The latest episode of The Walking Dead served as a goodbye for Rick Grimes (sort of), which has earned the lion's share of attention. But it's important to point out that the latest episode, What Comes After, also serves as the exit for another fan-favorite character who has been with the series for a long time. But perhaps not a permanent exit.

Warning: spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead season 9 episode 5. Lauren Cohan's Maggie didn't die, but, at least for the time being, her time in the zombie wasteland is done. Much like Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes, AMC decided to keep her alive in the hopes that they may be able to bring Maggie back in the future. However, as showrunner Angela Kang revealed in a recent interview, don't expect to see Cohan return any time soon. Here's what she had to say about it.

"That's the last of her for this season...We've been talking to Lauren and hopefully we'll get to tell more story for her. We definitely have some things up our sleeve that we'd love to do. A lot of that is just a scheduling conversation, so hopefully that will all work out, because I think mutually we would like to continue with Maggie's story, for sure."

It was revealed ahead of the season 9 debut that Lauren Cohan had booked the lead on ABC's upcoming series Whiskey Cavalier. That occurred when she was in the middle of a contract dispute with AMC. As such, that got in the way of her availability for The Walking Dead. As we saw at the end of the most recent episode, there was a major time jump, which more or less serves as a way for Maggie to just disappear. But much like Angela Kang, AMC programming president David Madden hopes to see Maggie return down the line.

"Angela and Lauren talk. They are actually friendly. And we would like to see her come back. A lot of that is going have to do with Whiskey Cavalier and what her availability then becomes, which we obviously don't control. But creatively, we would love to see her return to some degree. And we definitely feel there is more of Maggie's story to tell. We did not, as you have seen, kill her off in 905. We established that she is out there somewhere. And that's something we would like to pay off by having her return, if her schedule permits."

Andrew Lincoln, unlike Lauren Cohan, already has his return set in stone, as he's set to star in a trilogy of Walking Dead movies for AMC. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast, along with an older Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming) who is trying to take up her father's mantle, are going to have a new threat to contend with in the form of The Whisperers in the coming weeks. The Walking Dead season 9 continues Sunday, November 11, on AMC. This news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.