The Walking Dead: Is Carol Really Dead? And 4 Other Burning Questions

[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead. Read at your own risk.]

Unless The Walking Dead's remaining survivors take pleasure in filling empty graves, there's a chance the prison has actually claimed more than two original members of the group.

On Sunday's episode, as Rick (Andrew Lincoln) slaughtered many of the leftover zombies throughout the prison in his search for Lori's (Sarah Wayne Callies) body, Carol (Melissa McBride) was presumed dead. (Seriously, no one even looked for her?!) That's right, Axel (Lew Temple) and Oscar (Vincent Ward) dug three graves. The one for Lori was yet to be filled, but the other two — one for T-Dog (IronE Singleton), whose body had already been moved to its final resting place, and another presumably for Carol — were suspiciously filled in. What does this mean?

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Below, we dissect Sunday's major burning questions. And since the writers introduced so many aspects of the graphic novel upon which the show is based this week, we look to the comics for answers:

1. Is Carol really dead?
Don't you find it odd that we never actually saw the group find Carol's body, nor did we even see them search for her? Apparently finding her head scarf next to T-Dog's body was enough evidence to call time of death. While Daryl (Norman Reedus) placing a Cherokee rose (he totally loves her, right?) on her possibly empty grave was sweet, it seems unlikely that this was the "satisfying" conclusion to Carol's story. And as the AMC series diverges further from the comics, there's little of her original story line for the writers to mine. So, do you think she's dead?

2. Why is the Governor (David Morrissey) keeping his zombie daughter around?
Eagle-eyed viewers caught a glimpse of the Governor's daughter Penny in a photo he keeps above the mantel, but we got a full view of his spawn this week. She is, in fact, a zombie. The Governor has been using Milton (Dallas Roberts) to uncover the secrets behind the walkers — could he be doing it to find a cure for his daughter? Or does he just want to control the walkers to take over the world, as executive producer Glen Mazzara suggested? Either way, that's certainly not the last time we'll see Penny.

3. Why do the residents of Woodbury enjoy zombie gladiator fights?
Other than the "research team" that takes out zombies and humans alike, Woodbury's residents have seemed innocuous to this point. So who in their right mind would get excited over gladiator-style zombie fights? It's a shame Andrea (Laurie Holden) didn't see the true side of Woodbury before Michonne (Danai Gurira) left, but hopefully she won't find herself in the ring as a consequence. (In the comics, the ring is used for both entertainment and punishment.) 

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4. Has Michonne really been set free from Woodbury?
After decimating many of Woodbury's caged-up zombies, Michonne pulled her sword on the Governor and then pleaded with Andrea to leave Woodbury. When the pair feared being denied freedom, Merle (Michael Rooker) opened up the doors for them, ensuring Andrea would want to stay. Knowing this was the Governor's plan all along, Michonne decided to defy him and actually leave. But how far will she get and who is following her? The Governor's relationship with Michonne is far from over if the writers continue to pull major comic book moments as they did Sunday night — and we should probably be worried if that's the case.

5. Who is on the other line?!
Yes, Rick has officially gone crazy. The group's leader went off the deep end following his wife Lori's death, rampaging through the halls of the prison and offing walkers with a vengeance. Upon discovering Lori's body had been consumed by one overstuffed zombie, Rick even stabbed the walker's belly hoping — we assume — to make sure she really was dead inside that thing. (Seriously, how did it eat her head?!) But he went completely down the rabbit hole when a randomly placed telephone began ringing. (Seriously, a telephone in a boiler room?) If the story follows the comics — SPOILER ALERT — Lori is on the other line. Yup, he's cray-cray.

What did you think of this Sunday's Walking Dead? Do you think Carol is really dead? Is Lori really on the other line? Hit the comments!

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.