One of the most jaw-dropping aspects of The Walking Dead was how co-creator Robert Kirkman killed off Rick Grimes as the series wound down. Many expected Rick to be there at the end, but he was a casualty of the civil war brewing at the Commonwealth. However, while he died in Issue #192 from Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, the penultimate chapter of the series, Rick’s passing did do one positive thing — it allowed Carl to show he was a hero like his dad.

When the council tries Sebastian Milton for shooting Rick dead, sneaking into his room when the leader was asleep, many believed Sebastian should have been killed. Sadly, Carl found his dad as a walker and had to put him down. As a result, some felt vigilante justice outside the legal system was apt, while others thought capital punishment was the way.

But Carl wasn’t about that, evidenced by him telling Sebastian life as a criminal is way worse. Despite all his rage, Carl decided Sebastian was better off in solitude, suffering and wallowing in guilt and self-pity. He knew this would torture the killer mentally, breaking him and reflecting how he threw away a wondrous life in paradise as part of a failed coup. After all, this was less quick and more painful, which Carl learned from how Rick treated another spoiled brat.

That came years before with Negan, the leader of the Saviors and the man who bashed Glenn’s head in. He killed so many people, with Carl understanding how much of a monster Negan was when the villain tried to condition the kid to see how he lived in a world where dog had to eat dog to survive. Despite it all, Carl saw no humanity in Negan.

Yet when Rick’s team finally gained the upper-hand, the leader opted for mercy. He wanted to teach everyone to let bygones be bygones, to forgive sins and that people can atone. This led to Negan’s redemption, and him helping them in the war against the Whisperers, thus Rick’s gamble paid dividends. It’s also been adapted for the TV show with Maggie and Negan now in an uneasy alliance against new threats.

But most of all, it taught Carl that his dad, amid all his war tactics, was a man of peace. It’s why he let Sebastian live and decades later, he’s in the countryside with his wife, Sophia, and Andrea not caring about the villain.

Sadly, Carl got killed in the show so he won’t get a chance to do this, while we never found out if Sebastian did atone and become a better person as the series ended. That said, ultimately, Carl did his job and honored Rick’s legacy to make a better world filled with love, which, to him, is as heroic as it gets.