The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman calls GRRM “the master”, shares what sets the Game of Thrones writer apart

The writer and executive producer of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman, believes that his approach of killing fans' beloved characters from the show was more chaotic and less refined than George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. The producer treated major characters' deaths as deliberate narrative engines. He follows a simple philosophy that if no one is safe, death is sudden.

Gleen's death in The Walking Dead followed Robert's killing philosophy. Negan killed the character because he wanted revenge. So, he lined them up and used "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" with his bat, Lucille, to smash Gleen's head.

On the other side, Martin showed his character's death by exposing them to the harsh consequences of political and tactical mistakes, but not by killing merely to shock the audience. For instance, Ned Stark was killed by Ser Ilyn Payne after Joffrey unexpectedly ordered his execution at the Great Sept of Baelor.

Continue reading more about the difference between killing characters in both shows.

Robert Kirkman wanted to kill the most important character of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

AMC's The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has become a major success for the franchise because Robert Kirkman shifted its focus from the original show's ensemble casts to a character-driven story in the spin-off. The creator opened up at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival about the spin-off's non-existence.

Earlier in the original series, Kirkman often wanted to kill Norman Reedus' Daryl Dixon because of his core approach to storytelling. Later, Daryl became the show's most important character because of his transformation arc from a hostile outsider to an emotional character of the series.

Reedus originally auditioned for Merle Dixon, but unfortunately, Michael Rooker was selected for the role. While auditioning, the showrunner, Fran Darabont, noticed Reedus's impressive performance and created Daryl Dixon specifically for him. Kirman shares,

"When we started on Walking Dead, I was the lunatic in the writers’ room who was like, ‘I don’t know, just kill the main character, who cares? We’ll do something weird."

He further explained that he often pushed himself to kill major characters simply to keep the story unpredictable for the audience. The writer also described himself as "the lunatic in the writers' room" because he wanted to kill the most significant character of the spin-off. However, he held back from doing so as he thought that it was crucial to keep Daryl alive for the long-term success of the franchise.

Robert Kirkman compares his character-killing style with George R.R. Martin

The Walking Dead's creator compared himself with GRRM and said that Martin is way better than him at killing characters. Kirkman further mentioned that he has a lot to learn from GRRM about how to remove key figures from a specific show.

Kirkman further explained that he often wanted to shock audiences with sudden deaths, but he held back more than Martin. This shows his respect for Martin's bold style and highlights his own struggle to balance surprise about keeping important characters alive.

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