Season 5 of The Walking Dead was filled with many  tragic deaths. It’s unfortunate really, but in a show full of zombies, someone has to die. In season 5, there were 10 deaths. Here they are ranked in order from best to worst (or alternately, from the one we were happiest to the one we were saddest to see go).
This should go without saying, but if you are not caught up with season 5 yet you should definitely finish watching the season before reading this. There are spoilers below for people not caught up!

10. Pete

Pete was a woman-beating jerk of a man. He was one step from delusional, so seeing Rick shoot him at the end of season 5 wasn’t a sad moment. While some of Alexandria may have been affected, it’s highly unlikely he will be missed by anyone. His death was quick, which was luckier for him than he deserved.

9. Mary

Some might think it wasn’t Mary’s fault for being the way she was, but she was the mother of Terminus, and whether or not she started out that way, that is how she chose to end up. Many people cheered (I know I did) when Carol shot her in the leg and left her as Zombie food. As far as deaths go, this one seemed pretty fitting, all things considered.

8. Aiden

Aiden, the son of Deanna and Reg, seemed like a loudmouth, entitled jerk when Rick and the group got to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Quick to discount the group on their life skills where the apocalypse is concerned, it seemed pretty certain that Aiden wouldn’t make it the entire season. Sure enough, on an excursion outside the walls, Aiden was blown back from a grenade blast and his own people (namely Nicholas) leave him for dead. Glenn attempts to do all he can to save him, but in the end Aiden offers himself up as bait so the others can get out.

7. Gareth

Gareth wasn’t the worst character or death to ever be showcased on TWD, but it certainly was fun seeing him go. Like Mary, maybe he didn’t always intend to be a cannibal, but he certainly grew to accept his role in the apocalypse. Gareth was cunning and unfeeling when it came to outsiders, and he held a grudge. Naturally, this led him to finding Rick and the others. Unfortunately for him, it also meant experiencing a machete attack, Rick Grimes style.

6. Dawn Lerner

The pacifist leader of the hospital was hard to get a read on. She sure wasn’t as good or as interested in justice as she made herself sound, but she was hardly the worst thing we’ve seen. In fact, more than anything she was just depressing. She was the leader that was so afraid of everything that she let her crew do whatever they wanted. She may have pretended to lead, but she was anything but a leader. Dawn’s actual death was two-fold. Beth stabbed her with a pair of scissors when she demanded Noah back, but it wasn’t until she murdered Beth that Daryl shot her in the head.

5. Reg

In many ways, Reg was not even a fully developed character beyond being the rational architect that was married to Deanna. Still, while Deanna could be hard and ridiculous in her leadership, Reg attempted to use logic and keep her grounded. He was also more or less an innocent, so seeing him get taken out by Pete, even though it was an accident on Pete’s part, was pretty sad.

4. Bob

Bob was one of those characters that you could like, or not, depending on the episode. He’d done some pretty stupid things over the course of his time on the show (stealing liquor in an apocalypse, anyone?), but at the time of his death, it seemed that maybe love was turning him around. Finding out that Bob was bit was sad, but seeing the Terminus leftovers feasting on his leg as he went mad with laughter was one of the highlights of the season. In the end, Tyreese puts Bob out of his misery, so they don’t have to see him turn.

3. Tyreese

Taking Noah home was a bad idea on all parts because it was clear that no one would likely be alive. Tyreese, a natural leader of the group, tried to protect young Noah, but in the end, it caused him to end up with the bite that would end his life. His arm was amputated in hopes that he could live, but in the end the blood loss killed him. It was the actual leading up to his death that was the hard things to watch. Seeing him hallucinate and remember all the people that had gone before him, and knowing it was only a matter of time was heartwrenching. In the end, Michonne put the final blow in his head to ensure he would not turn.

2. Beth

Beth made it through so many things so seeing her end up in that hospital was terrible. In many ways, at least for Beth, it seemed that there were more threats inside the hospital than there would be, outside. After what seemed like weeks of her toiling around and trying to get free, she was about to go home to her sister, when the fateful move to stab Dawn caused Dawn to shoot her in the head and kill her. The whole thing was incredibly powerful and dreadfully sad.

1. Noah

The only reason that Beth is not in this spot is because the death of Noah was perhaps the most gruesome death to ever appear on TWD, to date. This is another death that could be attributed, at least in part, to Nicholas. While attempting to free themselves from a store, Glenn, Nicholas, and Noah are all trapped in the rotating doors. In an attempt to escape, Nicholas pushes the doors open, allowing walkers to feast on Noah’s leg. From there, Nicholas remains fine and Glenn is left to deal with the trauma that comes from being trapped on the other side of the glass as Noah is ripped apart limb from limb. Gruesome. Heartbreaking. It’s hard to put into words how sad this made most fans feel.
What was your favorite death scene in Season 5? Let us know in the comments!