Walking Dead: Did Show's Creator Predict Rick's Death?

The Walking Dead ended its sixth season with a controversial cliffhanger, teasing fans with the certainty that Negan would kill someone in the episode and then failing to reveal who dies. In a recent Reddit AMA, show creator Robert Kirkman made a comment that has some fans wondering if he's revealed the identity of the victim.

When asked by a fan if Rick Grimes will die, Kirkman responded that the character will die "eventually." Of course, that's a non-answer that doesn't give any real information about the character, but it carries the suggestion that Rick will die somewhere down the road and not at the beginning of season seven. On the list of Negan's potential victims, Rick is a long shot anyway.

Kirkman also took some heat during the AMA from fans who were not happy with what they saw as the blatant manipulation of the season-ending cliffhanger. Kirkman assured fans that the death in question - whosever it may be - will have a "lasting impact" on the series and is not a trivial thing.

Kirkman didn't necessarily seem to understand, however, that fans were not so much objecting to a particular character's death, but to the show's increasing reliance on gimmicks like character deaths, cliffhangers and audience manipulation - rather than strong writing - for dramatic impact.