Dry Your Eyes, Walking Dead Fans, [SPOILER] is NOT Dead. Here’s the Proof.

The Walking Dead, AMC, 2015

Last night’s episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead left fans shocked and heartbroken as tragic events unfolded on screen and a beloved character appeared to have been killed off out of the blue. If you’re among the many fans grasping at the last few shreds of denial, hoping that what you just saw happen didn’t really happen, we have good news (as well as some bad news). Keep reading to see the evidence for yourself.

SPOILER WARNING: Everything beyond this point contains major spoilers from the latest episode of The Walking Dead, titled ‘Thank You,’ as well as a major spoiler from the comic books. If you have not yet watched the episode or read the comics, and you don’t want to see spoilers, stop reading now. You’ve been warned!

1. Physics and Probability

The Walking Dead ‘Thank You’ (Season 6, Episode 3), AMC, 2015

Within a few short, terror-inducing moments, in which Glenn and Nicholas are standing on top of a dumpster surrounded by a horde of hungry walkers, we watch Nicholas face Glenn, thank him, and then put a gun to his own head. In the next frame, we hear a gunshot and see blood splatter across Glenn’s face. Nicholas falls forward and Glenn catches him as they both tumble off the dumpster and down into the waiting horde. The next few moments zoom in on walkers feasting on what appear to be Glenn’s innards, as he looks on, screaming in terror. But was Glenn really the main course?

If you watch the fall itself carefully, you’ll note that Nicholas likely landed on top of Glenn, making Nicholas, not Glenn, the walker feast. This is further evidenced by the placement of what appear to be intestines being devoured from Glenn’s chest area. We’re no anatomy experts, but we’re pretty certain that’s not where intestines are. Also, if you’re as obsessed as we are and pause the scene every few seconds, you’ll notice the color of the shirt on the walker dinner is not the same color as the one Glenn was seen wearing moments before. It’s Nicholas’s shirt.

2. The Perfect Cover?

The Walking Dead ‘Guts’ (Season 1, Episode 2), AMC, 2010

So what? Even if Nicholas was the first course, there’s no way the walkers wouldn’t eat through him and get to Glenn eventually, right? But, if you’ve followed The Walking Dead since the first season, you know that one of the best ways to cover your scent when edging through a horde of walkers is to cover yourself in walker blood and guts. In fact, Glenn himself does this in the second episode of the series, ‘Guts.’ Since Nicholas is clearly dead, if he’s laying on top of Glenn in that scene, as we presume he is, Glenn is definitely covered in blood and guts. Maybe even enough of them to mask his scent, causing the walkers to finish off Nicholas and move on to something else.

Of course, for this theory to pan out, there would need to be something to steal the walkers’ attention away from their meal long enough for Glenn to find cover. Cut to the scene of Rick in the RV, where he shoots several attackers. Gun shots attract walkers, as any good Walking Dead fan knows, and sure enough, Rick is soon surrounded. But where did they all come from? Our guess is Rick’s gunfire managed to save Glenn when the walkers went in search of the sound.

3. The Talking Dead: Something is Missing

The Talking Dead, AMC, 10/25/2015

Further proof that Glenn is still alive comes not from the episode itself, but from The Talking Dead, AMC’s Walking Dead wrap-up show aired every week following The Walking Dead. There are two things that have historically always happened on The Talking Dead when a character is killed off: First, every killed-off character, including walkers, are listed in the “In Memoriam” segment, and second, the actors that played major characters that were killed off show up on the show for a “post-mortem” interview. Last night, not only was the actor who plays Glenn, Steven Yeun, not on The Talking Dead, but Glenn’s name was also absent from the “In Memoriam” segment. Interesting.

Viewers reading the “In Memoriam” segment saw Nicholas’s name, as expected, but instead of Glenn’s name, the screen simply said “Please don’t let this be true. Please don’t let this be true. Please don’t let this be true.” Both of these things are definitely out of character for The Talking Dead, suggesting that, at the very least, The Walking Dead creators want us to believe Glenn might still be alive. But why?

4. Scott Gimple’s Statement

The Walking Dead ‘Thank You’ (Season 6, Episode 3), AMC, 2015

After ‘Thank You’ aired, the showrunner for The Walking Dead, Scott Gimple, threw fans a bone by issuing an official, prepared statement about Glenn’s apparent death. In part, the statement read: “In some way we will see Glenn, some version of Glenn, or parts of Glenn again, either in flashback or in the current story, to help complete the story.” In true Walking Dead fashion, this statement raises more questions than it gives answers, but the biggest question it raises is “WHY?” Why all the ambiguity surrounding what, at first glance, appears to be a routine death of a major character?

And why would The Walking Dead crew leave fans hanging on shreds of hope that Glenn may still be alive, only to later confirm that, yep, Glenn is actually dead. If nothing else, this ambiguity confirms that something fishy is definitely going on. The creators of The Walking Dead are acting squirrely, and we’re convinced there’s a good reason for it, starting with the fact that Glenn is not dead. At least not yet.

5. On-Set Photos from Future Episodes

Source: Twitter

Perhaps the most compelling evidence that Glenn’s death was nothing more than a big fake-out, however, are photos from the set of future season six shoots. Specifically, photos that show Tom Payne, the actor chosen to play Paul Monroe, AKA “Jesus,” in future episodes of The Walking Dead. These on-set photos clearly show Glenn on the set with a character that has not yet been introduced (Jesus), and therefore can’t be flashbacks, as Gimple implied. Glenn also doesn’t appear to be a walker in any of these photos, which nixes that theory. In fact, he appears to be fairly clean-cut and in good health.

We see no way The Walking Dead could involve Glenn in a future story line with Jesus if he was, in fact, killed off in last night’s episode. Don’t start celebrating just yet, however.

6. Now the Bad News…

The Walking Dead ‘Thank You’ (Season 6, Episode 3), AMC, 2015

Glenn managing to escape what appeared to be certain death-by-walker last night is not all good news, and fans of the The Walking Dead comic series know all too well why. One of the biggest reasons we refuse to believe Glenn was killed off in a horde of walkers is precisely because that death would put a huge, gaping hole in an upcoming story line pulled right from the comic books. We simply can’t believe The Walking Dead crew would toss the significance of Glenn’s comic book death aside in favor of a tumble off a dumpster into a hungry horde. No way.

So, the bad news is that if Glenn is, indeed, still alive (and it looks like he is), he’s likely alive for only one reason, and it’s not a good one. Sorry to be the bearers of bad news, Glenn fans, but if he’s not dead now, chances are good he will be soon, which means all the heartbreak you suffered last night will probably only play out again in a future episode, when Glenn meets the infamous “Lucille” head on.