Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the series finale of The Walking Dead.
“Rest In Peace,” the series finale of The Walking Dead, has now been unleashed on the world. Though it seemed like a bloodbath was coming, there were actually relatively few deaths despite the growing threat of evolving walkers invading the Commonwealth. Much of this was not entirely unexpected, as many familiar faces will be appearing in future spinoffs, but there still were surprisingly few consequential demises in this concluding chapter. With that being said, as this is still a harsh world, not everyone made it out in one piece. Thus, we are here to break down who bit the dust as well as who somehow managed to make it out alive.
Alive: Judith
Despite getting shot at the end of the penultimate episode, Judith (Cailey Fleming) survived the series finale. It was touch and go there for a bit as she was taken to a nearby hospital by Daryl (Norman Reedus) who ended up getting nearly overwhelmed by walkers and passed out on the floor. Though she was also fading in and out of consciousness, enough people managed to break free of the zombie horde to protect them. Free from further threat, universal donor Daryl was able to use his basic medical knowledge to give Judith an emergency blood transfusion that saved her life. She would then eventually recover enough to see the surprisingly bright future of her little corner of the world when the story jumped a year into the future. However, not quite everyone will be there to experience it.
Alive: Pamela
Perhaps most surprising was that Pamela (Laila Robins) didn’t end up meeting her end this episode. She had been established as the sole remaining antagonist and had long been cruel to all the people living under her thumb. There was even a plan by Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to go on a mission to take her down in order to avert further bloodshed. This didn’t prove to be necessary as the remaining forces of the Commonwealth turned on her. Pamela did at one point seem ready to let herself be eaten by nearby walkers rather than be taken alive. This is prevented by Maggie who ends up being the one to save her by shooting walker Hornsby with pinpoint precision. The group then decides to hold Pamela in confinement for her many crimes against the people and allow for new leadership.
Dead: Jules
Alas, poor Jules (Alex Sgambati), we hardly knew ye. The first death of the episode came as the remaining characters became overwhelmed by the walkers that Pamela had let roam free in the poorer area of the Commonwealth. There was a lot of stabbing and shooting that ensured everyone else made it out alive, though Jules was not so lucky. As a refresher, she was a resident of Oceanside who had appeared in a few episodes here and there, though was not a part of the main group. What did her in was when she stabbed a walker in the back instead of in the head which gave it a prime chance to take a bite out of her arm. Luke (Dan Fogler) rushed over when he saw this happening, but was too late to save her. While crying out for help, he was thrown to the ground and the rest of the walkers then made a meal out of Jules as Luke was pulled to safety. However, she would not be the last to die.
Dead: Luke
Shortly after Jules died, Luke would end up succumbing to his injuries. He had been bitten on the leg and a desperate attempt at amputation proved to be unsuccessful. Making matters worse was that all the doctors and medicine had been taken from the hospital by Pamela. In his final breaths, Luke managed to get his friends to find the harmonica from his pocket as they promised to keep the music alive once he died. He was a more known character and, save for one other that we’ll get to, the most significant death of the episode. As his eyes closed for the last time, those who had known him made the tough decision to insert a blade into his head so that he would not turn and then covered his now lifeless body with a sheet.
Alive: Lydia
There was one successful amputation that saved a character who seemed to be in quite a bad spot. Lydia (Cassady McClincy) is a former Whisperer and daughter of the deceased antagonist Alpha (Samantha Morton) who had recently been bitten on the arm. The death sentence was averted when her fellow survivors quickly cut off the infected limb and managed to stop her from bleeding out. However, her survival is not without pain as she later mourns the loss of Luke and Jules.
Dead: Rosita
Last, but definitely not least, was the most significant death of the finale. Rosita (Christian Serratos) had been around for longer than most of the remaining characters and had gone through hell to survive. In this final episode, she had to go through yet more in attempting to rescue her child. There was even one moment where it seemed like she and said child were done for after falling back into a horde of walkers. She managed to fight her way back to safety in a nearby building, but unseen damage had already been done that would take her life.
Though we didn’t get a good glimpse of it initially, she later showed Eugene (Josh McDermitt) that she had actually been bitten directly on her neck. There is no cutting off such a wound and she knows it. She spends the rest of her short time left being with her child and seeing her friends who will live happily when she is gone. At a cheery dinner, she whispers to Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) that she is going to soon turn. He is shocked, but understands what it is that she wants him to do. The two go upstairs, and he says a final prayer over her while she lays with her child for the last time. Eugene says one more farewell, and she dies with the knowledge that she had protected all those that she loved.