If you were watching The Walking Dead back in 2016, you probably remember the absolute chaos surrounding the Season 6 cliffhanger. Everyone was asking the same thing: Who did Negan kill? For six months, the internet was a minefield of theories. Then Season 7 premiered, and the world collectively lost its mind.
So, when does Glenn die in The Walking Dead? He officially dies in the Season 7 premiere, titled "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be," which aired on October 23, 2016.
It wasn't just a death. It was a massacre.
Honestly, the way the show handled it was kind of a double-cross. We all thought Abraham was the only victim because Negan took him out first. But then Daryl lashed out, and Negan—being the "man of his word" psychopath he was—decided one death wasn't enough. He turned that barbed-wire bat, Lucille, onto Glenn.
The Brutal Details of Season 7, Episode 1
Most people forget that the episode doesn't start with the death. It starts with the aftermath, showing a broken Rick Grimes being dragged into a trailer by Negan. We don't actually see Glenn’s head get bashed in until about halfway through the episode via a flashback.
The scene is famously gruesome. You’ve got Glenn with his eye literally popping out of its socket, trying to stutter out his final words to Maggie: "Maggie, I'll find you."
It’s heartbreaking. Truly.
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Steven Yeun, the actor who played Glenn Rhee since the very first season, actually wanted the death to be as close to the comics as possible. In The Walking Dead comic issue #100, Glenn dies exactly like that. No variations. No heroic last stand. Just a brutal, sudden end.
Why Did They Kill Him?
You might wonder why the writers didn't just stop with Abraham. Killing two main characters in one night felt like overkill to some. But according to Robert Kirkman, the creator of the series, Glenn's death was "essential."
Basically, Glenn was the heart of the show. He was the moral compass. By removing him, the writers forced every other character to change.
- Maggie became a hardened leader.
- Rick was completely emasculated and broken.
- Daryl carried a massive weight of guilt because his outburst is technically what triggered Negan to kill Glenn.
If Glenn had lived, the war against the Saviors would have felt different. His death was the catalyst for everything that happened in the next two seasons.
What Most People Get Wrong About Glenn’s Death
A common misconception is that Glenn died during the "dumpster scene" in Season 6. If you remember that, you know how annoying it was. Glenn falls into a pile of walkers, and it looks like he’s being ripped apart.
He wasn't.
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He crawled under a dumpster and waited it out. It was a massive fake-out that many fans felt was "cheap." This is actually why some people were so angry when he actually died in Season 7. They felt like the show was crying wolf once too often.
Another weird detail? Some fans think Daryl is 100% responsible. While Daryl’s punch definitely set Negan off, Negan was looking for any excuse to exert total control. He wanted to prove that he owned them. Glenn was just the unfortunate tool Negan used to make that point.
The Comic vs. The Show
In the comics, Negan doesn't kill Abraham in that lineup. Abraham had already died a few issues earlier (he took an arrow to the eye, a death that went to Denise in the TV show).
So, in the comic version of the lineup, Glenn is the only one who dies.
The showrunners decided to mix it up by giving us a "fake-out" death first (Abraham) to make the second death (Glenn) hit even harder. It worked, but it also caused a massive drop in viewership. Millions of people literally stopped watching the show after that episode. They felt it crossed a line into "torture porn."
The Legacy of Glenn Rhee
Even though Glenn died years ago in the show’s timeline, his presence is still felt in the spin-offs. Maggie is still dealing with the trauma in The Walking Dead: Dead City, where she’s forced to work with Negan.
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It’s a complicated dynamic. How do you work with the guy who turned your husband’s head into mush?
The show explores that "nuance" (if you can call it that) quite a bit. Negan has tried to redeem himself, but for a lot of fans, there is no coming back from what he did to Glenn.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you're rewatching or getting into the lore for the first time, here is how to handle the "Glenn era" of the show:
- Watch Season 6, Episode 3 ("Thank You") and Season 6, Episode 7 ("Help") back-to-back if you want to see the infamous dumpster fake-out. It helps put the Season 7 premiere in context.
- Pay attention to Daryl’s behavior throughout Season 7. He refuses to speak and becomes a shell of himself because he blames himself for Glenn. It adds a lot of depth to his character arc.
- Read Issue #100 of the comics if you want to see the original source material. The dialogue is almost identical to the show, which is rare for The Walking Dead.
- Check out "Dead City" if you want to see the long-term emotional fallout. It's essentially a sequel to the trauma of Glenn's death.
Glenn Rhee was one of the few characters who never lost his humanity, which is probably why his death still hurts fans ten years later. He wasn't a soldier; he was a pizza delivery guy who stepped up when the world ended.
If you're looking for the specific moment he leaves the show, just gear up for Season 7, Episode 1. Just maybe don't eat dinner while you watch it.