Footage from season 11 of The Walking Dead teases Maggie's death, and there are several reasons why that's a problem. Season 11 will finally bring The Walking Dead to an end. AMC's flagship zombie show will wrap up with a supersized final season, which will consist of 24 Walking Dead episodes. The episodes will air in three groups of eight, and the first of those groups is premiering in August. The second and third groups of episodes will air in 2022. According to the Walking Dead trailer from Comic-Con, it's the "beginning of the end."
Maggie (Lauren Cohan) finally made her return to the show in season 10. Cohan originally left Walking Dead in season 9 around the time that Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes exited. Following a time jump after Rick's supposed demise, Maggie is gone. She's apparently gone off to help build a new community, and that seemed to be the end of her Walking Dead story. However, Cohan made a surprise appearance at New York Comic-Con in 2019, signaling that she'd return. Then, finally, in season 10's sixteenth episode, Maggie and her new group swoop in to help the Alexandrian survivors defeat the Whisperers.
New Walking Dead footage teases tough times ahead for Maggie, which could be a major mistake for the show. In the latest trailer, Maggie appears to be holding onto a ledge for dear life. In the final shot, her hand slips, presumably dropping her to her doom. As the last shot in the trailer, the moment is trying to be shocking. With her recent return to the show, it'd be surprising for AMC to kill off Maggie so quickly. But, it'd also be a significant issue.
By killing Maggie, AMC is shooting itself in the foot. Actor attrition is at an all-time high on Walking Dead, with pivotal characters leaving the show left and right. With Maggie being one of the original characters left from the show's early seasons, killing her off quickly in the final season removes one of the series' last big draws. Also, Cohan originally left the show after booking Whiskey Cavalier, which was eventually canceled. If AMC kills her off quickly after her return, it'd be a slap in the face to the actor and the character. After all, Maggie's been through almost more than anyone on Walking Dead, seeing both her father, Hershel (Scott Wilson), and her husband, Glenn (Steven Yeun), brutally murdered before her eyes. After facing so much hardship, she deserves to have triumphant moments, not to be suddenly killed by falling off a cliff like Black Widow.
Of course, the scene may be a ruse. Walking Dead regularly teases character deaths in its trailers without following through on them. For instance, Daryl's (Norman Reedus) death has been teased numerous times over the years, and that character is alive and continuing in a Walking Dead spinoff after the main show ends. Also, Maggie has numerous scenes in The Walking Dead season 11 trailer from Comic-Con, perhaps teasing that she'll make it a long way into the final season. But, of course, since it's the last season, Maggie could die in the upcoming episodes. However, it'd be a colossal mistake.