Article Pub: The Walking Dead: Rick Grimes leaves hit AMC show after blowing up bridge and huge herd of walkers

Rick Grimes officially left The Walking Dead on Sunday’s episode as he disappeared on a mystery helicopter with Anne after blowing up a bridge of walkers.

The show protagonist, portrayed by Andrew Lincoln, washed up on a riverbank badly injured but still alive after destroying the bridge as Michonne [Danai Gurira], Daryl Dixon [Norman Reedus] and his group of followers watched on in horror.

His ultimate fate was left open-ended as Anne [Pollyanna McIntosh], previously known as Jadis, did a deal with a mystery group who picked Rick and her up in a helicopter as she told him they were going to save his life.

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Last episode: Rick Grimes [Andrew Lincoln] made his final appearance on The Walking Dead on Sunday’s episode titled What Comes After

This means that die-hard fans of the wildly popular AMC show need not mourn his departure, as it has been revealed that Rick will live on in spin-off films.

Industry publication The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Rick and Anne’s story will continue in these big-budget movies, the first of which is currently being written by Scott M. Gimple, The Walking Dead’s chief content officer for AMC.

Production is slated to begin sometime in 2019, although there is no air date set and it isn’t known where filming will take place.

Still alive: The show protagonist was shown surviving a bridge explosion and being rescued

Rebar impalement: Rick woke up from a hallucination still impaled by rebar

In Lincoln’s final episode on the show, entitled What Comes After, things kicked off with Rick looking at a swarm of birds from a hospital room where the series started as he looked down on himself in a hospital bed.

‘Wake up, it’s time to go,’ he told himself as the birds became helicopters and flew over the building.

Rick grabbed his own bloody abdomen as the Rick in the hospital bed told him: ‘Yeah wake up a**hole.’

The show then cut back to Rick impaled on the rebar spike as walkers approached him.

Pull up: The community leader used his belt to pull himself off the rebar

Rick whipped off his belt and wrapped it around some poles and pulled himself off the rebar that had pierced his stomach.

It worked and just in time for him to get back on his horse and escape.

Nearby, Anne ran into problems as her RV broke down and she told the mystery group that she had an ‘A’ for them.

Big herd: A herd of walkers followed Rick who rode away on horseback

‘You know where to find me and I’ll be ready,’ she told them over her radio.

Injured Rick urged himself to stay awake but he soon fell into unconsciousness and the show flashed to a house, a car wreck and his empty hospital bed.

Rick was about to pass out again when he found an old deserted cabin, which had ‘Come Face Me A**holes’ written across the door.

Severely wounded: Rick was badly wounded and kept slipping out of consciousness

He got into the house and found bandages for his wound as well as a human skeleton clutching a pistol.

Rick dreamed that he rode into the city on his horse looking for his family.

He was met by his former sheriff’s partner Shane Walsh [Jon Bernthal], who Rick killed in season two, and they sat in his patrol car eating burgers in front of the wrecked car he had seen earlier.

Former partner: Shane Walsh [Jon Bernthal] also appeared in one of Rick’s visions

Rick told him he was looking for his family and Shane joked it could be his family, as Rick has long believed Judith was Shane’s child from a relationship with his wife Lori.

The pair argued as Shane told him that he he needed more from him.

‘It’s time. Kneel down, dig deep, find it Rick, the rage, the hatred, find it, the loyalty, find it,’ he told Rick.

Family lost: Rick told Shane that he was looking for his lost family

‘It’s the only way this thing gets done and it has to, do you understand me? You can do it brother.’

Rick told him he was sorry for what he had done to him.

His friend then attacked him, but Rick woke up to find that it was a walker who had discovered him in the cabin.

Under attack: Zombies attacked Rick at a cabin and he barely managed to escape

Rick fought it off and managed to escape through a wall in the cabin with the walkers in hot pursuit.

Back in Alexandria, Michonne (Danai Gurira) talked to Judith as Maggie arrived back at the city gates.

Maggie arrived at the house and told Michonne to get out of her way so she could get to Negan.

Growing fast: Judith was shown at home with Michonne

‘He didn’t die, it’s done,’ Michonne told her.

‘Because Rick decided it was?’ she asked as Michonne refused to budge and asked her if Glenn Rhee would want it.

‘The one thing I had was getting to see Glenn’s murderer die and you took that from me,’ said Maggie.

Revenge plot: Maggie was intent on killing Negan but was stopped by Michonne

Michonne asked her what Negan’s death would do and Maggie told her it would ‘start things over.’

‘Stop acting like I can turn this off, it has been a year-and-a-half and I can’t,’ said Maggie as Michonne told her she would ‘have to find another way.’

‘I can’t keep living like this,’ Maggie told her.

Maggie then reached out and Michonne handed her the key and stepped aside.

The key: Maggie made a convincing argument and Michonne handed her the jail key

Maggie entered the jail and confronted Negan.

‘She just gave up the keys, huh?’ said Negan as he told Maggie she ‘had the fire.’

She told Negan to get down on his knees as he told her he remembered her screaming at Glenn’s death.

Behind bars: Negan was told to get on his knees by Maggie

‘What have you finally come for revenge?’ he asked her.

‘Justice,’ she said as Negan recalled the gory details of Glenn’s braining to death.

‘I used to say I didn’t enjoy killing, but your old man, he was different, killing him the way I did , now that was fun,’ said Negan as he urged her to kill him.

Justice seeking: Maggie was seeking justice for the braining of her husband Glenn Rhee

‘It was worth it,’ he told her as he demanded she kill him.

Maggie threw him out of his cell and into the light as Negan begged her to kill him.

‘You have to, so I can be with my wife. I should be dead, I have to be dead, it is supposed to be you and has to be you, I can’t do it. I have tried. I can’t be like this, please don’t make me stay like this,’ he begged through tears.

Death wish: Negan begged Maggie to kill him

Maggie told him to get back in his cell.

‘I came to kill Negan but you are already worse than dead. That settles it,’ she told him as he trudged back into his cell.

‘It was not supposed to be like this,’ he cried as she locked him back up.

Maggie walked out and Michonne knew she had not carried out the killing.

The pair were interrupted by news of something happening at the camp.

Rick then fell unconscious again and he was back on the farm looking out over the countryside alongside Maggie’s father, Hershel Greene.

Farm life: Herschel Greene appeared to Rick in another unconscious vision

‘I am so sorry for what happened to you, to Glenn, for everything Maggie’s lost,’ he said as Maggie’s father hugged him.

‘My girl is strong, my grandson will only make her stronger, you don’t got to worry about her,’ Hershel assured him.

Rick told him he needed to find his family ‘and keep them together.’

No worries: Rick said that he needed to find his family but Herschel said he didn’t

‘No, you don’t, you only think you do. I know it has been hard,’ he told Rick.

Rick agreed and told him that what he wanted for them was hard and that he was ‘tired.’

‘My family, maybe I can find them here,’ he said as Hershel told him he had to wake up.

Rick regained consciousness but soon slipped off again.

This time he was in a badly damaged building, and found a door that said not to open as the dead were outside.

Door warning: In another vision Rick approached a door warning about the dead outside

Rick walked through the door and into the light and found an endless pile of dead human bodies.

As he picked his way through them deceased survivor Sasha [Sonequa Martin-Green] stood up behind him.

‘They’re all dead,’ he told her.

Dead bodies: Rick went through the door and was surrounded by the dead

‘Yeah, I know and its OK,’ Sasha told him.

‘How can this be okay?’ he asked.

‘Because you did your part like I did mine, like the others did before us,’ she told him.

‘How?’ he replied.

‘They gave us the strength we needed to do what we had to do for the others and the others draw strength from us, we change each other, we help each other and we make each other better and it never ends,’ she answered.

She’s back: Sasha [Sonequa Martin-Green] also appeared to Rick in a hallucination

‘It feels like it’s ending,’ he said.

‘Little things do end but it is never the end of everything because we don’t die, it is not about you or me or any one of us, it is about all of us and I don’t think it just evens out, I think it always crosses over toward the good, toward the brave, toward love,’ she said.

‘Family, you are not going to find them because they are not lost and you are not lost. What you need to do is wake up,’ Sasha told him.

Wake up: Rick was told by Sasha to wake up and he did

Rick then woke up on the ground as his horse ran away and he found himself at the camp, where they had been taken over by walkers.

He shot a few as they approached him but the situation quickly became overwhelming and a heavily bloodied Rick had to try and keep ahead of them on foot.

Rick made it to the bridge and appeared to have accepted his fate when Michonne, Carol Peletier, Daryl and Eugene Porter arrived to save him.

Walkers attack: Rick fired away after being attacked by zombies at the camp

‘It is not over, we don’t die,’ Michonne told him as she held his head in her hands and told him she loved him.

‘You’re a fighter and never give up, so fight Rick, fight for me, fight for all of us,’ she told him.

‘But you’re my family, I have found you,’ he told her as she cried.

Not over: Michonne appeared in a vision and told Rick not to give up

‘But this isn’t real,’ he said as Michonne urged him to wake up, and when he did he was alone on the bridge.

Rick lead the walkers onto the bridge as the water ran strongly underneath it.

And when they were all on it Rick looked toward home and said ‘I can’t’.

Bridge route: Rick lead the walkers onto the bridge with water running strongly below it

As a walker got right up on him it was taken out by an arrow fired by Daryl (Norman Reedus) from a clearing as Michonne and the group arrived.

Rick pulled out his handgun and took aim at a case of knocked over explosives and as he fired and destroyed the bridge he said: ‘I’ve found them.’

Daryl broke down in tears and Michonne screamed as the bridge exploded and the walkers fell into the river below.

Close call: A walker moved in to attack Rick as he grew weary

Nice shot: Daryl Dixon from a nearby clearing shot the walker in the head saving Rick

In the distance Anne watched the smoke from the fire as a helicopter hovered above her and bodies of the walkers floated down the river.

Rick was washed up on the river bank.

‘He is hurt but he is strong can you help him?’ she asked the helicopter.

Bridge explosion: Rick fired at explosives on the bridge bringing it down and taking out the herd

Love lost: Michonne wailed as Rick appeared to die in the explosion

Friend gone: Eugene, Carol and Maggie watched in horror as the bridge exploded

Getting emotional: Daryl looked on in despair at the explosion

She told them it was not a trick and that she was ‘trying to save a friend who saved me.’

She asked if they had a deal and the helicopter landed.

Anne was then seen inside the helicopter telling Rick: ‘You are going to be okay, they are going to save you.’

Not dead: Anne spotted Rick on the river bank and arranged for his rescue

Mystery group: A helicopter hovered above as Anne made a deal for Rick

Flying away: The helicopter flew away with Rick and Anne aboard

The helicopter flew off into the distance with Rick and she aboard.

On the ground a group of strangers were surrounded by walkers only to be saved by an armed six-year-old Judith, who picked up her dad’s cowboy hat and told them her name was ‘Judith. Judith Grimes.’

The Walking Dead producer Scott Gimple during The Talking Dead after-show revealed that Rick’s storyline ended on the show, ‘but it’s not the end of his story’.

AMC announced that Andrew will reprise his role of Rick in three films for the cable network.