The Walking Dead season 9: Three main characters killed off as infamous spike scene arrives in episode 15

The Walking Dead producers have stunned fans by delivering the show's bloodiest episode in years.

The penultimate outing of the AMC series’s ninth season saw one of the most infamous comic book moments immortalised on screen as the communities finally reunited for the fair, an event that has been teased for several weeks now.

*Major spoilers follow – you have been warned*

Fans have long been expecting another character death to roll around before the end of the season – but they didn’t expect the latest episode to mark the end of the line for three main cast members.

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The arrival of The Whisperers’ leader, Alpha (Samantha Morton), earlier this season set wheels in motion for a gut-wrenching sequence that reveals her disturbing method of marking out the group’s territory: by placing decapitated heads on a fence of spikes.

In the closing moments of episode 15, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Michonne (Danai Gurira), Siddiq (Avi Nash) and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsurra) come face to face with the severed heads of Enid (Katelyn Nacon), Tara (Alanna Masterson) and Henry (Matt Lintz), the adopted son of Carol and Ezekiel (Khary Payton).

The biggest death out of these is Tara. Masterson has appeared as a regular on the show since its fourth season. Nacon joined just one season later, while Lintz has been one of the leading characters since the show introduced a six year time jump last year.

His death is a huge blow for Carol who lost her daughter back in the show’s second season, the character of whom was played by Lintz’s sister, Madison.

In the comic book, it’s Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Ezekiel who meet their makers – but in the show, they live to fight another day.

The Walking Dead airs its season nine finale on 31 March in the US and the following evening in the UK.