Of all the characters that fell victim to The Walking Dead‘s deleted scenes, Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) was the greatest. It seems the youngest Grimes man had more promising scenes cut from the final edit than any other character — and, paired with Carl’s surprisingly early and unnecessary death, these deleted scenes feel like an even more tremendous disservice to his character. The omission of these scenes was also a wasted chance to further Carl’s character and relationships with those around him in The Walking Dead universe.

Carl Grimes was one of the longest-running characters on The Walking Dead, appearing as an original character in The Walking Dead season one and featuring heavily until his death in season eight. Starting as a young boy being raised during the apocalypse, Carl grew into a force to be reckoned with and a frequent moral compass. Carl cared fiercely for his family, worrying about the survival of others above himself — a trait that would ultimately lead to his demise. Unlike The Walking Dead comics, where Carl survives until the very end, former showrunner Scott M. Gimple decided that Carl needed to die to motivate Rick’s story arc. Carl’s death was one of the most shocking moments in The Walking Dead, facing significant backlash from its loyal fanbase after making a major deviation from its comic source material.

With this in mind, each of Carl’s deleted The Walking Dead scenes served as a perfect opportunity to flesh out his character. The scenes — spanning from The Walking Dead season three to season seven — frequently feature Carl in an emotionally vulnerable state as he grapples with the reality of growing up in the apocalypse. The aftermath of having to kill his own mother, the bond between him and his father, and the ramifications of Negan’s attacks are all topics that the deleted scenes breach – and these would undoubtedly have given Carl greater depth as he aged. In essence, these scenes were windows into Carl’s heart and soul — with them, Carl’s character would have felt much more well-rounded and better utilized.

How & Why Carl Should Return For The Walking Dead’s Final Season

The only way to redeem the disservice done to Carl would be to bring him back in The Walking Dead‘s final season. Carl’s dream for the future was Rick’s driving force toward building a better world, and the end of the story wouldn’t be complete without some reference to “the dreamer” himself. Carl’s character was diminished and wasted leading up to his demise, but the final season of The Walking Dead is the show’s perfect chance to fix the mistakes made against his character. Adding in a flashback scene — particularly an emotionally driven scene like those that were been deleted — would give the show a chance to round out Carl’s character and do him justice after his death.

While characters like Judith may have filled the empty role Carl left behind, his character deserves a proper ending. Carl was not only Rick’s heart; he was the soul of Alexandria and beyond, and he managed to warm up even the harshest souls, including Negan. While everyone else was focused on surviving through the present, Carl was always focused on creating a future worth living for. To see The Walking Dead reach this future that Carl dreamed of without having him return would be a true disservice to his character, particularly as he was the biggest victim of the series’ cutting room floor to begin with.