The Walking Dead's fourth season ended on a precipice, but creator Robert Kirkman promises answers are coming, and fast.

The final episode of the hit AMC series' most recent season left us with a lot of questions. We know that the people of Terminus are a massive threat to Rick and the rest of the survivors, we know that Rick, Daryl and the gang are locked in a train car, and we know that it seems like they're likely to end up on the dinner buffet if they can't find a way out. Now we can pretty safely assume that the show will not be executing and devouring each and every one of its stars when season five starts up this fall, but even if we can guess who might survive and who might not, there's still plenty we don't know. How did the apparent refuge that is Terminus become this self-preserving den of death? What was with the strange, shrine-like room covering in creepy writing? How did these people come together and decide to become what they are?

The Walking Dead's been known to draw out these kinds of stories before, making us wait for answers as the show jumps around to other plots, or simply putting off the secrets. What if we have to wait half the season to really figure out what's going on with Terminus? Well, according to Kirkman, who co-created the hit comic book the show is based on and maintains a prominent presence in the writers' room, answers will come right out of the gate in season five.

“There’s a lot going on with Terminus,” Kirkman said while promoting his new comic Outcast on Entertainment Weekly radio this week. “In our premiere episode of season 5 we’re going to give a ton of answers of who the people of Terminus are, what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, what’s going on with them. And by the end of that episode you’re going to have a much better understanding of what’s going on with them and why they’re so important to the show. Oh, and Daryl dies.”

Well, apart from the joke about Daryl, we can see this as a pretty promising tease. It'll be interesting to see how that episode unfolds, and how much we get to know the Terminus people as characters rather than simple villains. It'll perhaps be even more interesting to see just how long this Terminus storyline lasts. It's clearly a powder keg, but the show's telegraphed those kinds of things before (remember the end of season 3?).

As for exactly what drives the show's protagonists beyond the confines of that train car, Kirkman's not spilling exactly how their escape goes down, but he does promise we won't have to wait the whole season while the show indulges in flashbacks, or something like that.

“They definitely get out of that train car. They do not spend the entirety of season 5 in that train car," Kirkman said. "It is through ingenuity and creativity and somewhat savageness that they are able to make their way out of that train car.”

The Walking Dead returns in October.

(Via EW)