Following Carl’s fatal zombie bite in The Walking Dead midseason finale, Norman Reedus revealed how “desperately unhappy” he is to lose both the character and his co-star Chandler Riggs.

“I was desperately unhappy about that,” Reedus told Entertainment Weekly. “I’ve seen Chandler grow up from a little boy. I’ve known that kid so long, and it always hurts when you lose a family member on the show. Chandler is definitely a family member to me. I was not happy about it. I always thought Chandler would be the last man standing, to be honest.”

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The death came as a shock to hardcore fans of the Walking Dead comic book in particular, as Carl is still alive and has grown up into a leader. Despite the canonical changes, creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman is behind the show’s decision to kill Carl. In an earlier interview, Kirkman said the stories won’t have to be altered much just because Carl’s not around. “We have known these story lines have been coming for years. There are plans in place to make it all work,” he explained. “The loss of Carl doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to be losing big swaths of the comic book story. It means that there will be some differences to them.”

The Walking Dead returns February 25 at 9 p.m. on AMC. The show stars Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee, Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne, Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Lennie James as Morgan Jones, Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler, Josh McDermitt as Eugene Porter, Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan.