Why Walter White Got Rid Of This Breaking Bad Character

Breaking Bad is one of those rare TV shows in which seemingly every scene is meaningful, and the biggest and best ones thoroughly shake the status quo. In fact, it's slightly misleading to even talk about "status quo" when it comes to the legendary AMC series. From Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to, well, most every named character in the show, the series' numerous twists and turns completely change lives — usually for the worse, and often irreparably. 

By the show's very design, many of these changes come courtesy of Walt, whose own downward spiral is Breaking Bad's entire premise, right down to the title. As such, the chemistry teacher-turned-meth kingpin is responsible for taking many notable characters out, either directly or indirectly. His reasons for causing carnage vary, and are sometimes mysterious or even accidental. Still, some fans of the show think they've figured out why he dispatched one particular — and particularly popular — figure. 

Here's why Walter White got rid of Hitman Mike.

One of the most shocking deaths on Breaking Bad comes in season 5, when Walt unexpectedly shoots Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) with the latter's own revolver during an argument. The deed is largely presented as a heat-of-the-moment decision after Mike insults his pride — and indeed, it proves to be such a colossally bad call on Walt's part that he actually attempts to apologize to the dying Mike. 

However, fans on Reddit think that Walt actually had an ulterior motive to pull this particular trigger. According to Redditor u/DanaAndrews, "Walt kills Mike because he's jealous over Mike's mentor-grip over Jesse." Indeed, at this point of the show, Mike and Jesse have spent much time together, and have developed a sort of teacher-student relationship as the older, more experienced Mike has taken Jesse on assorted missions.

User u/RokyKazuya agrees, and points out several ways the show hints at the extra strain Jesse's allegiance brings between Mike and Walt. "Walt was definitely jealous over Jesse and Mike's relationship (kinda reminds me of the way he was jealous of Junior and Hank's one at the start of the show; by this point he's closer to Jesse than anyone else, so of course he's not going to let that happen again)," they wrote. "Of course, pride, ego and anger got in the way too, but I think Walt only really needed a little push by that point, cause he was already angry at Mike for taking Jesse away/winning Jesse over."

All in all, it may very well be that Walt's series-long need to control Jesse gave him extra incentive to get rid of Mike, a competing mentor figure.