The Walking Dead Season 4 Spoilers: Could Rick, Carl or Michonne die by season finale?

The Walking Dead will air its penultimate Season 4 episode on Sunday before the season finale next week. And based on a new promotional photo for the episode, there's a chance that not every character will survive the season.

TVLine posted an exclusive first-look photo that shows Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) among some fog or smoke as they prepare to fight something or someone off screen. The ominous tagline simply reads, "Who will arrive?" which is the slogan of Terminus, the sanctuary toward which the different groups of survivors are headed.

Would the show really go through with killing off with Rick? Consider what Robert Kirkman said in his Reddit AMA earlier this week when asked if the main character is safe:

"ABSOLUTELY NOT. Although when I look in Andrew Lincoln's piercing blue eyes I FEEL safe," Kirkman wrote. This makes sense because the creator has stated that Rick will likely die before the comic series ends.

He was asked to describe the finale in one word and simply responded with "SAVAGE" and said "people are going to be talking about this one," he wrote. "The cliffhanger at the end of season 4 will make the wait between seasons 4 and 5 the hardest wait we've ever had. ENJOY!"

He also was asked about how a character's popularity affects his or her chances of surviving on the show.

"In my opinion, I feel like characters ripen like fruit. So while I wouldn't say the more popular a character is the more likely they are to die, they do have to reach a certain level of popularity before they've 'earned' the death. No character is too popular to die. (Suck it, Reedus!)"

That last part is a reference to Norman Reedus, who plays the fan favorite Daryl Dixon, a character not even in the original comics.

What do you think, Walking Dead fans? Is Rick a goner? Let us know in the comments below.