Warning! Contains spoilers for The Walking Dead season 11!
After a brutal farewell in season 11, justice for Rick Grimes has finally been delivered over three years late in the form of the Sebastian death. Rick Grimes' death in Robert Kirkman's original comics is every bit as devastating as it is inauspicious. After liberating the Commonwealth from Pamela Milton's tyrannical rule, Rick is visited by a gun-toting Sebastian in the dead of night, and his journey in the zombie apocalypse quickly comes to a grinding (and bloody) halt. Since the Sebastian character is hardly a criminal mastermind, he's quickly uncovered as the culprit, and Carl Grimes must decide the boy's fate. Following his late father's example, Carl chooses mercy, and noble though the decision may be, the sniveling Sebastian's survival leaves a bitter taste.
Any readers hoping the Sebastian character might finally get his comeuppance will find their long-held wishes granted in Echoing the comics, Sebastian is pushed over the edge when his lavish lifestyle comes under threat, and he attempts to murder the person responsible - in this case Margot Bingham's Max. Unlike the comics, he doesn't get away with it. A well-aimed shoulder-barge from Eugene Porter sends Sebastian careering into a nearby zombie, and absolutely nobody rushes to help him, condemning the mini-Milton to the Sebastian death. It's a sweet kind of revenge for the comic book Rick Grimes — made even more apt when his TV daughter, Judith, arrives to watch Sebastian's labored final breaths. You can hear her muttering, ""
Andrew Lincoln already , briefly returning for the series finale, and is confirmed to reprise his role as Rick Grimes in an upcoming TV series alongside Danai Gurira as Michonne. The chances of Teo Rapp-Olsen's live-action Sebastian murdering Lincoln's live-action Rick Grimes were, therefore, always remote. Nevertheless, season 11 certainly could've transferred Rick's comic death onto a different character, and many viewers were perhaps expecting the Sebastian character would gun down a different protagonist during the final episodes. That obviously didn't happen after Eugene fed Sebastian to the undead, taking a major comic moment off the menu for 's ending.
The Sebastian death changed on a thematic level too. In the comics, Pamela and Sebastian both survived, with the Commonwealth's former governor visiting her jailed son into old age. Mirroring Rick's refusal to execute Negan, this demonstration of mercy proved civilization was making a comeback. Sebastian's death in 's "A New Deal" meant the semi-happy ending of the comic books didn't happen, and instead, audiences got a more violent conclusion to season 11's Commonwealth arc.
Robert Kirkman's comic books don't have a traditional "final villain." You could argue it's Pamela by merit of her being the Commonwealth's ruler, or Sebastian because he kills Rick Grimes. However, neither is comparable to the Governor, Negan, or Alpha as a main antagonist. The Sebastian death set on a different path. With her son killed (rather than just jailed), Laila Robins' Pamela Milton became bitter and twisted - especially in pursuit of the newcomers from Alexandria. Losing a child was certainly enough of an emotional trigger to transform Pamela from a slightly loathsome politician into a properly sadistic enemy for 's finale. Luckily her arc has officially ended just as satisfyingly as Sebastian's. Mercer arrests Pamela for her crimes, and in response, she tries to feed herself to zombified Lance. Maggie swoops in and takes Lance down, realizing that prison is far worse a fate for Pamela than being eaten.
While human antagonist, the finale was all about the different factions banding together to defeat the zombie hoard. Over the course of the series, has seen some incredible human villains (with some turning into allies) such as Negan, Alpha, and even the Governor. Though, somewhere along the way, the focus of the series changed from the Walkers being the main opposing forceinstead made the politics and various factions of the living become the real villains. Part of the reason that finale was so satisfying is that it felt like the show returned to its roots. Yes, it's liberating to see people like the Sebastian character get their comeuppance in the end, but the TV show started out with a simple zombie vs. human premise, and it was completely forgone in later seasons. Even though nearly no one from to see it, the group has finally arrived at a stable and peaceful community, free from the dangers of the Walkers.
