're not and inside you know that that's a fraudlent personality that the world is seeing, it's nice to be able to shed that once in a while and talk to someone who's doing very much the same thing," said executive producer Gale Ann Hurd in a behind-the-scenes clip for the show.
In the comics, it's a different character who catches Ezekiel's eye - the show's resident katana-wielding badass Michonne.
However, the series decided to switch up her character from the comics by pairing her off with the show's lead, Rick last season to the excitement of many fans who have been 'shipping Richonne for years (including yours truly).
As much as her relationship with Ezekiel is a killer one in the comics, we're into jumping onto the Carzekiel ship.
Why?
Well, in the comics, it's Michonne who Ezekiel reveals his true self to before asking her to keep this between the two of them. We saw that scene play out between Carol and the King Sunday night.
Fans have been calling Carol the show's queen for awhile and she may have just met her actual royal match.
Even actor Khary Payton who plays Ezekiel on the show is predicting the two will get together. On the series aftershow, "Talking Dead," Payton had a simple answer for why Ezekiel dropped by to visit Carol at the episode's end.
"He's trying to get laid," Payton said. "You come bearing fruit, yeah!"
"He put on a different shirt," he added. "You know how hard it is to get another shirt in the apocalypse? There's not like an outlet store nearby."
Payton told The Hollywood Reporter that he's not sure if a relationship between the two will happen but he sees "enough of an attraction for there to be a relationship down the road."
Of course, that leaves another important question up in the air: What about Daryl!?
For years, the fandom has been hoping that Daryl and Carol would pair up. Seeing that Daryl's trapped with the Saviors at the moment, it doesn't look like he has much of a chance.
Sorry Daryl.