‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7 Finale: How Does Negan Know Rick Has A Plan?
Episode 15 of AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 7 revealed that Negan knows Rick’s group is up to something. So, how does Negan know this? Did someone rat out on Alexandria, or is Negan just extremely good at sniffing out trouble?
SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses Season 7 of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) revealed to Sasha in Episode 15 (titled “Something They Need”) of The Walking Dead that “a little birdy” told him Rick’s group at Alexandria were up to something. This means Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) element of surprise is now blown out of the water.
But how did Negan know this? And who is the culprit? Let’s have a look at some likely suspects.
Alexandria is a large group, many have not been happy with Rick’s rule in the past, with most seeming to have come around to Rick’s way of thinking. However, it is possible someone is a rat. As yet, no character really seems to stand out. Although, Aaron’s (Ross Marquand) boyfriend, Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson), made an appearance in Episode 15. He and Aaron discussed why they are fighting Negan and how Eric agrees with it all now. However, could it just be a ploy? Although, in the past, Eric has been against fighting Negan because of his fear of losing Aaron, so it seems unlikely he would rat out to Negan Rick’s plan.
According to Cleveland though, Enid (Katelyn Nacon) could be a suspect. As they point out, many fans of The Walking Dead have suspected her as a traitor for some time. Episode 15 saw her and Carl (Chandler Riggs) have a strange conversation about whether they ever think about those they have killed in the past. Carl ended up revealing he also thinks about those he hadn’t killed, possibly implying he had regrets about not killing some of them. However, Enid now seems to be a firm member of Hilltop and a supporter of Maggie (Lauren Cohan), so this suspect also seems unlikely.
Speaking of Hilltop, Gregory (Xander Berkeley) did threaten Jesus (Tom Payne) in Episode 14 of The Walking Dead. Gregory actually does seem like a pretty likely candidate. He is not happy with the way Hilltop have naturally gotten behind Maggie and are now less supportive of Gregory’s rule. It is pretty clear that Gregory is also a puppet to Negan, always siding with him rather than causing conflict.
Episode 15 saw Maggie Save Gregory’s life after walkers attacked, but, then, when Gregory had returned to Hilltop, he announced he was taking a trip — and one that would require an overnight bag. So, could Gregory be returning to the Sanctuary to update Negan on Rick’s progress? Considering he questioned Maggie about where the rest of Rick’s group were when they had headed off to Oceanside, this seems quite likely.
ComicBook seem pretty insistent that Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) could be the traitor. Jadis is from the new group Rick found that lived in that enormous junkyard. She has been revealed at not liking to negotiate with Rick, as well as having a pretty ferocious way of finding out whether to deal with people. She chose to throw Rick into an arena with a walker who was very hard to kill so Rick could prove his worth. Jadis seems just like the sort of person who would side with Negan in that regard.
Of course, there is another suspect: Eugene (Josh McDermitt). Since he was taken by Negan’s group, fans have wavered in their feelings for Eugene. In the past, Eugene has used his knowledge about science and the such to convince people he was a scientist. He has done this again in the Sanctuary. Many fans liked to think that Eugene was still supportive of Rick. However, when Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Sasha tried to free him in Episode 14 of The Walking Dead, he told them to leave him there. So, could Eugene actually have revealed Rick’s plans to Negan in order to save himself?
Another suspect from Hilltop to be considered is the doctor who Negan took in Episode 14 of The Walking Dead. Could Negan have broken him and somehow made him reveal that Hilltop were working with Rick’s group in order to overthrow Negan? It seems unlikely as the doctor was more partial to helping his group rather than hindering them, but perhaps something he said made Negan suspect something was up? And this leads us to the final theory as to how Negan knew Rick was up to something.
Perhaps no one has revealed anything to Negan about Rick’s plans. Maybe Negan has just suspected something was up and was putting it out there to Sasha as a way to test the waters to see if Sasha would reveal anything. After all, in The Walking Dead, Negan is great at breaking people and making them bend to his will, so he could also be considered to be good at reading people and their personalities. If this is the case, and Negan simply suspects something is up at Alexandria, could Dwight’s (Austin Amelio) change of heart just be a ploy to infiltrate Alexandria on behalf of Negan? Only by tuning into the Season 7 finale of The Walking Dead will reveal the answer.
What do you think will happen in the Season 7 finale of The Walking Dead? Let us know your thoughts and theories by commenting below.
The Season 7 finale, Episode 16 (entitled “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life”), of AMC’s The Walking Dead returns on Sunday, April 2 at 9 p.m. ET. The official synopsis for Episode 16 is below.
“The stakes continue to grow higher as paths cross; the group enacts an intricate plan.”
[Featured image via Gene Page/AMC]
