No character on "The Walking Dead" is ever safe and even fan-favorite Daryl (Norman Reedus) could die.
Shane (Jon Bernthal) turned into a walker after Rick (Andrew Lincoln) stabbed him in the chest. Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) died after a zombie ripped open his stomach. Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) passed away after Maggie (Lauren Cohan) gave her an emergency Cesarean Section. Merle (Michael Rooker) was shot by The Governor (David Morrissey) and Andrea (Laurie Holden) killed herself.
Given that death on the show is inevitable, the still-living cast members opened up to Entertainment Weekly on how they would like to see their characters go if and when their time comes.
"If I had my druthers on how I would go, I would just walk away," said Reedus of his crossbow-wielding character.
"You would just see him walk down a road like Mad Max," he envisioned, referring to the hero of George Miller's dystopian action film of the same name. "And I'd get smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller, and then a little dog would run on the road with me and just start following me off into the sunset, and you'd never know what happened to him."
"I would wanna go out like that. Just like, 'You remember that dude? What happened to that dude?'" added the 45-year-old actor.
"If Daryl Dixon dies, we riot!" read the very popular line of the character's avid fans on social media.
But "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman said last year at San Diego Comic-Con that fans will get Daryl killed, Comicbook reported.
"I get a lot of hate mail every time I kill anybody in the comic, which always aggravates me because it's like, 'It's been a hundred issues! Don't know how this is by now? What are you doing?'" Kirkman told reporters after the show's panel at the pop convention in 2013. "But specifically about the Daryl thing--that fan reaction is going to get him killed. I feel like it's a dare. Like, 'Oh, really? You're gonna riot? We'll see...we'll see.' No one is safe."
But based on other recent TV dramas with cult followings, beloved male, supporting characters like Daryl, do not die, according to Northeast Ohio Media Group's Troy L. Smith.
"Jesse Pinkman made it on 'Breaking Bad.' Sol Star thrived on 'Deadwood.' James 'Sawyer' survived the island on 'Lost,'" argued Smith. But of course, "The Walking Dead" is a different beast, so anything can happen.
"The Walking Dead" Season 5 premieres on Oct. 12 on AMC.