Andrew Lincoln Says This Season Of The Walking Dead Is Rick’s Hardest Yet

Fans of The Walking Dead were treated to a trio of deaths during this Sunday's premiere. The first two were, of course, Glenn's and Abraham's. The third was Rick's will to resist. We saw Negan break the former leader down. The man nearly cut off his son's arm. Safe to say he's not doing amazing. Andrew Lincoln spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about Rick's journey during this season, and even the actor sounds heartbroken. He says that losing Glenn and, personally, actor Steven Yeun, made this one of Rick's worst days ever. Still, he says we're in store for an epic season. "All I can say is this season is more Lord of the Rings than Lord of the Flies," Lincoln tells THR. "That's the best I can do. It's kind of glib but it's the best I can do." He also says he doesn't watch the show, but he praises its bravery. "I didn't watch it. I don't watch the show so I can't comment on it. Judging by people's reactions…we asked everybody to kneel with us in that episode. It was a very brave call storytelling-wise to ask the audience to kneel beside us." That's quite the statement. Apparently we're in for an epic journey. And it's about time: The Walking Dead has always been content to trade in small stories. That's great for the first six seasons, but in the seventh we deserve to zoom out and see how the world writ large is reforming itself. Read the rest of the interview, including the least justified quotation of Nelson Mandela of all time, here.