AMC has taken risks with THE WALKING DEAD in the past by killing off major characters. Just last week, Merle was zombified, and now his little brother is sent off the show in a spectacular way.
In the Governor's attack, he floods the prison with zombies. The only way out becomes bottlenecked with the undead. Hero Daryl ingeniously sacrifices himself to save Carol and the group by hanging within the grasping reach of the "biters," successfully using himself as live bait until the others escape and the zombies inevitably rip his guts out. A pretty spectacular end to a great character that wasn't even originally n the comic.
While Daryl had become a beloved character, creator Robert Kirkman gave the reasoning behind killing him off.
"Daryl was created entirely for the television series, and replaced Tyrese as Rick's "best friend" type. Now that we've reintroduced Tyrese and brought him into the group, Daryl had to go."
Click the source link for more info on the reasoning for this shocking story...