What happened to Hershel Greene in The Walking Dead? The character's fate explored

Hershel Greene in The Walking Dead is a compassionate farmer skilled in medicine. He is one of the fan's favorite characters but witnesses a brutal fate in the show. In season 4 episode 8, he gets brutally executed by the governor, when Rick, Hershel's friend and companion in the journey refuses to evacuate the prison.

The character is played by Scott Wilson and appears between seasons 2 to 4 of The Walking Dead. We get to know that Hershel has kept his family members who are infected in a barn area along with others and is living life thinking they are sick and can be cured. Read on to know in detail about the fate of Hershel Greene.

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What happened to Hershel Greene in The Walking Dead?

Hershel has lived in the countryside of Georgia with his family on a farm. He is shown to have a moral compass and becomes a mentor-like figure for Rick. Rick and Hershel carry out a long journey before finally finding a safe space inside the prison. In the previous episodes, Harshel is seen saving Carl from Rick's group through his knowledge of medicine which becomes the reason for their friendship.

However, the conflict arises when Shane murders Otis and unleashes the zombies in the barn. Hershel still welcomes the group, surrendering to humanity over any conflict in this difficult situation. But they need to leave the area and take refuge somewhere else. They reach a prison and find it sustainable with facilities for food, water, and medicine. The survivors make the prison their home. However, Hershel is bitten by a zombie and is helped by Rick who prevents further infection in Hershel's body.

Later in the episode when the governor comes and asks Rick to surrender, Rick refuses, rippling a battle among them and the governor brutally executes Hershel amidst all of this, while Rick keeps pleading for peace.

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What did Scott Wilson think about his exit from The Walking Dead?

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Scott Wilson was asked if he talked to the producer about his character's tragic death in The Walking Dead. He said bluntly that he straightaway went to the producer and told him that he was making a mistake.

“I think you’re making a big mistake, but it’s yours to make and I’m not going to try to talk you out of it.” Wilson said to the producer.

He further added speaking to the interviewee, that he understood that someone had to go at that point and he respected the producer's decision.

"Someone from the show was going to go. I would not want to be the one to make the decision that he had to make there. And I respect him for how he told me, and I am grateful for the scenes and episodes they gave me before they took me off. So, it’s all good."