Did Negan already know about Alexandria?

When Rick and the gang arrived in Alexandria, the town seemed ultra secluded. Now, between Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and the Sanctuary, there goes the neighborhood.

The Walking Dead moves between periods of migration and periods of settling. The group settled on Hershel’s farm, they settled at the prison, and they settled in at Alexandria. As they moved from place to place, there was a great deal of time on the road. What strikes me as odd is that when the group arrived in Alexandria, it seemed like the little piece of paradise was smack dab in the middle of nowhere. Aaron and Spencer went out on runs to find new people to bring back to the community. At no point did anyone in Alexandria utter the words “Hilltop,” “Sanctuary,” “Wolves,” “Kingdom,” or “Negan.” So why all of a sudden does it seem like Alexandria was in a little bubble this whole time?

We see in the season preview that Negan comes knocking on the door at Alexandria. We know that he demands his tribute from the Kingdom. We have seen how much influence he has at the Hilltop. How is it possible that Negan didn’t have any influence in Alexandria?

There are a couple of interesting questions to consider here.

Is it possible that no one knew that Alexandria was there? It wasn’t exactly hidden, and the amount of time it would have taken to build the walls around the town suggests that the community didn’t pop up overnight. In fact, the other colonies seem to be in the same boat. Without having a dedicated map of the area, it seems like the colonies are established enough to have crossed paths at some point or another.

One point came up that maybe Negan didn’t feel like Alexandria could offer him anything. That’s possible, but what will really cement this idea is when we see the Sanctuary for the first time. If Negan’s community is better than Alexandria, then it makes sense that Alexandria wouldn’t offer him anything. My suspicion is that Alexandria has way too much to offer in terms of self-sustaining power sources and nice houses and a big wall, making it a valuable commodity. Could it be that Negan knew about Alexandria but was keeping it in his back pocket?

In the past few episodes of The Walking Dead it seems like there’s this crowded neighborhood in the area around Alexandria. It seems like Negan has influence in all of these areas. So why is it that he wasn’t asking for payment from Alexandria?

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.

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