Why Anna Left The Walking Dead In Season 8 (& How She Died)

Alexandria Safe-Zone resident Anna was only in a few episodes of The Walking Dead before she was killed off. Here’s why she left and how she died.

Alexandria Safe-Zone resident Anna was a minor character in the sixth and seventh seasons of The Walking Dead and lasted until her presumed death in season 8 – here’s why the character left the show. The term “redshirt” may have been coined for Star Trek to describe disposable background characters who are swiftly killed off, but it’s certainly applicable to many characters on The Walking Dead, especially those that make up the Alexandria Safe-Zone community. Of course, some Alexandrians on The Walking Dead have lasted longer and played a bigger part in the plot than a typical redshirt – like Aaron, for example, or Enid and Olivia before their demises.

But for every more prominent member of the Alexandria community, there’s been at least a handful of characters who are introduced only to hover largely in the background before they meet a sticky end. People like Carter (Ethan Embry), who would’ve launched a coup against Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) had he not got chomped on by a zombie shortly after his introduction. There was also Shelly Neudermeyer (Susie Spear Purcell) whose only wish was to acquire a pasta maker before she was killed by the Wolves in The Walking Dead season 6.

Case in point: Anna, who was on The Walking Dead for just four episodes before her season 8 death. Played by Vanessa Cloke, Anna’s first appearance was in the season 6 episode “Now” which took place in the aftermath of the Wolves' attack on Alexandria as a horde of zombies were about to breach the community’s walls. In “No Way Out”, Anna was one of several residents who took shelter in the church with Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) as the horde invaded Alexandria and was later seen in “Not Tomorrow Yet” at a meeting Rick called to coordinate the community’s attack on the Saviors.

Anna’s last Walking Dead appearance was in the season 7 episode “Service” which saw Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and a group of Saviors pillage Alexandria of most of its resources. Anna hasn’t been seen on The Walking Dead since then and it’s presumed she was one of several Alexandrians who died when the Saviors launched a grenade attack on the community in the season 8 episode “How It’s Gotta Be”.

According to The Walking Dead Fandom wiki, the reason why Anna left and became another Alexandria redshirt is that actress Vanessa Cloke relocated and was no longer readily available to shoot in Georgia where the series is filmed. Cloke was apparently supposed to appear in The Walking Dead season 8 episodes “Mercy” and “How It’s Gotta Be” (her presumed death episode), but unfortunately her scenes ended up cut.