The Walking Dead is set to return later this year for its ninth outing and ahead of its comeback it has been dealt a crushing blow.
The final instalment saw Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln) battle with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) as the All Out War storyline came to an end.
In a shock twist, the leader of the Alexandrians decided to spare Negan’s life and instead hold him prisoner.
His decision left Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan) and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reeds) reeling.
And it seems fans weren’t too impressed with his decision either.
The season finale was one of the series’ most disappointing episode as it failed to attract a large number of viewers.
According to Variety, it brought in the smallest audience to date, only just beating the season one finale.
The publication went on to note that the series has lost almost 3.5 million viewers since series seven came to an end.
The Nielsen rating for the final instalment revealed that just 7.9 million people watched the show live in the US.
It’s not the first time, the series has been hit with low viewing figures.
The season eight midseason premiere attracted just 6.8 million viewers in the 18 to 49 age bracket, with a Nielsen rating of 2.8.
Following the season eight final, many fans began to speculate that Rick could be betrayed.
With Daryl and Maggie unimpressed with his decision to take Negan hostage, viewers believe they could turn on him.
However, actor Norman who stars as Daryl has reassured viewers that he will not go against Rick.
He took to Twitter to thank fans for their support and tease details of the new series.
Sharing a link to a montage of Daryl on Instagram, he told his 4.06 million Twitter followers: “Thanks for the love and no I’m not turning on brother Rick, everyone chill.”
Fans were quick to express their delight that he would not betray Rick.
One replied: “Glad to hear it. Rick and Daryl, brothers for life.”
However another commented: “Haha I won’t believe it til I see it. He has enough reasons to side with Maggie so I’m skeptical for now lol.”
The Walking Dead season 9 will return to FOX later this year.
