The sixth installment of AMC's drama series, The Walking Dead, ended with a finale that left fans with a massive cliffhanger. Negan, the big, bad villain in the series, undoubtedly took a life in the final minutes of the last episode of season 6. But the identity of the victim remained unknown, leaving viewers wondering and speculating for months.

The seventh season is now due for release, and will premiere on AMC on the 9^th of October, as Hall of Fame Magazine reports. With less than three months to go, fan theories and spoilers are doing the rounds with increased vigor.

Firstly, everyone seems to agree that the new season will pick up right where the earlier one left off. This means we finally get to see who Negan killed in the season 6 finale. Greg Nicotero, the producer of the series, hinted that this killing does not play out the same way it did in the comics. In an interview with Digital Spy, he explained, "I don't think we would be doing the material justice if we just regurgitated it word for word,"

So this puts the viewers in a place where they have no idea what's coming next, because the show is set to deviate from the source material a little.

As far as the filming for the new season goes, Laura Cohan, who plays Maggie, was apparently spotted only once during the shoot for the forthcoming season. This has led to rumors that she is perhaps most likely to be Negan's prey.

Also, two of the main characters in the story have been noticeably absent in all but the first episode. Blasting News remarks that Glenn and Abraham haven't been spotted in the shooting for any of the later episodes of the seventh season.

Does this mean that the two characters will fall victims to Negan, and not make it well into season 7? We'll have to wait and watch.