How can it be possible for The Walking Dead to continue its story without Carl? Fans are upset and confused as to how a character that works symbiotically with Rick's can be axed without collapsing a fundamental premise of the show: a father motivated to protect his children. While Rick, of course, still has his adopted daughter as well as an entire adopted family now to push him forward, how will Carl's death change Rick? That question may be answered in understanding the legacy that Carl has left behind. There is also something to be said about the turning of generations and the clashing of the old and the new. Though audiences may have viewed this returning episode as a bit drawn out and despairing, there is meaning, even beauty, in Carl's death.