"The Walking Dead" has yet again killed another character that had been deemed sweet and kind. Fans would miss Eric Raleigh (Jordan Woods-Robinson) who died in the latest episode, titled "Monsters," of the eighth season of AMC's post-apocalyptic series.
However, no one would miss Eric more than his love interest in the show, Aaron, played by Ross Marquand. Most fans might have seen Eric's death coming as early as the second episode of the current season titled "The Damned."
In the comics, Eric had died instantly when he was shot in the head, but the show had Eric enduring a gunshot wound for almost two episodes. He incurred the gunshot during the fight between Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the gang versus the Saviors, which made Aaron leave Eric under a tree to go back to the battle. "It's fine, I signed up for this. Go back into the battle," Eric said to Aaron.
When the gunfight was over, Aaron returned to the tree only to find Eric had sadly passed away. Aaron was left to watch Eric turn and then eventually walk with other walkers in the forest.
Marquand, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, described the death as a "bittersweet moment" for the love team, who raised the flag for the LGBTQ community in the show. "I love that we found moments of levity throughout his death scene. You don't expect that. It's not a typical way of dealing with death," the actor said.
Meanwhile, Marquand hinted the fate of his character on the show after being left by his boyfriend. Although he admitted that the otherwise abrupt death of Eric on the show had left no parting words for the lovers, he hinted that the event might be used by Aaron as an inspiration to fight stronger for the cause of the group.
"There's certainly room to be a little dark, but moving forward, Aaron's the eternal optimist," Marquand said, and added it would help Aaron eventually.
