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Is anyone else still reading the comic? Anyway, spoilers below:
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I said spoilers!
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So, I haven't read anything that affected me this much since the Red Wedding. Anyway, Carl's been shot in the head, in the goriest, most horrific way possible. By a stray bullet. Maybe it's repetitive of the prison situation, but... well, I can't see how Carl survives, and it'll be interesting to see how Rick is when he literally has nothing left. He'd made clear that, when the chips are down, he will abandon everyone else to save his son. Now his son is almost certainly gonna die. The series could end in the next issue for all I know, now. I know the writer has stated he has plans for all the way to issue 150, but that could easily be a lie.
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I was really shocked. I know they kill off characters left and right, but Carl... I have a feeling he's going to live, but I'm not sure how he would without serious brain damage.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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I stared at that page forever. I couldn't believe it happened. I've been scared for Andrea and Glenn for awhile because there's so few of the original cast left and I just KNEW that Carl and Rick were going to be survivor long into the future so everyone else was fair game.
I really don't see how he can survive such a wound. It'd be hard to believe even if they were operating in a sterile hospital with an army of surgeons not surrounded by hungry zombie hordes.
But Rick without Carl?? I don't see how that can work. He'd be too broken.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I know. I felt almost physically ill when I saw the page. I wandered about in a daze for about twenty minutes after seeing this.
I guess it really is like the Red Wedding.
Without Carl... I mean... that's really the ultimate, isn't it? Rick has had the will to survive because of Carl. When his wife died, we went insane. Now? Now... who knows.
That's part of the fun of it.
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I'm trying to imagine the possibilty that Rick might either kill himself or get himself killed. That would be a major game changer but it wouldn't end the series. We are finally seeing Michonne find her human side again. And she has sort of revolved in reverse compared to Rick. When we first meet her, she very broken, disturbed and shut off. Since coming to the town, she's been doing alot better. She's showing emotion and connecting with people (though I never really bought the whole Morgan thing.) She's more like Rick when he started out. It would be interesting to have her take over the series. And she's always been a fan favorite.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I like that Rick just had this great realization about something that everyone who has watched any zombie movie ever knows. Though I'm glad he finally had it. Also, if Carl is alive, then something is seriously wrong.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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But yes. I was planning to bring it up. He had this revelation. But at the same time, something about his revelation chills me.
Maybe I've just wanted the story to go this way, but I feel like Rick is not going to be doing his plan without opposition. Those who, in the past, would have questioned him are now almost completely dead.
From his group, the people who used to actually challenge him, people like Tyreese and Dale... all gone. Douglas is dead too.
Basically, the checks on Rick's power are gone, because anyone who would really try to check his power are gone. Glenn wouldn't. Andrea wouldn't either. Maybe Michonne. Maybe Abraham. But they aren't really as confrontational towards Rick as others used to be.
And with that gone... well, I wonder how long before Rick's questionable decisions and bipolar bouncing between moods becomes ultimately destructive. He sees "how things should be." He sees his way. I wonder how he'll handle dissent.
I want to see that story. And more, I want to see what happens to Rick when Carl dies. I want to see how he handles living in this world he wants to build, without his son. If this epiphany is for real, I bet he'll become fanatical. And I bet he'll become tyrannical.
At least, that would be a good way for the story to go. I honestly didn't expect them to be able to stay in the community. I thought it was going to be over, and we'd be back to wandering.
Also, even though Carl isn't dead yet, it's been, what, an hour, in world? He still has time to die...
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For those that don't read the comic and are just curious - what is the revelation? Don't worry about spoilers, I will never read the comic.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Oh, well, he realizes, literally, "humans are the problem. The undead are a manageable threat." this after Rick and the survivors have found a community of other survivors, only to have their new home overrun by zombies. The people scatter and hide once the wall falls to the zombies, and without a unified defense, the entire place is overrun.
In the last issue, Rickwent back into "run and leave everyone" mode. Doing this instead of standing and fighting caused the deaths of Rick's girlfriend, her son, plus triggered the death of the community's other leader... along with Carl getting a grievous gun wound to the head, which he may not survive.
To protect Carl, Rick finally stands and fights. The others see this from their houses, and decide, one by one, to come to his aid. They ultimately defeat the zombie horde, to Rick's amazement.
Now he has a plan to make them into an army with the discipline to protect them, and all sorts of grandiose plans that seem to veer way too idealistic. I fear the change, if coupled with his son's death, might end up much more serious, and much worse, than the hopeful moment suggests.
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It would actually be nice to have it be happy. This book has for some time been too nihilistic for me to read.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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It's weird, then, that I want it darker! Or at least, I am afraid something ad hopeful as all this is too good to be true.
But it is either that fear, or the story has found hope. For Rick has, even if he says it while pleading with Carl not to die.
Rick said this: "for the first time, the road ahead looks long... and bright."
Long is even more important than bright in that statement. They didn't lose the community. They still have it. They have a chance. Maybe Rick went as bad as he could. Maybe now we will finally have reconstruction. Maybe the other shoe finally dropped, and they found themselves strong enough to handle it.
But even so, conflict must remain. I wonder if it will come from how hard rebuilding will really be?
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
So, are y'all thinking that Rick might continue with this plan even if Carl dies.
Before this issue, I was ready to see Carl die. I was gonna miss him and what could have been a great character story. His age makes his experiences truly unique and there's the potential to do so much more with his character that can't be done with the adults. Still, I was interested in what would happen to Rick if Carl passed.
However, now I'm intrigued by Rick's plan and I really don't think he'd be able to do it, or really care about anything, if he lost his son. But yeah, I agree that there are some big problems and questions to deal with. The community's leader is dead and I imagine quite a few of its citizens have survived by hiding out. I'm not sure how eager they'll be to launch a war on the undead. Rick's crew is used to taking a stroll with the roamers but the community is full of people who are straight out of issue three or something.
Still, he's got Glenn who is a great Runner and Andrea has her gun skills and they've both developed cool heads. I agree that they're probably the last people to challenge Rick, but they'll be great support. Any challenge will come from Michonne but I bet she's game for this, though I wonder what it's going to be like for her when she goes back to sword-wielding. I feel like she's purged her demons but now Morgan's gone and being the only one in Rick's way will cause some stress.
I'm hopeful for the plan and I'm excited for this new phase in the story. Its probably why I like the prison arc more than the community arc. Despite the similarities, the prison was more about finding a way to thrive in their new reality rather than just pretending there was no world outside of the wall.
But its Rick and there's an uncertain level of crazy that always goes with him.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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So now that the new issue is out, I think it's kind of ridiculous that Carl is just fine. Seriously, what the heck? I'm more pissed about this than when he was actually shot. For god's sake, half his head was torn off.
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posted
Well, actually, it wasn't that half his face was torn off. It carved off a lot of his face, but it wasn't quite so deep as it may have looked face-on.
But yeah. Go figure.
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