[PREDICTIONS] Season 8, Episode 8 of The Walking Dead, "How It's Gotta Be"

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By Carolina Gallardo (@carolgallardo)

So the time has come for The Walking Dead mid-season finale and the show has promised that there will be a "shocking" moment, to bring tears to our eyes and to keep us talking for months to come.  Based on from what we have seen from the trailers released, it is clear that Negan and the remaining Saviors come to Alexandria's doorsteps demanding to be let in or else.  The question is, what could that shocking moment be?  Are the show runners leading us on?  Or could a moment really such exist?  Here are thoughts on the Top 5 potential scenarios, as we rate them based on shock value and probability:

FATHER GABRIEL & TARA DIE

Shock Value: 1 out of 5

Probability: 90%

From Dr. Carson's evaluation, it appears that Father Gabriel's organs are shutting down and he is not long for this world.  However since that's been made abundantly clear, if Father Gabriel were to pass away in the mid-season finale, it would be far from shocking.  Our guess is if Father Gabriel were indeed to pass away, we would see some sort of confirmation on the purpose of his life, in order for his death not to be in vain.

Tara dying would be par for the course since she's been a one woman wrecking machine this whole first part of the season (aka Rosita and Sasha last season).  Her reckless attitude and point of view that all Saviors need to be killed no matter what, may very well come back to bite her.  And we wouldn't be the least bit surprised.  But shocking?  Far from it.

NO DEATH; BLACK HELICOPTER WITH NEW GROUP

Shock Value: 3 of 5

Probability: 20%

In the episode "The Big Scary U", we see Rick walking toward the Garbage People's area and he sees a black helicopter flying over his head and it hasn't been seen since.  We can't imagine that the writers and show runners would introduce a functioning black helicopter and never address EVER again.  How exciting would it be for the helicopter to reappear and we find out that it's an existing military group?  That it's OVERSEAS military?  That the outbreak only affected the US and/or the Americas and we've apparently been quarantined?  Oh, I'm sorry...I'm thinking about how I would want the SHOW to end in general.  In any case, as exciting and shocking as that would be, I'm not sure how much of this we'll see in this upcoming episode.

DARYL DIES

Shock Value: 4 of 5

Probability: 45%

This is a tough one.  Daryl has been consistently exhibiting his typical reckless behavior throughout this war, adopting a very clear attitude that the Saviors need to be exterminated, at all costs.  We've seen this extreme ideology put him at odds with Rick, to the point that they came to blows.  After that altercation, Rick continued on to meet the Garbage People and Daryl continued on his own personal mission to attack the Sanctuary and finish them off, against all of Rick's wishes.  He drove the truck into the Sanctuary, killing many of the workers...and allowing an opening for Negan and his lieutenants to escape.  Which is exactly what a shocked Rick saw at the end of the last episode.

It's anybody's guess what Rick's reaction will be when he eventually confronts Daryl, but if The Saviors attack Alexandria and take numerous lives, that blood will be on the hands of Daryl Dixon and it's anyone's guess what his own reaction will be.  Will he sacrifice himself for the greater good, as he seems hell bent on doing time and time again?  Would the show dare kill off their darling cash cow?  At this point, no one is "safe" so it could go either way.

CARL & JUDITH DIE (SORT OF)

Shock Value: 5 of 5

Probability: 85%

Now.  We've thought long and hard about this and hear us out.  There are various reasons why we've come to this conclusion.

The still images from the mid-season finale overwhelmingly include Carl, giving off the impression that he plays a major role in the episode.  There are images of Carl primarily, some other characters, but very little Rick.  In fact, the only image we see of Rick is him standing within a smog of smoke.  What if Rick misses the entire presumed counter attack on Alexandria?  We do not know how much time has passed while he was locked up in Jadis' trailer and the moment he gets to the Sanctuary to see the state that it's in.  What if he gets back to Alexandria to find that the Saviors have bombed and torched the community and many are laying dead as a result...including Carl and his daughter Judith.

But would the show do this?  Would the show kill off Rick's children, including a toddler?  Well, there are some indications that they might.

In the season premiere, we got to see a "Flash Forward" that showed an older Rick at one point speaking to who we presume to be Judith.  But what if that WASN'T Judith?  Rick never calls her Judith by name.  And we do know that earlier this season, Rick fought one of the Saviors only to find out that he was merely protecting his baby girl Gracie, who he found hidden in one of the upper rooms.  Rick was emotionally torn to realize that he killed a man that was only trying to protect his child.  Gracie was then transported to the Hilltop for care and is currently being taken care by Maggie.

What if the little girl in the flash forward is not Judith but GRACIE, instead?  It's also worth noting that the little girl in the flash forward was holding a stuffed rabbit that looks very similar to the same stuffed animal in baby Gracie's crib (hmmm).

Coincidence?

There's also a precedent for this in the comic book, since in the comics, Judith has been dead for some time.  In that scenario, the Governor attacked the prison and Lori, attempting to escape carrying baby Judith, is shot and killed and upon falling, smothers and kills baby Judith.  

Would they dare show something like this on television?

So what if this scenario and death were to fall on CARL and Judith, in an attack to escape an attack from the Saviors?  It would be incredibly shocking, horrifying and tragically sad.

It would also fall in line with the brief red eyed flash forward version of Rick we see, standing over two graves that we ASSUME to be Glenn & Abraham.  At one point, based on his eyes, he appears very obviously distraught and we can hear him say, "May my mercy prevail over my wrath".  If we recall, that line was uttered by Siddiq to Carl and Rick during their initial encounter.  What other incident could bring him to that level of despair, other than the loss of his children?

It is worth noting however that in the same flash forward, Carl is referred to, but we never see his face.  There IS the possibility that Carl is perhaps not KILLED but seriously injured.  Picture this: We end the episode with Rick returning to a torched Alexandria, seeing an unconscious Carl and Judith laid out on the ground.  Then we come back next year to find out that Judith in fact died but Carl survived, albeit with injuries.  CLIFFHANGER.  Since you know, The Walking Dead occasionally likes to do stuff like that.  Just saying.  Either way, this is the scenario we're putting our money on.

RICK OR NEGAN DIES 

Shock Value: 5 of 5

Probability: 0%

It's worth putting out there, but don't even think about it.  At this point in the show (and the comic series) there is no way that the show is going to kill off Rick and/or Negan.  And as it's already been said, they're not the dying type.

THE MID-SEASON FINALE OF THE WALKING DEAD AIRS SUNDAY, 12/10 AT 9:00PM EST