Michael Rooker a.k.a Merle Dixon has envisioned an ending for The Walking Dead series and it would make Lost creator J.J. Abrams proud.
Rooker made an appearance at a recent Walker Stalker Con ( via ComicBook.com ) where he shared his theory. Rooker believes the whole story is being told through Carl Grimes’ perspective. The story ends with Carl recalling all the loss he’s experienced and now he’s the lone survivor.
"A railroad track...going on forever, into the setting sun," Rooker told the Walker Stalker Con crowd. "From behind camera, a single individual walks down the middle of the track...into the setting sun. You realize that individual is Carl...all grown-up, a man of his own. No one else is with him—just him. And as he does his voiceover, you realize that all the seasons that you've seen is him reliving his past. So everyone on the show is dead. He's the only survivor, and he's on his own and walks off into the sunset. And that's the end of the show."
Rooker’s ending is plausible considering the comic books are very Carl Grimes heavy, but not so much in the show. Carl is more of a side character now that he’s gotten a bit older in the TV series. We really haven’t seen much of Carl until The Walking Dead Season 7, otherwise much of his screen time was him babysitting Judith in Alexandria.
If we were to pick an ending, Carl would definitely be the lone survivor – but instead of being alone, he’d be leading a community. We think Carl will become a hybrid of Rick and Negan, but more Negan than anyone else. Carl doesn’t have the same do-good instincts Rick does since the only thing he’s ever experienced about life was a post zombie-apocalypse. He’s seen how ugly people can be and doesn’t have any reason to believe the best in people.
In our The Walking Dead ending, a 20-something Carl looks over his own Sanctuary. People respect him, but also fear him. Carl doesn’t kill people for leaving his compound or use an iron to the face to get his point across, but he won’t let people be cruel of each other under his watch. He won’t stand for violence in his community, but will protect them fiercely. Carl probably has a child because condoms are difficult to come by in the apocalypse and no one’s pullout game is that strong.
The end shot is Carl speaking to his followers like Negan and Rick have done before. We see him utter the words, “We’ve survived thus far, but we are still The Walking Dead .” He looks behind him only to see a group of survivors with weapons, ready to fight. Cut to credits, turn the page! It’s done.
OK, maybe we could’ve thought our ending through a bit more, but it’s pretty solid. How do you think The Walking Dead will end? Let us know in the comments below.
