I can't say I'm surprised.
Actually, I take that back. I'm not surprised that someone had to go. I am surprised (somewhat) that it's Cibrian. I mean, given the depth of detail TPTB were seemingly hoping to go into with his character, and the sort of in-your-face way he was brought onto the show (I admit, I liked his character a lot in the beginning, but I guess it just got old for me before the writers turned it around later in the season.), and all the hype that surrounded this before the season even started. It was kind of a big deal, which is why I'm kind of surprised.
Honestly, I kind of thought they'd try anything in order to keep Cibrian - I mean, they did seem invested, and he isn't a nobody (in both good and bad ways...), so it did get people curious and talking about it/him/the show. I thought he was safe, no question, after reading the O'Brien/Dube(?) interview.
All that aside, if I didn't know anything about plans for the characters in the future (not that those plans really mean anything right now, lol), I would've expected Walter to be the first to go. Nothing against him at all, he just seems kind of...there. He's just never really seemed like a main character to me.
I feel bad for Eddie, though. Sucks to be into something and really be excited for the way it's going, and then have it ripped out from under you (then again, I'm not sure we know all the details, so who knows.)