‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7: Why It Doesn’t Matter Who Negan Killed In The Season 6 Finale

SPOILER ALERT: This article speculates about Season 7 of AMC’s The Walking Dead as well as discusses the comic books the TV series it is based on. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

The Season 6 finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead which saw Carl (Chandler Riggs), Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira), Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), Daryl (Norman Reedus), Aaron (Ross Marquand), Rosita (Christian Serratos), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Glenn (Steven Yeun) at the mercy of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Ever since then, fans have been trying to work out who Negan bashed to death with Lucille. The theories have been relentless, endless and completely compelling. Many fans have spent a lot of time watching the final scene in the Season 6 finale of The Walking Dead, looking for clues, counting the line up and checking the position of trees, to name just a few ways of developing their theories.

However, does it really matter who Negan kills? Is that actually the point of the cliffhanger?

After all, in the comics The Walking Dead is based on, it was the loss of the life that was the catalyst to future events. In the comics it is Glenn Rhee (played by Steven Yeun in the TV series) who loses his life at the hands of Negan. As a result of this, Maggie (played by Lauren Cohan in the TV series) goes on to become the leader of Hilltop. As Forbes pointed out, even with the “fake Glenn death” in Season 6 of The Walking Dead, it would still make a lot of sense to kill off Glenn if AMC want to go in the same direction as the comic books. If Glenn doesn’t die, will Maggie move on from Rick’s group? While the TV series has branched out quite diversely from the comic books, it is still hard to change the fact who ever Negan kills will change everyone else present in a deep, gut-wrenching way.

However, it doesn’t really need to be Glenn that dies at the hands of Negan in Season 7 of The Walking Dead. Any one of those characters present are important to the others, in particular, Rick. And it will be Rick who feels this death more than anyone else, even Maggie (if it happens to be Glenn), because Rick is their leader and it was his cockiness that put all of their heads on the chopping block. It was Rick who decided they needed to take out Negan’s group for the safety of their group. As a result of this decision, someone will die. And Negan has made it very clear that someone will not be Rick or his son, Carl. This, on top of the decision to attack, will potentially see Rick spiral down into the depths of Crazy Rick territory fans have seen several times already in The Walking Dead. But will this be a crazy that Rick can actually come back from this time? Only by tuning into Season 7 of The Walking Dead will fans find out.

However, could it be more than one person who dies at the hands of Negan in the Season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead? After all, the only thing more shocking than Negan killing a much loved character is if he kills two of them. As The Hollywood Reporter points out, Greg Nicotero has hinted fans need to be prepared for this scenario.

“Nobody looked really good in those last few moments,” he stated about the finale scene in the Season 6 finale.

Do you think it matters who Negan killed in the Season 6 finale of The Walking Dead? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!

As yet, AMC has not confirmed the Season 7 premiere date for The Walking Dead, although it is anticipated to be sometime in October of this year after the finale of Season 2 of its companion program, Fear The Walking Dead. Fans will also be able to get their Walking Dead fix at San Diego Comic Con later this month. You can check out the details for that event here.

[Image via AMC]