Last season on The Walking Dead, viewers were left with two major cliffhangers regarding the fate of Steven Yeun‘s fan favorite character, Glenn. Of course, there was the season finale that left nearly all of the primary characters vulnerable to Negan’s barbwire bat, “Lucille.” But there was also the time that Nicholas (Michael Traynor) committed suicide on top of a dumpster, and nearly took Glenn with him when his body fell into the zombie horde.

Somewhere along the way, Glenn had apparently forgiven Nicholas for trying to murder him, and for getting Noah killed as well. Entertainment Weekly has debuted a new deleted scene from The Walking Dead‘s sixth season which fills in some of that gap as Nicholas approaches Glenn during the survivors’ preparations for the great zombie march…which ultimately backfired on them. In this brief moment, things were still tense between the two, but Glenn ultimately offered Nicholas an olive branch…or more accurately, a shovel.

There are potential spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead‘s seventh season. You’ve been warned!

In the original Walking Dead comic book series, it was Glenn who met his end at Negan’s hands during the group’s first encounter with him. However, Glenn’s storyline with Nicholas and his subsequent fake-out death may have actually spared him the fate of his comic book counterpart. If that was a test run for how fans would respond to Glenn’s exit from the show, then the response may indicate that he’s a little too popular to get rid of in the immediate future. It’s simply too soon for the show to retread that material.

But a more compelling reason for Glenn’s survival on the show is that it would be a departure from the comic. The Walking Dead‘s television creative team often takes characters from the show and assigns them different fates from the comic. There’s even a very prominent female lead on the series whose character exited the comic a long time ago! So there is a precedent for Glenn escaping another brutal end.

However, someone was clearly killed by Negan in the finale. And for that death to have any power, it has to be someone that the audience loved. Glenn would still fit that bill, but we think Abraham would probably be the safest choice. If it’s Maggie, fans are only going to get upset again!

What did you think about The Walking Dead’s deleted scene? And who do you think died in the finale? Share your theories in the comment section below!

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Image: AMC