'The Walking Dead' season 7 news, spoilers: Showrunner warns viewers about 'hard goodbye' in S7 premiere

At the end of "The Walking Dead Season 7 Preview Special," host Chris Hardwick delivered a message from "The Walking Dead" showrunner Scott M. Gimple, in which the latter says that fans are in for a "hard goodbye" when the new season debuts.

Gimple began the message by telling viewers that the beginning of season 7 is almost here. He then warned them that they are in for lots of heartbreak when the new season premieres in October.

"Enjoy your summer, because the beginning is someone's end," he wrote. "But it is a beginning. What happens in episode one will shatter the lives of those who survive and will render the narrative in different trajectories."

Gimple added that "The Walking Dead" fans will find their favorite characters in completely new situations taken from the pages of the "Walking Dead" comics "and remixed in The Walking Dead Remixnator 5000."

"There's going to be a hard goodbye in the beginning, but you know that, and it's almost here," he added.

Meanwhile, "The Walking Dead" star Steven Yeun, who plays fan-favorite Glenn, and executive producer Gale Ann Hurd recently spoke about one of the most notorious deaths in the popular zombie apocalypse series: that of Nicholas (Michael Traynor) in the season 6 midseason finale, which was titled "Thank You."

In the episode, Nicholas and Glenn were trapped by a horde of the undead with just one bullet left to defend themselves with. Cornered, the duo climbed atop a dumpster. When Nicholas realized that there was nowhere else to go, he shot himself in the head. The episode is famous not only because of Nicholas' horrifying suicide but because it ended with the premise that Glenn might have died along with him.

But as it turned out, Nicholas' suicide had been instrumental in Glenn's survival.

Speaking with TV Guide, Yeun said that Nicholas had sacrificed himself for Glenn. After Nicholas killed himself, his body had fallen over Glenn's and become a distraction, allowing Glenn to get away while the walkers feasted on it.

"So in the end, maybe Nicholas is a hero," the actor added.

"I tend to look at a glass and see it as half full," Hurd said. "I'd like to believe his last act truly was heroic, rather than cowardly."

"The Walking Dead" season 7 debuts Sunday, Oct. 23, at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC.