Table of Contents
I. Introduction: More Than a Death, A Turning Point
The death of Glenn Rhee, as portrayed by actor Steven Yeun, was not merely the exit of a beloved character from a popular television series.
It was the single most pivotal and divisive event in the decade-long history of AMC’s The Walking Dead.
The moment served as a violent fulcrum, a narrative shockwave that irrevocably altered the show’s trajectory, its thematic core, and its fundamental relationship with its global audience.1
For millions of viewers, the brutal execution depicted in the Season 7 premiere on October 23, 2016, represented a line crossed, transforming the series from a harrowing survival drama into something perceived as gratuitously cruel.
The event triggered a mass exodus of viewers from which the show would never commercially recover and remains, years later, a point of contention and a benchmark for controversial creative decisions in modern television.4
To ask “Why did Glenn die?” is to ask a question with no single, simple answer.
A complete understanding requires a multi-faceted analysis that moves beyond the in-universe plot points to dissect the complex machinery of television production, narrative adaptation, and audience reception.
The decision to kill Glenn Rhee was driven by a confluence of four distinct, yet interconnected, forces.
The first was the Comic Book Imperative, a perceived mandate to remain faithful to a landmark moment in Robert Kirkman’s source material.
The second was the Narrative Engine, the functional necessity of Glenn’s death to propel the character arcs of the show’s other central figures for years to come.
The third was the Thematic Sacrifice, the symbolic execution of the show’s moral compass to usher in its darkest era.
The final, and arguably most consequential, driver was the Breach of Trust, a culmination of manipulative storytelling tactics that alienated a significant portion of the audience and fractured the show’s legacy.
This report will deconstruct each of these drivers in exhaustive detail, synthesizing narrative analysis, critical reception, creator commentary, and viewership data to provide a definitive answer to why Glenn Rhee, the enduring heart of The Walking Dead, had to die.
II. The Anatomy of an Execution: Deconstructing “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be”
The in-universe “why” of Glenn’s death is a direct consequence of the arrival of the series’ most formidable human antagonist, Negan, and the hubris of the show’s protagonist, Rick Grimes.
The events unfold in the Season 7 premiere, titled “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be,” an episode that picks up immediately from the agonizing cliffhanger of the Season 6 finale.6
Rick’s group of survivors, having underestimated their new enemy, are captured and forced to their knees in a forest clearing, completely at the mercy of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his army, the Saviors.1
The First Victim – The Swerve
Negan’s stated purpose is to establish a new world order and punish Rick’s group for having killed a number of his men in a preemptive strike.
To do this, he declares he will beat one of them to death with “Lucille,” his signature baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.1
To select his victim, he engages in a cruel psychological game, reciting the nursery rhyme “Eenie, meenie, miny, mo” as he moves down the line of helpless survivors.1
His choice lands on Sergeant Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz).
In a display of brutal dominance, Negan proceeds to bash Abraham’s head in, an act shown in graphic detail as the other survivors watch in horror.6
For viewers familiar with the comic book source material, this moment served as a significant narrative misdirection.
In the comics, Glenn is Negan’s sole victim in this scene.
By killing Abraham first, the showrunners created a moment of false hope, a brief, gut-wrenching relief that Glenn, a character present since the first episode, might be spared this iconic and gruesome fate.8
The Catalyst – The Punch
The horror, however, was not over.
As Negan taunts a shattered Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos), forcing her to look at the bloody remains of Lucille, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) is overcome with rage.
In a purely impulsive act, he breaks from the line and punches Negan.6
The Saviors immediately subdue Daryl, but the damage is done.
Daryl’s defiance has violated Negan’s newly established rules.
The Second Victim – The Consequence
Negan calmly explains that such an outburst is unacceptable and that he must enforce his authority.
“The first one is free,” he had warned.
“It’s an emotional moment, I get it.” But he makes it clear that a second infraction will not be tolerated.10
Instead of killing Daryl, however, Negan decides to punish the entire group for the transgression.
He turns, seemingly at random, and delivers a swift, shocking blow to Glenn’s head.7
The scene that follows is one of the most graphic and debated in the show’s history.
The impact does not kill Glenn instantly.
Instead, it leaves him with a visibly fractured skull and a dislodged eyeball, struggling to speak.6
In his final moments, looking at his pregnant wife, Maggie (Lauren Cohan), he manages to gurgle his last words: “Maggie, I’ll find you”.1
Negan, mocking Glenn’s state, then proceeds to finish the job, beating him to death with the same savage finality he used on Abraham.6
The Aftermath – Breaking Rick
With two of Rick’s most formidable allies dead, Negan’s work is still not complete.
His ultimate goal is not just to punish, but to psychologically shatter Rick Grimes and bend him to his will.
The remainder of the episode is a masterclass in cruelty, as Negan takes Rick on a terror ride in the group’s RV, forcing him to fight walkers and retrieve his axe.14
The ordeal culminates back in the clearing, where Negan draws a line on the arm of Rick’s son, Carl (Chandler Riggs), and commands Rick to chop it off, threatening to kill the rest of the group if he refuses.11
It is only when Rick is reduced to a sobbing, begging, broken man, willing to mutilate his own son to save others, that Negan relents.15
He has achieved his objective: absolute submission.
The episode’s title, “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be,” is a direct callback to a warning given to Rick in the Season 1 finale by Dr. Edwin Jenner at the CDC.
Jenner, about to die in the facility’s self-destruction, tells a grateful Rick, “The day will come when you won’t be [grateful].” In this moment, kneeling in the dirt, his friends murdered and his spirit broken, that day had finally arrived for Rick Grimes.15
III. The Comic Book Imperative: The Inevitability of Issue #100
The most frequently cited justification from the creators of The Walking Dead for the brutal and controversial death of Glenn Rhee was the imperative to remain faithful to the source material.7
The television show, while often remixing storylines, had a history of adhering to major “tentpole” moments from Robert Kirkman’s comic book series, and Glenn’s death was arguably the most significant and shocking of them all.
The Source Material Mandate
In the world of the comics, Glenn’s death is the centerpiece of Issue #100, a milestone publication released in 2012.2
The scene plays out in a similar fashion: Rick’s group is captured by Negan and the Saviors, and to punish them for their previous actions, Negan announces he will execute one of them.8
In the comic, however, there is no swerve; Glenn is the one and only victim chosen by Negan’s “eenie, meenie, miny, mo” game.9
The depiction is unflinchingly brutal, establishing Negan as a terrifying new force.
The television adaptation recreated this moment with startling fidelity, including the gruesome visual of Glenn’s protruding eyeball and his final, desperate words to Maggie.17
For the show’s creative team, this was not just another plot point; it was a canonical event of immense importance.
Kirkman’s “Essential” Argument
In the aftermath of the episode, creator Robert Kirkman and then-showrunner Scott M.
Gimple repeatedly stated that they had explored other possibilities, including sparing Glenn, but ultimately concluded that his death was “essential” for the narrative to move forward.7
Kirkman explained that “pulling the thread on this sweater just pulls too many things apart,” arguing that the entirety of the subsequent “All Out War” storyline and the long-term character arcs of Maggie, Rick, and even Negan were fundamentally dependent on the fallout from Glenn’s murder.8
This official justification positioned the creative team not as architects of a controversial choice, but as faithful stewards of a pre-existing and unalterable story.
The decision to not only follow the comic but to amplify its horror by adding a second victim and a manipulative cliffhanger, however, reveals a more complex set of motivations.
The following table provides a comparative analysis of the event as depicted in the comics versus the television series, highlighting the key creative choices that transformed a shocking comic panel into a uniquely controversial television moment.
| Feature | Comic Book (Issue #100) | Television Show (S07E01) |
| Victim(s) | Glenn Rhee (sole victim) 9 | Abraham Ford, then Glenn Rhee 6 |
| Catalyst | Negan’s random selection via “Eenie, meenie, miny, mo” 2 | Abraham selected by the rhyme; Glenn killed as a direct consequence of Daryl Dixon’s retaliatory punch 8 |
| Pacing | Introduction of Negan and Glenn’s death occur within a single issue, delivering immediate shock and resolution 9 | Stretched across a Season 6 finale cliffhanger (a seven-month wait for viewers) and a delayed reveal within the Season 7 premiere 1 |
| Graphic Depiction | Extremely graphic and brutal for the comic medium, with iconic panels showing Glenn’s injuries 17 | Viscerally realistic and arguably more grotesque due to the nature of live-action, with extended focus on the gore and the dying character’s suffering 6 |
| Immediate Aftermath | The group is shattered, Maggie is an emotional wreck, and Rick vows revenge, setting up the war with the Saviors 2 | Identical to the comic, but with the added element of Daryl’s capture and subsequent torture, and the group’s immediate concern for a pregnant and ailing Maggie 7 |
The “Essential” Narrative vs. Creative Fluidity
While the public-facing argument from the show’s creators centered on the “essential” and inevitable nature of adapting Issue #100, this narrative is complicated by Kirkman’s own admissions about his creative process.
In a feature for the colorized reprint of The Walking Dead Deluxe #71, Kirkman revealed that he had originally planned for Glenn to die much earlier in the comic’s run and in a far less spectacular fashion.19
His handwritten notes for the issue contained the stark sentence: “Glenn dies next.” The original plan was for Glenn to be killed in Issue #75 by a simple walker bite—an “ignominious fate for such a core character”.19
Kirkman explained that he had “earmarked Glenn for death” at that point because “he just seemed like the character most ripe, whose death would lead to the most story.” However, he repeatedly changed his mind, granting Glenn a reprieve of another 25 issues before his fateful encounter with Negan.19
This revelation fundamentally reframes the decision-making process for the television show.
The notion that Glenn’s death in Issue #100 was a fixed, unchangeable pillar of the narrative is undermined by the fact that its creator viewed it as one of several possibilities, a choice he arrived at over time.
This suggests that the showrunners were not merely following a rigid mandate.
Instead, they made a conscious and deliberate choice to select the most brutal, most shocking, and most iconic version of Glenn’s demise and elevate it to the status of “essential.” The decision was less about slavish adaptation and more about harnessing the raw power of that specific moment for maximum dramatic and emotional impact on the television audience, regardless of the potential for backlash.
IV. The Narrative Engine: How One Death Propelled Four Arcs
Beyond fidelity to the source material, Glenn’s death served a profoundly functional purpose within the television narrative.
It was a brutal but efficient plot device, a narrative engine that simultaneously reset the show’s power dynamics and provided the foundational trauma that would fuel the character arcs of its four most central figures—Rick, Maggie, Daryl, and Negan—for years to come.
Breaking the Leader: The Psychological Dismantling of Rick Grimes
The dual executions of Abraham and Glenn were the final blows that shattered Rick Grimes’s psyche.
In the seasons leading up to this confrontation, Rick had evolved into a seemingly unstoppable force, a leader whose confidence bordered on arrogance.15
He had orchestrated the slaughter of the Terminus cannibals, seized control of Alexandria, and launched a preemptive war against the Saviors with a chilling certainty of victory.
Glenn’s death, however, served as the ultimate, horrific refutation of Rick’s worldview.
Witnessing the savage murder of a man who had been by his side since the very beginning—a man he could not protect—and then being personally tormented by Negan, reduced him to a “snotty, shriveling mess”.11
This complete psychological breakdown was a necessary narrative starting point.
It established the stakes of the conflict with the Saviors and made Rick’s subservience to Negan believable.21
This broken state fueled his eventual, methodical crusade for revenge throughout Seasons 7 and 8, and paradoxically, it was the memory of this horror and Carl’s dying wish for a better world that led to his controversial decision to spare Negan’s life, laying the groundwork for a new civilization.8
Forging The Widow: The Galvanizing Transformation of Maggie Rhee
For Maggie Greene, Glenn’s death was the single most defining event of her life, acting as the crucible that forged her into one of the series’ most formidable leaders.8
The loss of her husband and the father of her unborn child transformed her from a core member of Rick’s family into a hardened, independent force.
Her immediate decision to proceed to the Hilltop Colony was not just for medical care but to establish a new life and honor Glenn’s final wishes.2
From that point forward, her character arc was dominated by the consequences of that night.
Her relentless pursuit of justice for Glenn, her simmering rage, and her complex, years-long conflict with a captive and later freed Negan became the central pillars of her story.23
This trauma is depicted as uniquely profound and enduring, shaping her worldview, her leadership style at Hilltop, and her relationship with their son, Hershel Rhee, who grows up in the shadow of a father he never knew.24
The entire narrative of the spinoff series,
The Walking Dead: Dead City, is built upon this unresolved trauma, proving that the narrative ripples of Glenn’s death continue to drive her story more than a decade later.8
The Burden of Guilt: The Atonement Arc of Daryl Dixon
Daryl Dixon’s role as the catalyst for Glenn’s death is a critical deviation from the source material, as Daryl is a character created exclusively for the television series.8
This makes his subsequent arc of guilt and atonement a deliberate and significant addition by the showrunners.
In the comics, Glenn’s death is a random act of terror.
The show, however, opted for a more direct chain of cause and effect.
By having Daryl’s impulsive punch trigger the second murder, the writers created an immediate and powerful internal conflict within the group of heroes.27
The blame for a canonical comic book event was effectively externalized onto the actions of a non-canonical, fan-favorite character.
This creative choice had profound consequences for Daryl’s character.
The guilt over his role in Glenn’s death haunted him for seasons.8
It was the psychological weapon Negan used against him during his imprisonment and torture at the Sanctuary in Season 7.
The weight of this burden culminated in a powerful and emotional scene where he finally breaks down in front of Maggie, who absolves him of blame, telling him, “It wasn’t your fault”.8
This shared trauma forged a deeper bond between Maggie and Daryl, but it also saddled his character with a legacy of failure, adding to a history of being unable to protect those he loved, such as his brother Merle and Beth Greene.30
While many fans debated whether Daryl was truly at fault, the internal guilt he carried became a defining feature of his character for a significant portion of the series.28
Casting a Villain: The Brutal Establishment of Negan
To establish Negan as a villain more formidable and terrifying than the Governor or any other antagonist the group had faced, the show needed him to commit an act of unforgettable cruelty.3
Killing a beloved, original cast member—a character many viewers considered “untouchable”—was the most effective way to achieve this.
The murder of Glenn served as Negan’s “terrible statement of intent”.3
As Negan himself articulated in the moments before the act, “I need you to know me”.3
By brutally executing not one, but two, key members of Rick’s family, Negan was instantly cemented as the show’s most hated and feared villain.
This act of supreme atrocity was essential for his character.
It provided the moral weight against which his own complex, long-term redemption arc would be measured.
Without the unforgivable sin of murdering Glenn, Negan’s later transformation and his fraught alliance with Maggie would have been narratively and emotionally meaningless.8
V. The Thematic Sacrifice: Killing the Moral Compass
Beyond its function as a plot device, Glenn’s death carried immense thematic weight.
His character had, from his very first appearance, occupied a unique and vital space within the series’ moral landscape.
His execution was not just the death of a man, but the symbolic death of an ideal.
Glenn as “The Heart” of the Show
From his first line, “Hey you, dumbass,” as he saved Rick Grimes from a horde of walkers in Atlanta, Glenn represented the best of humanity.2
He was consistently described by fans and critics alike as the “heart,” “soul,” and “moral compass” of the group.3
In a world that relentlessly stripped away decency, Glenn retained his optimism, his loyalty, and his fundamental compassion.
He was the pizza delivery guy who became a resourceful survivor, the romantic who found love with Maggie amidst the ruins, and the voice of reason that often challenged Rick’s descent into cynicism.18
Until the group’s assault on the Savior outpost shortly before his death, Glenn had managed to survive without taking a human life, a testament to his struggle to hold onto the values of the world before.27
Actor Steven Yeun himself noted that he sometimes felt he was “servicing a concept of goodness as opposed to engaging with Glenn’s humanity,” a reflection of the character’s powerful symbolic role.8
The Death of Hope
The decision to kill Glenn, and to do so in such a meaningless and sadistic fashion, was a deliberate narrative choice to signal a point of no return for the show’s tone.
It was a declaration that the world of The Walking Dead had become so savage that the qualities Glenn embodied—hope, compassion, mercy—were no longer survival traits but liabilities.
His murder sent a clear and brutal message: “holding onto your humanity in this world gets you killed”.18
With his death, the show lost a crucial source of its “boyish charm, human decency, and infectious optimism,” plunging into an era of unrelenting darkness that many viewers found “too mired in misery…
to bear”.3
The hopeful, moral center of Rick’s group was shattered, and the show’s thematic landscape became significantly more bleak and nihilistic in its wake.6
The Racial Politics of a “Meaningful” Death
An often-overlooked dimension of Glenn’s death lies in its socio-cultural context.
As one of the most prominent and long-running Asian characters on American television at the time, Glenn’s role was significant.
His death, therefore, carried a complex and somewhat contradictory weight.
One critical analysis points out that, unlike the deaths of many other people of color on the show (such as T-Dog, Noah, or Bob), which were often brief and had little lasting narrative impact, Glenn’s death mattered profoundly.34
He was not treated as a “replaceable extra.” His murder was a “punch to the gut” for the audience and the central, earth-shattering event of the season, a fate reserved for a character of immense importance.34
In this sense, the show avoided the common trope of the disposable minority character by giving its most prominent Asian character its most significant and story-defining death.
However, the framing of this death remains a point of critique.
The same analysis argues that despite its impact, the event was ultimately not about Glenn’s agency or his story.
It was a tool used to facilitate the character arcs of the show’s white protagonist (Rick Grimes) and white antagonist (Negan).
Glenn’s death, in this view, becomes “all about Rick,” reducing a landmark moment for an Asian character to a plot device in a narrative centered on white characters.34
This creates an uncomfortable dichotomy.
The showrunners gave Glenn a death worthy of his stature in the series, yet in doing so, they also reinforced a narrative structure where a minority character’s ultimate purpose was to serve the emotional journey of the white leads.
This adds a critical layer to the analysis, acknowledging the death’s narrative significance while questioning the racial and cultural framework in which it was presented.
VI. A Breach of Trust: Audience Alienation and Critical Backlash
The intense and enduring backlash to Glenn’s death cannot be understood as a reaction to a single episode in isolation.
It was the explosive culmination of a pattern of storytelling that a large segment of the audience had come to perceive as manipulative, cynical, and contemptuous of their investment.
The show’s creators had spent the better part of a year eroding audience trust, priming viewers for the outrage that would follow.
The Precedent of Deception
Two key events in Season 6 set the stage for the mass alienation of Season 7.
- The “Dumpster Fake-Out”: Early in Season 6, in the episode “Thank You,” Glenn was cornered by a horde of walkers. The scene ended with a close-up of his screaming face as guts and viscera were torn out, leaving viewers to believe he was dead. The showrunners amplified this deception by removing Steven Yeun’s name from the opening credits in subsequent episodes.4 It was not until four episodes later that it was revealed the walkers were devouring the body of another character who had fallen on top of him, and Glenn had improbably survived by crawling under a dumpster.4 This resolution was widely panned by critics and fans as an “exploitative and hacky” ratings ploy that severely damaged the show’s credibility.4
- The Season 6 Cliffhanger: The “dumpster” incident was followed by the even more infamous Season 6 finale, “Last Day on Earth.” The episode ended with Negan beating an unseen victim, shown from the character’s first-person point of view as the screen cut to black.1 This forced the audience to wait seven months to learn the victim’s identity. Coming so soon after the dumpster fake-out, this was seen not as a compelling narrative hook but as a “giant tease machine” and a “cynical ratings grab”.4 It fostered resentment rather than anticipation and broke what many felt was a fundamental contract between the storytellers and the audience.35
The Critical Divide: “Brilliant” vs. “Torture Porn”
When the resolution finally aired, critical reception for “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be” was intensely polarized, reflecting the deep division the show had created.7
- Positive Reception: A segment of critics praised the episode for its boldness and technical execution. The performances, particularly from Andrew Lincoln as the broken Rick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the charismatic Negan, were lauded as “exceptional” and “remarkable”.14 These reviews saw the episode as an “intense, insane and emotionally powerful” hour of television that masterfully established the new stakes of the series and succeeded in its goal of shattering Rick’s psyche.15 Some called the execution “brilliant” and a “masterpiece” of suspense and horror.37
- Negative Reception: A larger and more vocal contingent of critics condemned the episode in the strongest possible terms. It was described as “needlessly sadistic” 12, an “uncomfortable crawl through broken glass” 12, and an hour of gratuitous “torture-porn”.18 These critics argued that the drawn-out pacing, the manipulative double-death of Abraham and Glenn, and the relentlessly graphic gore served no narrative purpose beyond shocking the audience. Many felt the episode was “contemptuous of the audience” 10 and that it had “basically broke the final shred of trust in the show to service characters over gimmickry”.12
The Great Exodus: Fan Outrage and Viewership Decline
The premiere was a cultural event, but for the show, it was a pyrrhic victory.
The episode became a breaking point for a vast portion of the fanbase.
- Emotional Trauma and Abandonment: Social media and fan forums were flooded with reactions from viewers who were not just saddened, but “heartbroken,” “mortified,” and even “physically upset” by the episode’s content.13 A common refrain was that the show had simply become too dark, too cruel, and that with Glenn’s death, it had lost its heart.13 Countless fans declared they were done with the series, and unlike previous threats of abandonment, this time a significant number followed through.10
- The Ratings Cliff: The commercial consequences were stark and undeniable. While the Season 7 premiere achieved a series-high viewership of over 17 million live viewers in the U.S., buoyed by the cliffhanger, the numbers immediately began a steep and irreversible decline.4 The show, which had once averaged nearly 15 million viewers, saw its audience erode season after season. By the time of the series finale, live viewership had fallen to just over 3 million.5 This precipitous drop, beginning directly after Glenn’s death, provides empirical evidence that the creative choices surrounding the event, while successful in generating short-term buzz, inflicted long-term, irreparable damage to the show’s mass appeal and cultural dominance.
| Season | Premiere Viewers (millions) | Finale Viewers (millions) | Season Average (millions) |
| Season 5 | 17.29 | 15.78 | 14.38 |
| Season 6 | 14.63 | 14.19 | 13.15 |
| Season 7 | 17.03 | 11.31 | 11.35 |
| Season 8 | 11.44 | 7.92 | 7.82 |
| Season 9 | 6.08 | 5.02 | 4.95 |
Note: Viewership data is based on Nielsen Live+Same Day ratings and reflects the trend described in sources 5 and.4
VII. Creator Retrospect and Cast Commentary
In the years following the controversial episode, commentary from the cast and creators has provided further insight into the intentions, justifications, and eventual regrets surrounding Glenn’s death.
Scott M. Gimple’s Intent
Then-showrunner Scott M.
Gimple was clear about his primary objective for the premiere.
In an interview, he stated, “I think the hardest thing about it was thinking while starting the script, ‘Well, what would break Rick?'”.21
His goal was to also “break the audience,” not to be malicious, but to make them fully believe that a character as strong as Rick Grimes could be brought so low as to be completely subservient to Negan.21
Regarding the earlier “dumpster” controversy, Gimple defended the ambiguity by explaining that the intent was to place the audience in the same state of uncertainty as the characters in Alexandria, particularly Maggie, who did not know Glenn’s fate.41
These statements reveal a creative philosophy focused on manipulating the audience’s emotional state to mirror that of the characters, even if it meant employing tactics that would be perceived as deceptive.
Robert Kirkman’s Justification
Creator Robert Kirkman consistently returned to the source material as the primary justification.
He framed the brutal introduction of Negan as a necessary evil to “send a clear message that we are just getting started and there is a lot that is going to be coming from this”.21
For Kirkman, the deaths of Glenn and Abraham were the foundational event that would set the stage for all future conflict and resolution, a painful but essential narrative reset.
Steven Yeun’s Perspective
Steven Yeun, the actor who portrayed Glenn, has offered a nuanced perspective.
He revealed that he was an advocate for his character receiving the iconic death from the comics, viewing it as a powerful and meaningful conclusion.
“You read that comic, you kind of don’t want that to go to anyone else,” he said.
“It’s such an iconic moment…
to do it in the way that we did it I think is brave and at the same time super affecting”.21
However, he also reflected more critically on his character’s overall journey, expressing that at times he felt Glenn was used more as a symbol than a person.
“I felt like I was servicing a concept of goodness as opposed to engaging with Glenn’s humanity,” Yeun stated, suggesting a desire for more complex material that the show, in its need for a moral compass, did not always provide.8
Andrew Lincoln’s Regret
Perhaps the most telling retrospective commentary comes from the show’s lead actor, Andrew Lincoln.
Years after the episode aired, Lincoln expressed significant reservations about the execution of the scene.
In an interview with Empire, he admitted, “I do still think [Glenn’s death] might have been when we over-egged the omelet,” a sentiment he had voiced before, suggesting the show went “too far” with the level of gore and brutality.5
This admission from the series’ central star serves as a powerful acknowledgment of the audience and critical backlash, validating the feeling that a line had indeed been crossed.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Experience
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the actor tasked with bringing Negan to life, has been living with the consequences of that scene ever since.
He has repeatedly spoken about how the moment changed his life, not always for the better.
“I walk down those streets, and the people that are there remind me daily that Glenn was their favorite character,” he said.1
The visceral hatred for Negan that the scene generated has followed Morgan personally, a testament to the profound impact the death had on viewers and the success of his performance in embodying that unforgettable cruelty.8
VIII. Conclusion: The Enduring and Fractured Legacy of Glenn’s Death
The death of Glenn Rhee in The Walking Dead was not the result of a single creative whim but rather a calculated decision born from a complex matrix of narrative pressures, thematic ambitions, and a fundamental misreading of the audience.
The answer to the question “Why did Glenn die?” is therefore fourfold.
He died because the source material provided a powerful, shocking, and “essential” blueprint that the show’s creators chose to adapt and amplify.
He died because his murder was a brutally efficient narrative device, a single event that simultaneously broke the hero, forged a new leader, burdened another with guilt, and established an unforgettable villain, thereby fueling years of subsequent plotlines.
He died to make a definitive thematic statement, sacrificing the show’s moral compass to signal a descent into a new, more nihilistic chapter of survival.
Ultimately, however, the story of Glenn’s death is a cautionary tale.
While the creators achieved their immediate goals—they broke Rick, they established Negan, and they generated unprecedented levels of discussion and a record-breaking television rating—it was a pyrrhic victory.
The methods employed, particularly the extreme graphic violence described by many as “torture porn,” layered atop a year-long campaign of what viewers perceived as manipulative cliffhangers and fake-outs, constituted a profound breach of the implicit contract between a story and its audience.
The showrunners sought to make viewers feel what the characters felt—broken, hopeless, and terrorized.
They succeeded, but in doing so, they alienated millions who watched television not for an endurance test in misery, but for compelling characters and resonant storytelling.
Glenn’s death is the defining moment of The Walking Dead‘s second era.
It represents the show’s absolute zenith in terms of cultural ubiquity and the simultaneous catalyst for its irreversible decline from a global television juggernaut into a series sustained by a smaller, more niche, and hardcore fanbase.
The legacy of the event is therefore fractured.
For the narrative, it was a necessary engine of change.
For the audience, it was a betrayal.
For the history of television, it stands as a stark and bloody monument to the delicate balance of trust between a creator and their audience, and the moment that, for many, that trust was irrevocably, brutally broken.
Works cited
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- Glenn Rhee – Wikipedia, accessed August 1, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Rhee
- The Walking Dead’s Worst Death Had To Happen, But It Killed The …, accessed August 1, 2025, https://screenrant.com/the-walking-dead-glenn-death-inevitable-killed-show/
- It Still Stings: Walking Dead and the Long Wait to Reveal THAT Death, accessed August 1, 2025, https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-walking-dead/walking-dead-glenn-death-problems
- Rick Grimes Actor’s Criticism Highlights Exactly When The Walking Dead Started Going Wrong – Screen Rant, accessed August 1, 2025, https://screenrant.com/walking-dead-andrew-lincoln-glenn-death-criticism-went-wrong/
- What episode does Glenn die in The Walking Dead, and how? – Android Authority, accessed August 1, 2025, https://www.androidauthority.com/what-episode-does-glenn-die-in-the-walking-dead-3409211/
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