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‘The Walking Dead’ Creator Hints That Negan Didn’t Kill Who You Think

By Aric Mitchell
Published on: 15:50 PST, May 4, 2016

The Walking Dead Season 6 cliffhanger angered many fans, who have accused the AMC television series of going with gimmickry over good storytelling.

The backlash has been so severe that creator Robert Kirkman recently took to the pages of the ongoing comic book series to help “clear things up.”

By that, Kirkman did not actually give away the identity of the person Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) killed with his trusty Lucille. Rather his goal was to explain why they decided to go with a cliffhanger over an immediate payoff.

(If you have yet to see The Walking Dead Season 6 finale, then you may want to turn back since this is about to get into spoiler-y territory for both the show and the comic book.)

With that out of the way, here’s what you need to know about Kirkman’s statement.

First of all, “clear things up” was a bit of an overstatement. Kirkman, in his statement within the latest comic issue’s letter pages, merely explained what the thought process was, and it was of little consequence to the criticisms that many The Walking Dead fans have with the TV version of the series.

The idea that Kirkman espouses — to give fans something to talk about — was already going to happen with or without the reveal.

They already knew that Negan would be showing up towards the end of the season, and probably in the final episode, which is what ended up happening.

In the comics, there is no mystery with regard to who the victim turns out to be. It was Glenn, and it’s one of the most brutal deaths you’ll ever see.

Just saying he gets his brains bashed in with a barbed wire baseball bat doesn’t begin to do the scene justice. The gore, the cruelty, and the gut-wrenching triumph of evil over good will make you physically ill.

So why are The Walking Dead fans so speculative over what happened in that finale, especially since the scene is set up in the same way as it is in the comics? Because the TV series has thrown a curveball several times regarding the deaths of characters, and there is a good chance Glenn is spared in exchange for another character (like a Daryl for instance).

There is also the fact that Glenn was already “killed off” once in the season when the walkers overtook him at a dumpster.

Of course, it was later revealed that Glenn was able to cheat that scenario to live another day. Putting him through all that only to kill him exactly as he’s killed in the comics isn’t outside the realm of possibility but it is unlikely, and something else that Kirkman said in his “explanation” lends credence to that.

“… a character you love and are going to miss is DEAD, and we gave you a few extra months to hope, to not grieve. Is there uncertainty? Yes. But that was kind of the idea.

“But seriously. Everyone on the TWD team wanted to do something cool. We wanted to do something different and we did it to change things up, get people excited and keep this show on your mind…. And every minute of the season 6 finale was important and was setting something up that you probably won’t see coming.”

At this point most people expect the kill to be either Glenn or Daryl. Kirkman could be trying to throw The Walking Dead fans off the trail, but that would only serve to agitate an already angry base.

https://youtu.be/xLfXg9UFyug

For that reason, expect Negan’s kill to be someone other than Glenn. Daryl is still a likely candidate because of how many people that would be shocked and sadden, but it could just as easily be Carol, Maggie, or Michonne, and having Negan kill a woman in such a brutal fashion would definitely get people talking about this show for another season.

But what do you think, readers?

Is Kirkman intentionally misleading, or do his words indicate someone other than Glenn or Daryl died in The Walking Dead Season 6 finale?

[Image via AMC]

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