Walking Dead Why Negan Was Never Truly Redeemed

Negan's latest Walking Dead arc shows that despite the changes to his character, he was never really redeemed (and may not be in the future, either).

Negan’s latest arc in The Walking Dead further demonstrates that the character is still a long way from true redemption. In the last few years, The Walking Dead has been taking steps to put Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) on a better path that allows him to align with the main protagonists and heroes. This approach has had its ups and downs, including a few memorable moments where he was treated like a sympathetic figure.

Imprisonment served as an opportunity for introspection for Negan in season 9. Being locked in a cell seemingly broke the former villain, and after forming bonds with characters like Judith (Cailey Fleming) and Lydia (Cassady McClincy), Negan made meaningful attempts to gain acceptance within the community and protect the people around him. He even saved Judith and risked his life to eliminate the leader of the Whisperers. After being banished from Alexandria, Negan returned anyway, determined to build a life for himself with its people. The biggest obstacle to that happening is, of course, Maggie (Lauren Cohan), who just emerged from a long absence.

Negan’s relationship with Maggie in The Walking Dead season 11 calls into question just how much he’s really changed. As indicated by his new, cavalier attitude toward Maggie in season 10’s “Here’s Negan,” Negan isn’t particularly interested in making amends with her. Not only that, but he has remained antagonistic toward her. In the season 11 premiere, he makes a conscious decision not to save Maggie from falling into a crowd of zombies at the end of the episode, leaving her to her seeming death. Though it seems unlikely that The Walking Dead is killing off Cohan’s character, Maggie dying does appear to be what he had in mind. Negan’s actions go to show that while he has changed in some ways, he shouldn’t be classified as one of the good guys.

Negan’s cold remark about Glenn dying like a “dog” highlights one of the character’s biggest problems. As he has done on multiple occasions in the last few seasons, Negan has proven both to the characters and to viewers that he doesn’t wholeheartedly regret his past crimes. It’s true that he hasn't repeated these execution-style killings for a while, but there have been occasions where Negan has defended the way he ran the Saviors. It seems that when Negan was in prison (and after he was released), he was more upset with the sad state of his life than he was with the murders he committed and his widely criticized treatment of his “wives.”

What’s happening with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character now in The Walking Dead season 11 says a lot about where Negan stands in his journey to finding true redemption. He understands that Maggie is justified in wanting him dead, but clearly doesn’t have any qualms about callously teasing her about murdering her husband or letting her die. Ultimately, Negan’s goal is less about being a better person and more about becoming a part of Alexandria. Right now, Maggie stands in the way of that plan. Rather than cut his losses and leave the community, Negan is apparently willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants, and killing The Walking Dead's Maggie directly–or at least, allowing her to die, is now part of that. Though he’s largely repressed it in recent storylines, Negan clearly hasn't lost his potential for evil. He's just taking a different angle to get what he wants now.