This Could Be The Most Heartbreaking Death Yet On ‘The Walking Dead’

The Walking Dead midseason finale has finally come upon us, and before it aired, we were all terrified. So when we began the "How It's Gotta Be" mid-season finale, we knew that there were gonna be lots of shocking surprises and a ton of mind-boggling questions before the show went on it's holiday break. The worst cliffhanger we were left with? Carl's fate, which is seriously not looking great right now. And fans are terrified: will Carl die on The Walking Dead?

The Walking Dead fans left Carl after Rick and Michonne found him after suffering from a walker bite-wound to his side. And as we know, walker bites will play out as walker bites do — meaning death.

At the beginning of the episode, Carl was taking charge in Alexandria, where he was concocting a plan to distract Negan from the front gate of the sanctuary. Carl even offered up himself as a sacrifice as punishment (Thankfully, Negan didn't accept and Carl was left alive.) Rick goes searching for Carl towards the end of the episode only to find him in Alexandria, having suffered from a walker bite wound. And so we found out in that final moment of the episode why Carl was so willing to sacrifice himself — because he was bitten by a walker while he was trying to save a stranger a week earlier. So Carl pretty much confirmed that he knows he will be dead sooner rather than later.

It's (maybe) the big death everyone was anticipating coming into the episode. Even before the mid-season finale, "How It's Gotta Be," started, fans were getting antsy about what might happen to all the living survivors next in the Season 8 Episode 8 mid-point of the year. From what we've witnessed thus far, it was super clear that absolutely nobody is safe. We all knew to expect a shocking death any minute that will leave fans absolutely reeling all the way until the show picks back up after the winter break.

Still, fans are heartbroken.

We sure got a warning from the mid-season trailer that aired just last week after the seventh episode of the season, titled "How It's Gotta Be." In the promo for the finale, the AMC network described the episode in a way that had fans biting their nails:

Every story and battle from the first half of the season comes crashing together in this action-packed, emotional mid-season finale.

This entire season has been so seriously exciting, and living up to the expectations of the "All Out War" that the series has promised. Fans have already suffered through some serious losses, from King Ezekiel's beloved pet and protector Shiva, to Eric Raleigh of Alexandria's loss just a couple of episodes ago. And tonight's episode is no exception — and I mean, if you think about what came before, it's only fitting.

In the last episode, we had just left off Rick, who was held hostage by what we can only assume is his enemy, the Scavenger Jadis. But following his epic redemption that came in the form of him winning a battle against her and her entire Scavenger squad while Rick was practically defenseless, Rick got some new members to join his side in the battle against the undead and the Savior wrecking-ball crew.

We knew that this season was going to be intense, but I don't think anyone has expected the savagery to hit these levels. There's been a multitude of cliffhangers and shocking twists. One of the biggest moments was when we saw the character Morales return, which happened in the second episode of the season. We hadn't seen him since all the way back in Season 1, so when he came back we were sure that this "All Out War" season was as serious as serious gets.

And clearly, that's what we got in the mid-season finale tonight. And while we won't know what will happen next with Carl, until around February 2018 when the show returns, there's a lot that is to be anticipated. And not all of it is good.