WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead season nine, episode 15, The Calm Before.
The hit AMC show continued last night and aired potentially one of the series’ most shocking moments to date.
Alpha (played by Samantha Morton) was keen to show just how powerful she really could be following the decision made by Daryl (Norman Reedus) to allow Lydia (Cassady McClincy) to travel with them.
However, he probably didn’t expect to see the incoming bloodbath hit like a sledgehammer.
Alpha managed to sneak into the Kingdom’s celebratory party, the Fair of New Beginnings, and snatched some Hilltop members.
Later on, she made a gruesome border using the heads of those she stole on pikes.
Daryl, Carol (Melissa McBride), Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) stumbled across the scene and had to look at the excruciating image.
Among the dead, four favourites met their end, including Tammy (Brett Butler), Henry (Macsen Lintz), Enid (Katelyn Cacon) and Tara (Alanna Masterson).
Fans of The Walking Dead comic books would have been expecting this scene but not to the extent of what they saw.
In fact, Tammy was the only one to die in both versions, and it was supposed to be Ezekiel (Chary Payton) Rosita (Christian Serratos) who died.
Since the episode, boss Angela Kang has opened up on her decision to kill off different characters in light of the comic books.
She told Entertainment Weekly it was always the plan, saying: “There were so many conversations about it, because it’s really hard to decide who dies, and any time there is a death on the show, sometimes it’s just story-related, sometimes, as with Andy [Lincoln], it’s because there’s a personal factor.”
Angela continued: “Some of the people who are on those pikes, we knew from the time we cast them that they were gonna be on the pikes.
“We specifically cast Brett Butler as Tammy knowing that she would wind up in that array. And we told her that at the time we cast her.”
Furthermore, the loss of Henry is sure to have a big impact on Carol who already lost one child to the apocalypse.
Angela said: “It’s gonna have a huge impact on Carol moving forward.
“We started this season seeing her really happy. We saw her get engaged and be married, and she grew out her hair because she wasn’t being abused.”
The show runner hinted Carol will start a quest for vengeance against Alpha and The Whisperers, but will she succeed?
The Walking Dead continues Sunday on AMC in the US, and follows Monday at 9pm on FOX in the UK.