The following includes mention of suicide.

Andrea Harrison was one of the most controversial characters on The Walking Dead, perhaps undeserving of the majority of the hate she got. Andrea broke boundaries and rules within her group to protect them, but her boldness was often conceived as arrogance by her peers and fans.

Andrea appeared in the first three seasons of the series, having been a staple character since Season 1, Episode 2, “Guts.” From the get-go, The Walking Dead established that she wasn’t going to be a person who sat back and let people walk over her like a doormat. She was more eager to participate in gun training and protect the camp than the other women, making her a black sheep among the group. But Andrea earned her recognition in her final moments after a long fight to keep the peace between Rick Grimes’ group at the prison and Woodbury, run by the Governor.

Andrea’s Death on The Walking Dead Series, Explained

Andrea Died in Season 3, Episode 16, “Welcome to the Tombs”

During the Season 2 finale of The Walking Dead, Andrea gets separated from the rest of the group in the turmoil of the farm being overrun by walkers. She was found by Michonne, another survivor who took care of Andrea during the winter. Both of the women’s paths led to Woodbury and uncovering the Governor’s dirty laundry, which included him keeping his zombified daughter locked up and killing his own people out of a rage. Following several episodes of failed attempts to find peace between Rick and the Governor’s group as a mediator, Andrea finally saw the Governor for who he really was and attempted to leave.

Unfortunately for Andrea, it was a little too late for her to finally pick the right side, as fate would have it. The Governor chased her down and locked her in his torture chamber with a bitten Milton, who ended up biting her when he turned into a walker. With Michonne by her side and Rick’s gratitude, Andrea chose to die by taking her own life, just as she wished in the Season 1 finale after her sister, Amy, died.

Although Andrea wasn’t very well-liked by fans, many didn’t respond well to her short-lived arc, including actor Laurie Holden. There was always hope that the writers would evolve Andrea into the beloved character that she was in the comics. Holden also didn’t expect Andrea’s story to end so soon:

“Well, I had an 8-year deal, I was supposed to be there until the end. [Andrea] was supposed to end up with Rick. [Andrea] was supposed to save Woodbury on a horse, and I was buying a house in Atlanta. I got the call at 10 o’clock the night before, while I was shooting, from the show runner who is no longer a part of The Walking Dead, saying that they couldn’t write the episode and that he was killing my character. So [when] we all got the script, everybody on the set was sobbing. I felt like I got shot. None of it was supposed to happen the way it did.”

Andrea’s death was suggested by former showrunner Glen Mazzara, who wanted to reiterate that no one on the show was safe. The big departure from the comics upheld creator Robert Kirkman’s desire to have a degree of separation between the comics and the show. Although the writers were initially divided, Kirkman gave his seal of approval for Andrea’s death, saying it was necessary to define the Governor as a true villain and change Rick’s mindset going into Season 4.

The Walking Dead Comics Rewarded Andrea More Time to Live

Andrea Was Bitten in Issue 165 and Died in Issue 167

There was a chance that Andrea would’ve become the new leader of Woodbury and Rick Grimes’ love interest, fulfilling her comic book arc. Kirkman’s original image of Andrea saw her as a proficient sharpshooter who picks up the pieces of her life in order to encourage herself and others to move forward. Rick is moved by her attractive strength, as she was by his leadership skills. The two have what is arguably one of the best relationships in the comics’ run until her death in Issue 167 at the end of the Whisperer arc.

Four years after her television death, Kirkman killed off Andrea in the comics. She gets bitten by a walker after saving Eugene Porter from a herd of walkers, and is later put down by a grief-stricken Rick. Kirkman later issued an apology for killing off Andrea, saying he felt like he “killed a close friend” but was assured that her death had to happen for the story to move forward. As gut-wrenching as Andrea’s death was, Kirkman was right. It re-established the tragedy of The Walking Dead, in that no character is ever truly safe. Killing someone so close and intimate to Rick was the reality check that readers needed, and it was beautifully executed.

As much as Andrea’s death in the show diverges from her beautiful ending in The Walking Dead comics, dying in the Season 3 finale was the right fit for the person she was in the show. The Andrea readers grew to love in the comics was far more resilient and determined to wear her scars as a badge of honor. The show’s version of Andrea never recovered from her sister’s death, and her broken morale entitled her to make poor decisions in an effort to find a spark of life. Both versions were thoughtful portrayals of people’s response to trauma, and her deaths in the two mediums reflect the differences in meaningful ways.

The Walking Dead is available to stream on Netflix.