‘Walking Dead’ Season 6 Spoilers: How The Comic Books Differ From The Episode 9 Deaths

Did you manage to pick your jaw up off the floor yet? “The Walking Dead” midseason premiere on Sunday was quite possibly the most frantic and intense episode to date. While no major character died, the episode was based on a major plot point from Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels, and helps set up the AMC series for the arrival of the ultimate villain, Negan.

As fans already know, the TV show doesn’t follow the comic books to a T. But the deaths in episode 9, titled “No Way Out,” are pretty close to how things play out on the pages.

“No Way Out” is actually the title of Volume 14, which was published in March 2011. Within Volume 14 is comic book Issue 83, which is pretty much where “The Walking Dead” midseason finale left off in November. Check out the similarities and differences:

Father Gabriel And Baby Judith

In the midseason premiere, Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) offers to take baby Judith and protect her at his church while Rick (Andrew Lincoln) goes to the quarry to get vehicles to draw away the walkers. In the comics, Gabriel is at the church, but Judith is not with him: She died earlier, while Rick’s group was still at the prison.

Ron v. Sam

Sam (Major Dodson) doesn’t actually exist in the comics because Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge) has only one son, Ron (Austin Abrams). In the comics, Ron’s behavior is similar to Sam’s on the TV show. When Rick begins to lead a group of gut-covered survivors into the street, Ron begins to panic and cry out for Jessie. His attention attracts walkers, and Jessie watches in horror as her son gets consumed by the undead. This tragedy played out on the TV show, but with Sam instead of Ron.

The “Hand” Scene

Yes, Jessie also gets her hand chopped off by Rick in the comics. The scene plays out much the same. Jessie refuses to let go of Carl’s (Chandler Riggs) arm and Rick’s forced to chop off her hand when walkers start attacking her.

Carl’s Injury

In episode 9, Ron picks up a gun and points it at Rick after watching him hack off his mother’s hand.

“You,” he says to Rick. “You.”

It appears that Ron is going to kill Rick, but Michonne (Danai Gurira) comes up behind him and impales him with her katana. Unfortunately, Ron’s gun still goes off and the bullet hits Carl right in the eye.

While Carl does get shot in the eye in the comics, the bullet does not come from Ron. At that point, Ron is already dead. Instead, Carl was accidentally shot by Douglas Monroe, a character that was replaced by Deanna Monroe (Tovah Feldshuh) on the TV show. Douglas was trying to help Rick and Carl by shooting at the walkers surrounding him, but his aim was a little too wild.

What did you think of “The Walking Dead” midseason premiere? Were you happy with how everything played out? Tweet your thoughts to @AmandaTVScoop.