Is It Time For Carol To Die On 'The Walking Dead'?

WARNING: SPOILERS for The Walking Dead 10x09, 'Squeeze'.

From a survivor of domestic abuse to a near unstoppable one-woman army, Carol Peletier was once one of The Walking Dead's most untouchable characters. Far outliving her deeply troubled comic book counterpart, Carol grew to become a fan favourite, as well as half as one of the show's first and most beloved unlikely friendships with Daryl.

Now, many of the same fans who once loved Carol think it's time for her to go. She has made quite a few costly mistakes recently, and some fans believe it is getting dangerous for the group to still have her around. Let's look back at a few of these mistakes.

Leaving Ezekiel, And The Kingdom

In the finale of Season Nine, set a few months after Alpha horrifyingly murdered a group of beloved characters, including Carol and Ezekiel's adopted son, Henry, the people of the Kingdom are forced to evacuate during a dangerous snowstorm. While making a pit-stop at the abandoned Sanctuary, Carol ends her marriage to Ezekiel. While Ezekiel and the rest of The Kingdom's residents (whom Carol has co-led for several years at this point) take refuge at Hilltop, Carol instead leaves for Alexandria with Daryl.

Carol's decision to break-up with Ezekiel is understandable. Many relationships struggle after the death of a child. However, to also abandon the people of The Kingdom is a bit less forgivable. To take half their trusted leadership away from them when they had just lost their Home was a selfish move on Carol's part.

Attempting To Shoot Alpha

Early in Season 10, our heroes are forced to cross the border into Whisperer territory to put out a fire that would have destroyed Oceanside. In the third episode, a few members of the group attend a forced meeting with Alpha to discuss compensation for their act of trespass. Though tense, the meeting seems to be going relatively well at first, until Carol, goaded by Alpha, attempts to shoot her. Luckily, Michonne manages to defuse the situation.

Yes, Carol is grieving the loss of her son, but everyone has been grieving the victims of the Pike deaths. In shooting Alpha, Carol put her own desire for revenge ahead of the safety of her friends, which becomes an unfortunate pattern for her in later episodes.

Refusal To Sleep

While everyone is running on low sleep in the first few episodes of season 10, Carol is actively refusing sleep through the use of pills. Unfortunately, the failure to sleep leads Carol to an increased state of paranoia. So, when Carol claims to be seeing Whisperers when no one else does, her friends struggle to believe her.

With enemies like the Whisperers, everyone needs to keep their heads as clear as possible. If Carol can't do that,she is a liability.

Losing Lydia

Under the pretence of needing her help finding Aaron, Carol takes Lydia out of Alexandria so that Alpha's new off-sider, Gamma, will see her. She hopes to spread discord among the Whisperers by letting them know that Alpha had lied about killing her daughter. Lydia, knowing nothing about this plan, flees from Carol, feeling horribly used. This potentially causes a big problem for the group, as it is implied that Alpha has gone relatively easy on our group so far only because Lydia is among them.

Carol knew how important it was to keep Lydia safe, and led her into a troubling situation anyway. Things are made worse by the fact that Carol didn't have to lie. If she'd been honest about why she needed Lydia, the girl probably would have been happy to help.

Getting The Group Stuck In A Cave Full Of Walkers

With Lydia missing, a group consisting of Daryl, Carol, Aaron, Jerry, Kelly, Connie, and Magna venture into Whisperer territory to look for her, while also hoping to discover the location of Alpha's zombie horde. As they search, Carol spots Alpha in the distance, and, not realising or caring that this was clearly a trap, gives chase. The rest of the group follows, leading to them all being trapped in an underground cave full of Walkers. Well, at least they found the horde.

Once again, Carol's thirst for revenge put the rest of the group in danger.

Causing The Cave Collapse

The latest episode, 'Squeeze', opens with the group beginning a long, cramped trek to escape the cave. At one point, Kelly discovers some old, unstable dynamite, but Jerry, realising the potential danger, makes her carefully put it down and leave it behind. Just as the group finds a way out, Daryl realises that Carol is missing- She'd taken some of the unstable dynamite, hoping to destroy Alpha's horde. Instead, she drops it and triggers a cave collapse. While most of the group escape just in time, Magna and Connie are left trapped when the cave exit collapses.

Again, Carol let her need for revenge blind her, and now two friends may be dead because of it.

So, Is It Time For Carol To Die On The Walking Dead?

Not necessarily. After indirectly causing Glenn's death at the hands of Negan in season eight of The Walking Dead, Daryl became the object of a lot of hate from fans. Like now with Carol, some fans were even calling for Daryl to be killed off. However, the character has since recovered, especially with the way he's stepped up since Rick's disappearance.

The Cave collapse may mark an important turning point in Carol's current arc. She was clearly distressed at the fates of Magna and Connie, as well as Daryl's subsequent rejection.

If she learns her lesson from the accident and learns to control her anger, or at least channel it in the right way, Carol could still be an important chess piece for the good guys in the coming Whisperer War.