The Walking Dead’s season six episode, “Thank You,” was a rough one for everyone involved. At the beginning of the episode, Rick sets the mood by telling Glenn and Michonne that the Alexandrians they have with them are not all going to make it back home, so if they must leave people behind they should. There was an obscene amount of death in this episode, almost as if Rick was prophesizing the events to come, and to make matters worse, a majority of the people who were killed were eaten by walkers.

While seeing characters being ripped apart by walkers is rough, audience members did not lose any favorites until the heartbreaking scene with Glenn and Nicholas. The scene was left purposely ambiguous (whether it was Nicholas, Glenn, or both being eaten), but no matter the answer, this scene was the last chance for Nicholas’s character to develop. Depending on Glenn’s fate, Nicholas’s death was either a sacrificial action or just horribly ironic.

First, consider the character of Nicholas. He started off at odds with the entire group but especially with Glenn. Glenn experienced Nicholas’s true colors firsthand when the two of them went on a run with others. Glenn pegged Nicholas as childish when he and Aiden wanted to capture a walker that killed their friend, instead of just killing it. Nicholas and Aidan do not know what it is like to live on the outside and are more open to treating this world like a game to be won. Glenn assures them that this life is no game.

When they finally reach their destination of a warehouse filled with walkers, Aiden gets impaled after setting off a grenade. Nicholas assures the group that he is dead but is proven wrong when Aiden eventually comes alive. Glenn tries to remove the metal bar from his chest, but unfortunately walkers are approaching at this time.

At this point, Nicholas has run off to save himself and Aiden reveals to Glenn that they often leave their group members behind if they can save themselves. Aiden urges Glenn to leave because there is no hope and he must accept his death. Nicholas has now been established as a coward because he will leave his friends behind to ensure his own safety. We see more of his character when he, Glenn, and Noah are leaving the warehouse, but are stuck in a revolving door with walkers right behind them. Nicholas once again worries only about himself, which results in Noah being eaten by walkers.

This episode was the first development for Nicholas and it was clear that he was supposed to be disliked by the audience. This world may be a “kill or be killed” world, but leaving group members to die is still an atrocious thing to do. Now that Glenn is able to see who Nicholas truly is, he is sickened by his actions and tells him that he is no longer able to go on runs. This will eventually bring us to the end of the fifth season, in which Nicholas lures Glenn out into the woods to kill him. Glenn does not go down without a fight and puts a gun to Nicholas’s head, only to help him back to Alexandria where Nicholas pleads for his life.

This scene developed both characters greatly. Glenn is not able to kill another human being, despite being in a “kill or be killed” world. Nicholas behaves in bad faith. We see that he will kill anyone who will stand in the way of his own livelihood but does not accept his own fate, which will be a turning point for Nicholas. Once season six begins, he wants to help the group control the surplus of walkers.

Despite Glenn’s objection, Nicholas wants to change his character. When he, Nicholas, and Heath kill walkers at the hardware store in the first episode of season six, they all work together. Nicholas even kills a walker that almost kills Heath. This is also a defining moment for Nicholas because this is the true turning point in which he acts like a reliable group member. Glenn recognizes this and even lets him kill the final walker.

Glenn accompanied Nicholas through his journey to become a better human being. In doing so, Glenn also redefines himself as someone who believes in second chances. It was Glenn who told Nicholas that “he wasn’t that guy anymore” when it came to leaving a person behind and it was Glenn who believed in him.

This explains Nicholas’s final words, “Thank you.” It would be natural to expect words like “I’m sorry” to be the final words of someone who kills themselves, but Nicholas didn’t need to apologize. He knew Glenn had forgiven him and he needed to let him know that he appreciated Glenn sparing his life and giving him a second chance to become a different person. Nicholas accepted his fate of not surviving the sea of walkers and decided to end his life before the walkers could. Thanks to Glenn, he did not die a coward.

Now, for the unspeakable scene of Nicholas’ body falling onto Glenn. It certainly looked like Nicholas fell on top of Glenn so it is certainly possible for the walkers to be eating the viscera of Nicholas, not Glenn. What does this say about Nicholas’ final piece of character development? Well, we know that the living are able to disguise themselves as walkers when they cover themselves in guts and blood. If it is truly not Glenn being ripped apart in that scene, he may be able to get away safely if enough of Nicholas’ insides engulf him. This means that in Nicholas’ final moments, he was able to help someone else survive while sacrificing himself, the complete opposite of the man he once was. He sacrificed himself and saved the man who once saved him.

I must admit, I hope this is what happened. I really hope this is how it ended for Nicholas, however, I don’t think that is what happened. It is much more likely that his death was ironic, in the context of his final words.

If Nicholas was sacrificed, it was not on purpose. It’s clear that he killed himself because he saw no other option, and just wanted to thank Glenn for all he had done for him. What makes his death ironic is that in his final moment he thanked Glenn for believing in him and helping him develop into a good person, but if his death actually caused Glenn’s death, that would put Nicholas back to where he started: a coward who gets others killed. Even more so, it can easily be interpreted that by killing himself, Nicholas is now safe and was able to save himself from the walkers and the “kill or be killed” world, but in turn, left his group members to die.

I cannot express how sad I will be if it is revealed that Glenn is dead, and I’m sure every The Walking Dead fan feels the same way. Glenn is a noble character who still believes in morals and humanity. I hope we will be able to see more of Glenn, and according to showrunner Scott Gimple, “In some way, we will see Glenn, some version of Glenn or parts Glenn again, either in flashback, or current story, to help complete the story."