Carl Will Appear in The Walking Dead's Season 8 Finale

Fair warning, Walking Dead fans: the Season 8 finale is going to make you cry.

On Monday, AMC released promotional photos of this coming Sunday's finale, and one of those photos is of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in his pre-apocalypse sheriff's uniform walking hand-in-hand with a very young Carl (Chandler Riggs).

The photo is a flashback to a moment Carl referenced in his deathbed letter to his father, where he wrote about remembering walks they took when he was three. "You holding my hand around the neighborhood, all the way to Ross' farm," he wrote. "I didn't know that I remembered them, but I do. Because I see the sun, and the corn, and that cow that walked up to the fence and looked me in the eye. And you told me about all that stuff, but it isn't just that stuff. It's how I felt. Holding your hand, I felt happy and special. I felt safe."

In the letter, Carl was pleading with his father to find a way to work together with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to build a world where safe, peaceful walks like that are possible again. If Rick is remembering those walks, too, it probably means he's ready to accept what Carl is saying and allowing himself to grieve Carl's loss, which occurred in the midseason premiere.

The Walking Dead's Season 8 finale airs Sunday, April 15 at 9/8c on AMC, followed by the Season 4 premiere of Fear the Walking Dead at 10/9c.