Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, episode 7, “Novi Dan, Novi Početak”.After the Saviors lost to Rick’s group inThe Walking Deadseason 8, Negan slowly fought hard for redemption and became a better man, butDead Cityseason 2 confirmed he learned all the wrong lessons from the war.Despite how personal their feud was, Rick ultimately decided to spare and imprison Negan after their battle, forcing the Saviors' leader to live with his mistakes. Although the franchise’s protagonist never saw how much his foe had reformed,Negan’s redemption arc made him a fan-favorite inThe Walking Dead, as he successfully turned his life around, despite retaining some flaws.
He still possesses some of his anger and violent tendencies, but rather than attempting to get revenge on the main survivors after gaining his freedom, Negan helped protect them instead, even saving Rick’s daughter, Judith. His spinoff show has continued portraying him in a positive light by making him fight for his family, butDead Cityseason 2 has teasedNegan’s evil persona returningin recent episodes. Alongside some slight personality shifts, his behavior has become a little more sinister, and one scene proves he failed to learn the right lessons from his defeat to Rick all those years ago.
Negan Took The Wrong Lesson From His Loss To Rick Grimes
Negan Claimed He Should Have Killed Just Killed Everyone During His Iconic Line-Ups
Having worked tirelessly to turn his life around since losing the war against Alexandria and its allied communities, Negan has become more moral and selfless, yet he learned all the wrong lessons from the defeat. Rather than admitting that killing random strangers was the wrong approach, Negan claimed he would have executed everyone who he deemed a threat. During his introductory scene, he killed Abraham to send a message before offing Glenn too after Daryl stepped out of line, forcing the main survivors into submission.
This was his method of controlling people, as he would target smaller communities, kill one of their residents, and force them into giving up resources.Negan’s ruthless actions are exactly why he becameThe Walking Dead’s biggest villain, but even after changing his ways and becoming less kill-happy, he still believes he should have murdered more people, not less. Hearing him confess that if he could go back, he’d execute everyone during his line-ups was a truly shocking moment given he seems much more mature inDead City.
Considering he helped prevent casualties while working withDead City’s villains, it looked like Negan was done causing needless violence, yet his admission suggests otherwise.
Rather than jumping at the chance to embrace his evil side again,Negan resisted until Annie and Joshuawere threatened in the spinoff, reluctantly joining the Dama and the Croat to keep his family safe. Considering he helped prevent casualties while working with these villains, it looked like he was done causing needless violence, yet his admission suggests otherwise. Therefore, the former Saviors leader has clearly learned a lot since losing the war to Rick, but he has taken all the wrong lessons from his failure, suggesting his darker side could be returning.
Negan’s Return To Villainy Is The Best Way To Test If He Really Has Changed
Redeeming Negan has proven to be an extremely difficult task given he killed numerous fan favorites and committed terrible acts. However,The Walking Deadhas successfully made him surprisingly sympathetic while showing there is a good side to him, making it a bold choice to present him as a villain once again. It’s worth noting that while Negan is beginning to show villainous tendencies inDead Cityseason 2, he hasn’t gone completely off the deep end and there’s still a way back for him, but his comments about killing everyone are certainly a cause for concern.
One of the main reasons for going in this direction with the character is because Negan is far more entertaining as an antagonist. As much as I love seeing him as a flawed hero, his charisma and personality make him perfectly suited to being the bad guy.Negan has had plenty of memorable moments over the last few years, but the most iconic ones came while leading the Saviors, and taking over the Burazi has already started giving him some of that evil aura back.
Episode 5: “The Bird Always Knows”
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Episode 6: “Bridge Partners are Hard to Come by These Days”
Episode 8: “If History Were a Conflagration”
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Negan becoming a villain again would also make headlines and potentially bring old viewers back while givingMaggie another reason to kill Negan inThe Walking Deadspinoff, assuming the franchise wanted to go that route. Despite all of this,Dead City’s biggest reason for leaning back into his old ways is surely to make his redemption even more compelling. Having him slip into his darker side and embrace old habits only to fight them off and stay principled would prove once and for all that Negan is a changed man, making his internal conflict crucial to his character arc.
The Walking Dead: Dead City
Cast
A spin-off/sequel of the dramatic horror series, The Walking Dead: Dead City follows two significant characters from the main series - Maggie and Negan.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is a television series that premiered on June 18, 2025. It follows Sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes, who awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. He embarks on a journey to locate his family, encountering various survivors amidst the chaos.
