Dis-Arming News in The Walking Dead Media

Early within the pages of “The Walking Dead,” Rick Grimes loses one of his hands. Those in the know of this moment in the character’s story have been watching and waiting for years to see if and when such a moment would befall the world of that comic’s television universe. While this scenario seems increasingly unlikely, the newest season finally appeased those fans with one character’s loss of a hand, except it was Aaron and not Rick.

In the season nine episode “The Bridge,” Rick and company work to bring a bridge back to functionality with the goal of better integrating the various communities he has encountered. One of the people working on that bridge happens to be Aaron whose arm suffers a grave injury after becoming pinned during a lumberyard accident. With precious little time and only Enid’s experience learning medicine, the decision is made to literally cut away Aaron’s loss by amputating the limb below its elbow.

While Aaron is hardly the first character to suffer dismemberment, with some remembering the late Scott Wilson’s Hershel losing a leg, the combination of a beard and a missing hand serves as an homage to Rick Grimes from the books. Angela Kang, showrunner for the program, said that while the decision was made before realizing Aaron’s Aaron’s being close to book Rick’s, the whole situation was “a crazy accident.” Kang added that the show’s writing room has been interesting in pursuing the severance of a hand because it offered a lot of potential; she admitted that the notion of an able-bodied person having to endure the apocalypse with a physical impairment and learning to incorporate that issue into daily living makes for a compelling story. When Ross Marquand, who plays Aaron, learned his character would lose a hand, he greeted the news with great enthusiasm.

Kang went on to comment that it is always appealing to see a character’s growth from overcoming hardship. She added that one of the main appeals in the show is seeing people motivated enough to overcome their challenges and come out stronger than they started. While Aaron’s handicap may not satisfy fans hoping it happened to Rick, there is still time for the loss of a hand to befall Rick before the character is written out of the show. On the other hand, the season could conclude by aping another major character trauma from the books.