‘The Walking Dead’ Star Reveals His Alternate Character Death

‘The Walking Dead‘ season 2 took viewers on a roller coaster ride, even if most of the action took place on a peaceful, serene barn.  It wasn’t until the last few episodes that the action really kicked up a notch, and major characters started dropping like flies, but apparently one of the major shockers could have unfolded very differently.  So who’s the unlucky walker-bait, and how differently could things have gone?

According to (former) ‘The Walking Dead’ star Jon Bernthal, episode 12 of the show’s second season “Better Angels” could have ended very differently than it did.  Most viewers were shocked when – SPOILER ALERT – Shane dragged Rick out into the woods with the intention of murdering his best friend, only to wind up stabbed to death by Rick himself.  Perhaps more shocking was Shane’s resurrection as a walker absent having been bit, but Bernthal had his own idea how his character should have gone out.

Speaking at Phoenix Con, BleedingCool reported on Bernthal describing his own vision of Shane’s demise, which would have included a rather bittersweet and poignant turn:

He wanted Shane to knock Rick’s gun out of his hand, then they’d wrestle, Rick would stab Shane, and Shane would reanimate as a zombie, as we saw. Here’s where it differs. Rick would grab Shane’s gun, intent on killing the zombie and it would click. Click. Click. No bullets. The idea was that Shane had never intended to kill Rick at all, but had brought Rick out into the woods to kill him.

Jon Bernthal is convinced that Shane knew he was a cancer to the group and that he had to go. He just wanted Carl and Lori to be safe and for Rick to man up and take the role he was supposed to take. He said he truly believes that Shane was never as heartless as he wanted to appear that he was, and that’s what makes him so entertaining to watch.

While it certainly might have humanized the character a little more, we’re fine with the way Shane ultimately met his end, and more than excited to move onto new villains in the coming third season.  What say you?  Were you sad to see Shane go, and wish he had a more redemptive end?  Tell us what you’d like to see from AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ in the comments!