The Walking Dead finale brought back more former cast members than you might realize

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead season 11, episode 24. If you've not yet caught up on the series finale, turn back now! 

Long-time viewers of The Walking Dead were thrilled when the zombie drama's series finale brought back Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne Hawthorne. Turns out, though, they weren't the only cast members to return for the last-ever episode. 

Towards the end of 'Rest in Peace', which aired in the US on Sunday (November 20), a montage of scenes from previous seasons played out as several characters repeated the mantra, "We are the ones who live" via voiceover. According to Entertainment Weekly, the likes of Lennie James (Morgan), Laurie Holden (Andrea), Michael Cudlitz (Abraham), Chandler Riggs (Carl), Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha), and Steven Yeun (Glenn) were among the chanters.

Other, less surprising, actors involved included Lauren Cohan (Maggie), Norman Reedus (Daryl), Ross Marquand (Aaron), Melissa McBride (Carol), Eleanor Matsuura (Yumiko), Khary Payton (Ezekiel), and more.

Riggs, who played Rick's son, also made a physical appearance in the series finale, as a farmer residing at the newly-restored Hilltop. Talking to EW, director Greg Nicotero explained how the cameo came about...

"That was our last day of shooting and Chandler wanted to come visit, and I looked at him and I went, 'Hey, you. Take that, go stand in the back of that shot.' It wasn't planned," he said. "I don't even think we put wardrobe on him. I think he was just wearing whatever he wore when he came to set. We're just like, 'Throw him in the background.' I think we gave him a hat to disguise him a little bit."

For more on the apocalypse-set franchise, check out our how to watch The Walking Dead guide if you're wanting to watch/rewatch the main series, Fear the Walking Dead, and more. Or, if you'd rather look forward rather than backward, have a read up on all of the upcoming Walking Dead spin-offs announced so far.