The Walking Dead season 8: Andrew Lincoln confirms how 100th episode will begin

'I'm sure it was planned that we would be starting a full-scale war on the hundredth episode'

Showrunner Scott Gimple isn't the only one hyping up The Walking Dead season eight - Andrew Lincoln has followed suit in a rather impressive manner.

The British actor, who has played Rick Grimes since the show's very first season in 2010, has shed some light upon what fans should expect from the very next episode - the AMC zombie drama's 100th.

When asked about the season opener by Comicbook.com, he quipped: “This is when we do a panel, I look to my right and let Scott Gimple answer that.”

Lincoln elaborated:

"I know, you know, that we are going to have to come and bring one of the greatest episodes we've ever attempted, and we're going to start the season with it. And, it will be the hundredth episode, which is one of the greatest. I never thought when we started this thing seven years ago - eight years ago it will be when we air. And, I never thought that we would get to, you know - I was very happy with one season. I was very happy with the pilot. Let alone, a hundred episodes, a hundred hours more because of the extended episodes. It's a huge milestone and, you know, it will be a big deal because there's a lot of the crew and a few of the cast left that have trudged all of those hard and sweaty and bloody miles together. So, it's a huge achievement and I know I'm sure, Scott Gimple, four years ago, had it planned that we would be starting a full-scale war on the hundredth episode. I like to think he's that much of a boy scout: always prepared." 

Lincoln confirmed the obvious - that season eight, which begins in October, will pick up immediately where the seventh left off: with Negan declaring war on Alexandria, the Kingdom and the Hilltop Colony.

“[Negan] said, 'Boys, we're going to war,' or something like that. I mean I think that - I don't think we're that literal, but I think that there's a very strong chance that we're going to pick up where we left off. I don't think that that's breaking news.

Gimple's preview of what's ahead honed in on specifics, sparking concerns about the fate of one of the show's main characters.

You can read our review of the season seven finale - which was dedicated to the memory of Bernie Wrightson - here.