There's a common belief among The Walking Dead community that Glenn Rhee's death shifted the series forever. When Glenn died in the Season 7 premiere, many fans who had watched for years turned off their TV for good. Glenn was the heart and soul of Rick Grimes' group. His death meant that anyone really could die on The Walking Dead.
Before Glenn sadly left the zombie apocalypse series, he represented everything good in the world. His kindness and mercy was something so rare on The Walking Dead that he was the last of his group to kill another human being. But his innocence wasn't a weakness. He might've been younger than many other members of his group, yet he was integral to their survival. While he certainly had a shorter run than other characters like Rick, Michonne, Daryl and Carol, he remains as one of the most unforgettable characters in the show's history.
The Walking Dead Season 1 Started With an Innocent Pizza Delivery Boy
Although he isn't physically introduced until the second episode of The Walking Dead, Glenn's voice does appear in the pilot episode, "Days Gone Bye." Glenn talks to Rick over the radio as the former sheriff's deputy hides in a tank from walkers, saying, "Hey you. Dumbass. Yeah, you in the tank. Cozy in there?" Glenn would later call back their first interaction in Season 6 when he wishes Rick luck and calls him a "dumbass."
Glenn helps Rick escape the tank, which in turn becomes the catalyst for every event to follow. If Glenn had walked past the tank that day, Rick would never have found the group or his family. It's safe to say The Walking Dead wouldn't exist without this pizza delivery boy. Glenn is seen as the underdog among the group, but he proves himself useful as the only person who can navigate the city. His bravery, selflessness and practical survival skills give Rick more than enough reason to confront the Vatos Gang, who kidnap Glenn on the street. Glenn doesn't play a huge role during the fallout at the CDC, but he's officially one of Rick's closest allies by the end of the season.
The Walking Dead Season 2 Began an Iconic Walking Dead Love Story
As the group hits the road without any solid direction, Glenn grows closer to Dale, who dies toward the end of the season. Glenn is also trusted enough to join Rick and Daryl to find Sophia when she goes missing. But Glenn's story doesn't really kick off until he meets Maggie Greene, a young woman who lives on her family's farm in Georgia. The two have a love-hate relationship at first, with Maggie constantly teasing Glenn with petty nicknames and throwing a rotten egg in his hat. But the two hit it off quickly, so much so that Maggie declares her love not long after meeting.
It's around this time that people start to take advantage of Glenn's goodwill. He's forced to keep Lori's secret that she's pregnant, on top of Maggie's secret that the barn's full of walkers. Glenn eventually gives the latter information to the group for safety reasons, gaining their respect but losing Maggie's. Despite this, Hershel approves of the relationship between Glenn and Maggie, even giving the young man a family heirloom, a pocket watch accompanied by words of wisdom:
"No man is good enough for your little girl. Until one is."
Hershel's gift not only ties Glenn and Maggie together, but Glenn to the Greene family as a whole. Glenn eventually reciprocates Maggie's love for him in the finale, starting one of the best romantic relationships on television.
Glenn Started to Step Up as a Leader in The Walking Dead Season 3
Season 3 pushes Glenn's boundaries in ways that fundamentally change him as a survivor. But even through hardships, he still keeps his humanity. When Lori Grimes dies in childbirth, Glenn attempts to fill Rick's shoes but finds himself lacking the leadership qualities that people naturally look to Rick for. On a run for baby supplies, Glenn and Maggie are kidnapped by Merle Dixon, Daryl's brother and now the Governor's right-hand man. Glenn is tortured by Merle, who throws a walker in the room while Glenn is tied to a chair. In the other room, Maggie is sexually assaulted by the Governor, which Glenn misinterprets as rape.
The situation with the Governor puts a rift between Glenn and Maggie for a few reasons. For one, Glenn's anger toward the Governor makes him more dominating and vengeful, potentially leading him right back to the man who harassed Maggie. Another reason for Maggie's outrage at Glenn is that he's so concerned about what the Governor did that he's treating her like a helpless victim, rather than being sensitive to her trauma. However, as they did last season, Glenn and Maggie make peace with each other. This time, it ends with a proposal from Glenn.
The Walking Dead Season 4 Showed Glenn's Loyalty to His Wife
Months later, Glenn and Maggie are officially married and living peacefully in the prison community. The couple have a pregnancy scare at first, which turns out to be false. But that was just a drop in the bucket compared to what follows. After nearly dying from a flu outbreak, Glenn is separated from the rest of the group when the Governor attacks the prison. Determined to find Maggie, he recruits Tara Chambler -- who was on the other side of the fence temporarily fighting alongside the Governor.
On his journey to find Maggie, Glenn meets three new survivors named Abraham, Eugene and Rosita, heading to Washington D.C. to find a cure for the Wildfire Virus. But Glenn's love for Maggie is so strong that he'd rather live a lifetime of the apocalypse looking for her than finding a cure without her. Glenn does eventually find her, but in classic Walking Dead fashion, their happiness vanishes when they're taken hostage by a group of cannibals at Terminus.
The Walking Dead Season 5 Tested Glenn in New Ways
Now reunited with Maggie, Rick and everyone else, Glenn is caught in the middle of two life-changing decisions: going to Washington D.C. or staying behind to find the missing members of the group. Glenn promises to go with Abraham, in exchange for their support against the remaining Terminus survivors. Once the Terminus survivors are killed, Glenn makes good on his promise and heads to D.C.
Unfortunately, the trip to a brighter future doesn't last long when Eugene reveals he lied about a cure. Matters are made worse when Beth is killed, and Maggie goes into a dark depression. Just when their situation looks hopeless, they meet a survivor named Aaron who belongs to a community called Alexandria.
It's at Alexandria where things finally start looking up for Glenn. While there's no cure, Alexandria presents a sense of normalcy where he and his family will be protected from harm. But due to the Alexandrians' lack of experience in the outside world, things go awry. Noah, a teenager that Glenn grew close to, is viciously torn apart by walkers after an Alexandrian named Nicholas leaves him for dead. The death was so traumatizing and revolting that it nearly makes Glenn cross a moral line he's yet to step over: killing a living being. The fight between Nicholas and Glenn is a close call, but Glenn doesn't resort to the easy way out. He spares Nicholas' life, and lies about the fight to everyone else except Maggie.
The Walking Dead Seasons 6-7 Were the End for Glenn
Season 6 was truly the beginning of the end for Glenn, and people could spot it in the first few episodes of the season. Glenn and Nicholas are forced to work together to protect Alexandria from an oncoming hoard of walkers. They end up trapped on a dumpster surrounded by walkers, where Nicholas shows his true colors as a man of fear who regrets his past actions. He thanks Glenn for sparing his life and reputation among his peers, and shoots himself in the head. Nicholas' body pulls Glenn into the hoard of walkers, presumably killing him. Not long after, Maggie tells Aaron she's pregnant.
The death of Glenn is still one of The Walking Dead 's most controversial moments, not because of the death itself, but because of the circumstances.
After Steven Yeun's name is removed from the opening credits, Glenn is revealed to be alive after crawling under the dumpster to safety. The incident is well known as "Dumpster Gate," for the cheap trick of faking the death of a beloved character, only to kill him several episodes later. Both Dumpster Gate and another plot point that signaled Glenn's clock was ticking: after years of staying true to his self, Glenn kills not one, but several human beings to protect his group from potential danger. It all ended up not being worth it, however, when he was taken hostage by the Saviors, committing to the recurring joke that Glenn has been kidnapped by every antagonist. In the Season 7 premiere, Glenn is brutally killed by Negan with a baseball bat.
The death of Glenn is still one of The Walking Dead's most controversial moments, not because of the death itself, but because of the circumstances. Glenn's TV death was timed just as it happened in The Walking Dead comics. In Robert Kirkman's original version of the story, Glenn is picked as Negan's one and only victim of the line-up in The Walking Dead #100. The TV show's version of Glenn's death is criticized because the show deceived viewers into thinking he was safe when Abraham was killed, only to kill him moments later. But truthfully, it was time for Glenn to go. His importance to the story slowly faded as more characters trickled in. It was best to take him out with a memorable death, rather than having him circle the drain until the end of the series.
