Last Sunday, grieving fans of "The Walking Dead" rejoiced when it was revealed that Glenn (Steven Yeun) is alive and well. Earlier in the season, it looked like the fan favorite met his demise when he and Nicholas were surrounded by a horde of walkers. Nicholas shot himself to save Glenn, but his body fell on top of Glenn, and the two fell to the ground. As cameras zoomed in to see the walkers feasting on Nicholas' body, it looked as if Glenn was doomed to die as well.
But in the Nov. 22 episode of the series, fans learned that Glenn survived, and it turns out that as the walkers feasted on Nicholas, Glenn slid out from under and made his way into a dumpster. Two walkers saw Glenn but he was able to kill them by stabbing them in the head. Later, a large can rolled down the street, and the walkers all left to follow the noise.
On the series' after show "Talking Dead," Yeun and showrunner Scott Gimple talked about keeping Glenn's fate a secret and Gimple explained why it took them several weeks to reveal that Glenn is alive.
"When people leave the walls, they don't have cell phones. They aren't rocking '80s beepers. You don't know what happens," he said.
Gimple added that when characters leave, it could be the last time that fans will see them and that he felt it was important to do a story on uncertainty this season.
"Maggie didn't know what happened to Glenn, and I wanted the audience to be exactly where she was, to feel the exact same way," said Gimple.
After the fifth episode of season 6 aired, there were a lot of fans who refused to believe that Glenn died, and many theories circulated online, including one which accurately predicted that Nicholas' body protected the hero from getting eaten by the walkers. There was also the fact that Glenn wasn't included in the "In Memoriam" segment of "Talking Dead," which is a show tradition whenever a character meets his or her end.
On the after show, Yeun said that he felt bad that he couldn't say anything to his family and friends about his character's fate.
"I have not been out much. I frequent a lot of takeout," said Yeun. "I'm pretty sure I've lost friendships along the way. But yeah, it's kind of been overwhelming."
The actor also said that his character's survival meant a whole lot more than a man using his wits to survive a seemingly hopeless situation.
"I think it proves that this world still can take that story of the good guy winning sometimes," he said.
"The Walking Dead" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.
