The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 1 spoilers follow.
It's the shuffling series that keeps on going, and although the final credits rolled on AMC's The Walking Dead back in November 2022, Robert Kirkman's zombie apocalypse is far from over.
Picking up the dangling plot threads of Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne, new spin-off The Ones Who Live follows the long-awaited reunion between these star-crossed lovers.
While we were once promised a trilogy of Rick Grimes movies, plans changed into a six-episode miniseries. Charting events five years after Rick's supposed death in The Walking Dead season nine, we see the battle-worn Grimes trying to adjust to life in the mysterious Civic Republic Military (CRM). It was good to have the surly sheriff back but, in a twist you might not have seen coming, showrunner Scott M Gimple did something we were previously told would never happen.
The Ones Who Live wasted no time: in a brutal opening, Rick chopped off his left hand to try and escape the CRM – then cauterising the wound on the flaming corpse of a walker.
For those who read Kirkman and Charlie Adlard's comic series of the same name, you'll know The Walking Dead (series) took some major swings away from the source material. Although shock deaths like Andrea (Laurie Holden), the surprise survival of Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride), and Rick's fakeout death all kept fans on their toes, many were disappointed that Rick never lost a hand.
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In the comics, the character-defining moment of Rick losing his right hand came near the start of the run in Issue #28. Here, the Governor (later to be played by David Morrissey in the show) captured Rick and demanded he reveal the location of his camp. A defiant Rick soon pays the price, with the Governor chopping his hand off with a machete.
It's all very Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones, and losing his dominant hand was a defining moment for the character. Sadly, while we got to the whole Woodbury arc of AMC's series and enjoyed David Morrissey's legendary turn, Rick never lost his hand.
Back in 2011, Kirkman told fans at San Diego Comic-Con, "One thing I'm adamant about is I don't think that we should cut Rick's hand off [on television]."
As for this belief that it wouldn't work on the small screen, Kirkman said, "When I'm writing a comic book, I don't think about what I'm doing. I go, 'Oh, it'd be pretty cool if they cut his hand off right now. That'd be pretty shocking, right?'. Then I do it, and five issues later, I write 'Rick opens a can of beans' and then I look at the script and think, 'He can't do that now'. I didn't even think that through."
But this train of thought didn't stop Michael Rooker's Merle from having a pretty gnarly prosthetic hand during his time on the show. There were suggestions that budget also got in the way, but with the series happily lopping off the leg of Scott Wilson's Hershel, it seemed to be a creative decision.
Jump forward in time and a revamped version of Rick's fate befell a different character when Ross Marquand's Aaron had his arm amputated during a lumber accident in season nine. A bearded Aaron replacing Rick was a divisive decision that didn't go unnoticed by (then) showrunner Angela Kang, telling The Hollywood Reporter: "We decided on this story point of Aaron losing his arm before I noticed how much he looks like comic book Rick."
Unfortunately, a trailer for The Ones Who Live may have spoiled this long-awaited Rick decision for some, with eagle-eyed fans spotting his missing hand ahead of episode one's premiere.
Things come full circle, and with Kirkman telling fans at Walker Stalker Cruise 2018 (via Comicbook.com), "I wanna cut off Rick's hand" when asked about regrets, it seems this idea has been in the works for a while.
Lincoln championed Rick losing his hand for years, telling EW in the aftermath of The Ones Who Live, "I just bullied everybody into submission… But I just thought, 'This is the time to do what the comic book did and honour that'. I've been trying to pitch this for years, and everybody was just shouting me down."
While it might come too late for those who haven't stuck with the Dead-Verse and aren't turning in for The Ones Who Live, it's a big win for diehard fans, who 13 years ago, had their hopes dashed of seeing this iconic moment play out.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live will air on AMC in the US from February 25. A UK broadcaster has yet to be confirmed.
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Tom Chapman is a pop culture-loving writer and NCTJ-accredited Broadcast Journalist with over seven years of experience covering the small and silver screen.
Starting his career with a post at Movie Pilot in Berlin, Tom took on freelancing full-time with regular stints at Digital Spy, Screen Rant and Comic Book Resources.
These days, you can still find him covering all things Marvel and Star Wars at Digital Spy, while dipping his toe in bylines at Yahoo! and IGN.
Tom likes to think his spirit animal is a cross between Gale Weathers and Olenna Tyrell.
