The Walking Dead: How Carl Grimes Loses His Eye

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Compared to several other characters on “The Walking Dead,” it can be said that Carl Grimes (played by Chandler Riggs) lived relatively longer given the series’ standards. Despite losing an eye during his teenage years and spending much of his life surviving in a zombie apocalypse, this isn’t too shabby under such dire circumstances.

In both the graphic novels and television adaptations of “The Walking Dead,” Carl suffers a gunshot wound to the eye at the hands of a resident from the Alexandria Safe-Zone, but the specifics of these events differ significantly. In the comics, it’s the leader of Alexandria who accidentally shoots Carl, an incident that alters his life trajectory and character development permanently. As Carl becomes more central to “The Walking Dead” narrative, he adopts a distinct appearance characterized by his cowboy hat and missing eye, which is emblematic of comic book characters.

In the TV series “The Walking Dead,” tension escalates leading to an incident where Carl nearly loses his father Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) life. However, the attempted assassin fails. The failed assassination attempt has dire consequences for Carl as he eventually loses his eye in Season 6 and is ultimately killed off in Season 8, which equates to just a few months within the show’s timeline. This difference in storyline results in variations in details and profoundly impacts the narrative’s outcome.

How Carl lost his eye in the show

In the TV show “The Walking Dead,” Carl Grimes sustains an eye injury during the episode titled “No Way Out,” which serves as the mid-season premiere for Season 6. Prior to this, Rick and the other survivors in Alexandria spent the earlier part of the season attempting to manage a horde of zombies approaching their town before it became overwhelmed. As you might expect, things go awry, and “No Way Out” begins with the zombies already inside Alexandria’s walls.

A band of survivors consisting of Rick, Carl, and the Anderson family are fleeing through town to reach safety when a walker assaults young Sam Anderson (Major Dodson). In an attempt to protect her son, his mother Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge) clings to him, but is dragged into the melee. Tragically, as walkers pull her down, she hangs onto Carl’s hand. To save his son, Rick is forced to amputate Jessie’s arm with an axe. Witnessing this horrific event, Ron (Austin Abrams) draws a weapon on Rick. As Ron prepares to shoot, Michonne (Danai Gurira) intervenes with a katana, but Ron’s bullet unintentionally hits Carl in the eye instead of Rick.

How Carl lost his eye in the comics

In “The Walking Dead” comics, as walkers overrun Alexandria, Carl loses an eye in issue #83. Similar to the television series, a horde of walkers invades Alexandria, leaving the survivors scrambling for safety. Rick, Carl, and Michonne are accompanied by Alexandria’s leader Douglas, a woman named Jessie, and her son Ron as they flee. As they venture into the streets, Ron becomes panicky, causing Jessie and him to be surrounded by walkers. Just like in the show, Rick is forced to amputate Jessie’s arm to save Carl.

As the undead swarm approaches us, I’m thrown into a frenzy. In a misguided attempt to protect Rick and Carl, I start blindly firing my weapon, shouting for them to seek cover. However, my actions only seem to complicate matters further. Rick, in a desperate bid to save his son, grabs Carl and they both flee, trying to get through to me to calm down. But Douglas, in his panic, doesn’t listen until one of the walkers bites him. By then, it’s too late. In my panicked state, I had accidentally shot Carl in the eye.

Where did Robert Kirkman get the inspiration for what happened to Carl?

In both accounts of “The Walking Dead,” Carl’s eye loss is a significant event, but here’s something only comic book enthusiasts may realize: The loss wasn’t entirely unexpected. In the graphic novels, not just Carl, but another Grimes family member has also lost a body part. Early on in the series, Rick, the patriarch, loses his right hand. Writer Robert Kirkman later admitted that this event created certain storyline complications he ended up regretting.

It could be one reason why Kirkman chose to take a new path when it came to Carl experiencing his life-altering incident. Additionally, Kirkman drew inspiration from another source. In the footnotes for “The Walking Dead Deluxe” issue #83, Kirkman mentioned that he intended Carl’s accident to visually resemble an image from a 1990 Todd McFarlane “Spider-Man” comic titled “Torment.

In the tale, Spider-Man encounters a spectral image of Kraven the Hunter who is missing an eye and a significant part of his facial features. Kirkman requested that artist Charlie Adlard replicate McFarlane’s panel for when Carl loses his eye, which led to one of the most memorable images in “The Walking Dead” comic series.

The deeper meaning of Carl losing his eye

In “The Walking Dead,” the tales about Carl losing his eye in the TV show and the comics appear similar at first glance, yet the differences between these versions significantly impact the character’s development. In the comics, it’s another good man, caught in a difficult situation, who accidentally shoots out Carl’s eye. This injury serves as a continuous reminder of the perilous world they inhabit and the human capacity for kindness amidst hardship.

However, as Carl matures, starts his own family, and instills hope for a brighter tomorrow in his children, his missing eye transitions from a symbol of grim reality to a beacon of resilience and optimism. This transformation underscores the character’s growth and adaptability amidst the harsh post-apocalyptic world.

In the television series, it’s hard not to interpret Carl’s missing eye as a symbol of the ruthless nature of the world. Although Ron doesn’t intend to, he ends up attempting to kill Rick when an accident occurs. This incident only intensifies the tragedy that befalls the Andersons, and in this narrative, there’s no glimmer of hope amidst the gloom. The show further deepens the grimness by killing off Carl just two seasons later, a move that sparked controversy. Creator Robert Kirkman defended this decision, but it means that Carl doesn’t get to witness a better tomorrow, making his story even more somber and disheartening than before.

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2025-04-08 21:30