The Walking Dead hasn’t made such an impact on pop culture for just being another zombie show. Instead, its success has largely come from its ability to make us care about the bevy of characters it’s introduced over the past decade, always giving us a reason to tune in each week in hopes of seeing the next piece of our favorite survivor’s story arc. Of course, this means we’ve all become equally invested in the romantic relationships these folks have engaged in, and in doing so, we’ve learned that those relationships can quickly come to an end at any moment at the hands of a zombie or human villain.
For instance, the world was crushed by season 7’s horrifying premiere when then-villain Negan bashed in the heads of beloved characters Glenn and Abraham, the former of which left Maggie a pregnant widow who was forced to face her uncertain future alone. Meanwhile, even main character Rick lost his own wife when she gave birth to their daughter fairly early in the show, forcing viewers to watch him unravel emotionally from the trauma.
It’s this dedication to making us empathize with these characters and their relationships that keeps the series so engaging, but for the survivors themselves, things aren’t always so interesting. One fan favorite, Aaron, lost his boyfriend in season 8 during the war with the Saviors, and though there were hints of a budding romance between him and Jesus in season 9, the latter became the first casualty of The Whisperers during an intense showdown in a graveyard soon after. Understandably, these losses have left Aaron a much more hardened and cold character than the person we first met years ago.
But would he be open to love again after so much traumatizing heartbreak? During a virtual Comic-Con panel, Aaron actor Ross Marquand opened up about his thoughts on the character’s future romantic options and whether he’d even be open to a partner again, saying:
“He came very close with Jesus. We kind of hinted at some sort of relationship in between the six-year jump. I would love to see that, but I feel like at this point there’s so many threats coming from all angles, love for Aaron or anybody else for that matter is just not of ultimate importance right now. But I would love to see that, of course.
I don’t know if he should have a love interest, because everyone who gets close to him died. Eric died, Jesus died. Maybe he’ll just be fond of someone.”
It appears we may not know exactly what the future holds for Aaron’s love life, but for now, he remains dedicated to his adopted daughter Gracie and seeing the war with The Whisperers come to an end. And we should learn more about how that major story arc plays out when The Walking Dead returns for its season 10 finale on October 4th.
