The question of Daryl Dixon's sexual orientation has long been one of the most intriguing mysteries of AMC's "The Walking Dead," second only to the mystery of why the dead started walking in the first place. Between the character's closed-off nature and the fact that Norman Reedus has serious sexy chemistry with literally every cast member on the show, the secret yearnings of the Grimes gang's most eligible bachelor were always one big question mark -- fueled by cagey remarks by the showrunners and widespread reports that Reedus was fine with playing gay.

Sadly, the golden era of plausibly hoping for a hardcore Rick/Daryl makeout scene came to an abrupt end last night, when "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman confirmed on "Talking Dead" that everyone's favorite crossbow-wielding hero is most definitely into ladies.

With thanks to Vixen Varsity for the transcription, Kirkman explained that though the possibility of Daryl being gay was an option both he and the network were "fine" with, "we ultimately didn’t do that."

"I can make it official, Daryl Dixon is actually straight," he said. "But coming back in the next half of the season we’re going to be introducing a very prominent gay character from the comics that’ll be debuting."

On the one hand, this is good news; we'll get a little more diversity in the show's cast, and viewers still get to enjoy the promise of maybe, someday seeing Carol and Daryl finally hook up. Not only that, the fact that Kirkman can make an official statement about Daryl's orientation might indicate that a real, canon relationship for the character is already in the works, which means we could get a big schmoopy payout sooner rather than later.

However, it's not all good. For one thing, that bodice-ripping fantasy fiction we'd been writing about Tyreese and Daryl playing house in a little woodsy cabin somewhere, snuggling by a roaring fire wearing matching knitted beanies, is completely ruined.