WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 9 episode "What Comes After," which premiered Sunday on AMC.
The bombshells keep coming, as AMC has confirmed Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead was the last for Lauren Cohan's Maggie Rhee, at least for the time being.
Fans have known for months that Andrew Lincoln was stepping down from his role as Rick Grimes and that Cohan would only appear in a handful of episodes as Maggie. While both stars remained tight-lipped on whether their exits would be permanent, it's a surprise to learn that the Rick-focused "What Comes After" was also Maggie's last episode for now.
RELATED: The Walking Dead: Rick Grimes’ Final Exit, Revealed
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Angela Kang confirmed, "That's the last of her for this season. [...] We've been talking to Lauren and hopefully we'll get to tell more story for her. We definitely have some things up our sleeve that we'd love to do. A lot of that is just a scheduling conversation, so hopefully that will all work out, because I think mutually we would like to continue with Maggie's story, for sure."
AMC programming president David Madden added, "I would hope it's not the last you'll see of her for the show, but she is not in any immediately forthcoming episodes." Hopes that Cohan will return is good news for fans of Maggie, but the use of "forthcoming episodes" makes it sound as if The Walking Dead has no plans to bring back Maggie in the near future.
Cohan's starring role in ABC's Whiskey Cavalier and lengthy contract negotiations with AMC led to her bowing out of The Walking Dead for the first time since her arrival in Season 2.
RELATED: Goodbye to The Walking Dead's Rick Grimes -- and Good Riddance
While Maggie and Rick fans are presumably over the moon that the two fan-favorites have lived to fight another day, there is bound to be a feeling that Cohan received the short end of the stick this season. There was an emotional showdown between Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan, but the scene was relatively minute compared to Rick's supersized swansong.
The Walking Dead is set to confuse fans yet again in Season 9 with another time jump and a shifted focus on an older Judith Grimes. Even though the second jump sees the introduction of new characters like Magna and Yumiko, it leaves a question mark over who will lead the Hilltop and whether baby Hershel has headed to new pastures with Maggie.
Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC, The Walking Dead stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Alanna Masterson, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.