The Season Six finale of The Walking Dead left viewers mortified and awestruck of what was to come in the next season. We waited for 203 days to find out the fate of our favorite characters. What came in the Season Seven premiere was much worse than the conspiracy theories and ideas people had about whose head Negan bashed in with his barbed wire bat. In sixty minutes, my life got turned upside down by an actor that has already done this to me before (Thank you, Denny Duquette). Negan bashed in my heart when he bashed in the heads of Glenn and Abraham. Every part of me wants to wish that he was never a part of the show, but the truth is, The Walking Dead needed to bring in a character as vicious as Negan. Before I get shunned by heartbroken Walking Dead fans everywhere, hear me out.

It keeps the show interesting.

Let's face it. How interesting can it be to watch one of our favorite characters barely fight off a bunch of Walkers and make it out alive, only to find out a minor character that no one really cares about dies, every single week? Had Negan spared Glenn and Abraham, it would've been the same old story. Killing off a main character that has been there since Season One threw everyone off. No one thought he would kill Glenn because he's just too important to the show. But you have to admit, it was a great move on the writers' part. Even though we all said we would never watch another episode again, we have to find out how Maggie handles Glenn's murder and her pregnancy. Not to mention, if Negan killed two important characters, there's no telling what kind of insane thing he'll do next.

The characters have room to grow.

I can't even imagine watching, helplessly, as two of my closest friends were pummeled with a bat right in front of my eyes. No pain the characters have experienced so far could even come close to seeing Negan murder Glenn and Abraham right in front of them while he joked about it. That kind of traumatic experience is bound to change a person, especially Rick. Rick has always been the alpha, top dog since day one. No matter what happened, he was able, for the most part, to keep his composure and continue to rise as a leader figure. Maybe that was because he always had some sort of control over the situation. He could intimidate outsiders with is serious, but aggressive demeanor. For the first time since the show started, we saw a different, weaker side of Rick. I never thought I'd witness Rick Grimes, who woke up from a coma in a zombie apocalypse and showed the world how badass he was, begging Negan to not make him choose between chopping off his own son's arm or killing his entire group. It makes him seem more human. It'll be very interesting to see how he copes, if he does, and how that'll affect the dynamic of his group as a whole.

Season Seven opened with the best The Walking Dead episode that I've seen to date. It was agonizing to watch Glenn and Abraham die at the hands of a man who seems to have no soul. It was even worse to see the reactions of their loved ones, particularly Maggie, Rosita, and Sasha. Let's take a moment of silence to remember those whose lives affected us more than we knew until they were gone. Rest in peace Glenn, Abraham, and our broken hearts.