Last night's season three finale of The Walking Dead saw the deaths of both Milton and Andrea due to the actions of The Governor. The residents of Woodbury didn't fare any better as the insane leader gunned them all down in a fit of rage when they refused to continue with his assault on the prison. Entertainment Weekly were able to catch up with Robert Kirkman to discuss both these shocking events and what the future has in store for those who made it out of the finale alive. Below are a few highlights, although the full interview can be found by clicking on the link below.
On Whether They Always Planned To Bring 'The Governor' Back For Season Four:
"That was always the plan. I think everybody involved in the Walking Dead has kind of caught on to that cable trope of bringing a big new character into a series and then, by the end of that season, that character magically dying or being written out of the show in some clever way. We really wanted to give people that sense that this was the kind of thing we were doing — but flip the script at the end. We’ve got a lot more to do with the Governor."
On Whether Or Not David Morrissey Knew He Would Be Around For More Than One Season:
"[Laughs] Yes, he was aware that he was going to be on for more than one season."
On Why 'The Governor' Killed The Residents Of Woodbury:
"It was really trying to build on that self-destructive moment when you’re seeing that this guy who seemingly had it all together — who seemingly was capable of running this town and rebuilding a civilization to some extent — actually didn’t have it together at all and can very easily be frustrated to the point of completely ruining everything he had going. It’s a downfall, to a certain extent. It is a resolution to this season. The Governor is without all of the things he had before and it is supposed to be showing just how much this guy has spiraled out of control because of his interactions with Rick and the other people in Rick’s community."
On The Decision To Kill 'Andrea' In The Season Three Finale:
"That was huge. We spent many months of figuring that out and coming to that decision. It’s never an easy thing to kill a character and that one was definitely tough, because Laurie Holden is such a huge part of the show and it is quite a departure from the comic books. I can imagine there are a good number of fans that are frustrated by it and heartbroken over it and that’s what we’re going for."
On The Decision To Kill 'Merle' In Last Week's Episode:
"That was a huge debate. As I say, every death is an important decision. When it came down to it, it was everything that he does for Daryl. We had seen Daryl’s character grow so much without Merle and it was a lot of fun seeing him revert back to old behavior and seeing how having his brother around affected him. But in the end we felt that losing that character would activate the Daryl character in so many different and interesting ways that it seemed almost essential to the show. We also kind of made Merle a hero on the way out. That’s what that character’s journey ended up being and we thought that was very interesting."
On How Worried We Should Be About Carl After His Actions In The Season Three Finale:
"Very worried! Growing up in this world is not doing that guy a lot of good and it’s taking him to some very dark and interesting places and I think, coming back for season 4, Rick’s going to have a hard time reeling that guy in and trying to find a shred of that kid’s humanity and bringing it to the forefront. Because that guy’s taken a dark turn."
On The Status Of Season Four:
"I think, as of today, we’re halfway done writing. We’ve got almost half of the scripts in for the season and we start shooting in May and things are going really well. We’re very much knee-deep into it. I’m happy that these episodes have finally aired so that I don’t have secrets from season 3 and secrets from season 4 to keep. Now I can just keep it straight and not say anything about season 4 and that’ll be easy to do."
On What We Should Expect From The Fourth Season Of The Walking Dead:
"Season 4 is all about change. We’re going to see a lot has changed in the prison. I think a lot has changed with these characters. I think we’re going to see a very different Rick with very different motives and we’ll see how this conflict with Woodbury and the death of Andrea has affected everybody. And we’ll see a lot of new elements, as we do on every season of the Walking Dead. It’s going to be exciting and different and cool but it’ll still have zombies with it. It’ll still have the things that everybody loves."