Last week’s penultimate instalment of The Walking Dead season nine delivered the most painful gut punch yet.
The Whisperers leader Alpha (played by Samantha Morton) proved she could be truly brutal in scenes at the fair, which most characters had been looking forward to beforehand.
In devastation unlike anything the survivors have seen in years, Henry and Tara were killed, and their heads were mounted and displayed on spikes for all to see – lest anyone try and win against the Whisperers again.
As viewers reflected on the horrific twist, it seemed English star and former lead Andrew Lincoln was doing the same.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Daryl Dixon actor Norman Reedus revealed the Rick Grimes favourite was regretting his decision to exit.
Norman explained: “It’s funny because I talked to Andy the other day.
“And he was like, ‘Man, I picked the wrong time to leave the show.
“‘Because it’s so f*****g good right now!’.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, you did, dude. You picked the wrong time.’”
Andrew Lincoln has only ever had good things to say about the zombie horror that made him a major star, and viewers haven’t truly said goodbye to him yet.
For one thing, Rick is set to return in a series of TV specials, meaning fans will finally discover what happened to him after he was carried away on a helicopter.
But could Andrew decide to return to the main show ahead of its final ever episode?
Showrunner Angela Kang spoke out about Andrew’s departure and how The Walking Dead would go forward without him at the PaleyFest in Los Angeles recently.
She said: “There’s a jump in the comics but you know we decided to go a little further ahead in time than the comics do.
“I kind of felt like, ‘Okay, we’re writing out Rick… how do we promise that there is so much more cool story to tell?
“With all these amazing characters that we have on the show?’
“So I thought it would be a really fun twist to jump that time at the end of his last episode.”
But what’s in store for fans in the finale this weekend? Will Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) seek revenge for Henry’s death?
The Walking Dead continues Sunday on AMC in the US and follows at 9pm on FOX Monday.
