‘The Walking Dead’: A New Theory Surfaces That Abraham Was Negan’s Victim

The latest “Who did Negan kill in the season finale of The Walking Dead?” theory is making the rounds, this time making the case that Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) is the one that was on the receiving end of Lucille. Hollywood Life sets forth some great arguments, but there is one problem with their take on how that final Walking Dead scene played out.

If you clicked on this article, you probably aren’t too worried about spoilers, but just in case, Walking Dead fans who haven’t seen the season finale or want to avoid spoilers should not proceed.

As Walking Dead fans know — and have probably replayed on the DVRs about a thousand times now — viewers saw those death blows from the perspective of whoever was being killed, as everything went to black and you could vaguely hear the muffled screams from Rick’s group, but not nearly as loud as that Walking Dead leaked audio, which may or may not have given away who really dies.

There was one scene in the finale of The Walking Dead in particular between Abraham and Eugene (Josh McDermott) that had many fans thinking that Eugene was about to die, given the way the pair had a sentimental exchange that seemed to foreshadow that it was their final moment together. But what if fans were only partially right? What if the two were saying their dramatic goodbyes, but it was Abraham about to die?

The Hollywood Life piece made several good points that could have been hinting that it was Abraham who died, starting with the fact that his character has already died in the comic books, so he’s now reached a certain “wildcard” status. Not that The Walking Dead has remained loyal to the comic book story, and in fact, has strayed from it many times to keep things unpredictable. But does that make him more likely to get the ax (or bat in this case) from the writers’ room?

Just a few episodes ago, Denise (Merritt Wever) suffered Abraham’s comic book fate, which now seems meant to set up the final episode plot where Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the gang leave Alexandria to try to get Maggie (Lauren Cohan) to the doctor at the Hilltop community, since Denise is no longer available. But Abraham being a likely victim simply because he’s a wildcard is probably one of the weaker points to this theory, yet it is still worth mentioning.

Fans of The Walking Dead know the writers love cruel irony, such as the sentimental scene between Abraham and Eugene possibly setting up one of their deaths, but also characters who become a moral compass or who come to terms with and get relatively comfortable in this new world order have a way of dying off. Denise taking that arrow to the eye just as she was making a speech about not being afraid anymore is one of many perfect examples.

In Abraham’s case, he’s sort of arrived at the same point where he’s broken up with Rosita (Christian Serratos) to pursue a relationship with Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), who he really wants to be with and seems to be on track to finding real love. He’s also just patched things up with Eugene after being angry at Eugene for lying about knowing a cure just so the group would protect him and help him survive. In other words, Abraham has just gotten his house in order, so to speak, after losing his family of the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, then losing his new purpose in life — protecting Eugene — after he admitted his lies, but now he finally seems to be ready to build a new life.

That tends to be a very dangerous thing on The Walking Dead.

From Negan’s perspective, one of the most compelling arguments that Abraham was the one killed in the Walking Dead finale is that as the biggest, most intimidating character on the execution line, it would be pretty smart of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to take out Abraham. Walking Dead fans might also argue there’s only room for one character to be the creative cursing master, and with the notoriously potty-mouthed Negan finally arriving, The Walking Dead no longer needs Abraham’s creative cursing.

Foul language aside, perhaps one of the most convincing arguments that Negan would choose Abraham is the fearless way Abraham looked him dead in the eye. Abraham showed no fear while Negan was walking the line to pick his victim, while Rick was clearly reaching the stage of “pee pee pants,” as Negan would phrase it. If you’re Negan and you want to reduce the chances of fighting back as much as possible, it makes sense to take out the biggest and most fearless guy in the group.

Even as that makes a very strong theory of who got killed in the season finale of The Walking Dead, it also presents a problem in the theory, because Abraham wasn’t the only one who looked Negan right in the eye without fear. Did you Walking Dead fans see how fearlessly Michonne (Danai Gurira) stared him down? She was kneeling right next to Abraham, so you may not have noticed it as Negan scanned the group, but this samurai sword-wielding warrior from Rick’s group gave Negan some fierce attitude as good as Abraham.

So if the theory is to take out the strongest and most fearless of the group, Abraham may be physically stronger than Michonne, but you could still make a case he might have chosen Michonne, which fits in with another big theory circulating right now: since the episode opened with the point of view of one of the four people who had already been taken hostage, that theory says the ending point of view was from the same person. That would narrow it down to Michonne, Rosita, Glenn (Steven Yeun), and yes, Daryl (Norman Reedus).

Please, Walking Dead fans, let’s not riot at the mere mention that Daryl may die. But, while Daryl didn’t look as scared as Rick, after having been shot in the shoulder in the previous episode, he wasn’t quite up to giving the evil eye to Negan. Probably a wise move, even if it likely had more to do with his injury than being afraid.

So with so many believable theories that someone else died on The Walking Dead in that series finale — from Maggie to Glenn to even Rick — who do you think Negan killed, and what do you think is the most compelling evidence that leads you to that conclusion? Comment below.

[Image via Gene Page/AMC]