The Walking Dead’s Sonequa Martin-Green On Tyreese’s Troubles

Things sure have changed a lot for The Walking Dead’s Tyreese since he was introduced in season 4.  He was a soft hearted man who didn’t ever want to cause a fuss, even in the zombie apocalypse.  He lost the love of his life, had see the killing of Mika, and he risked his life to protect Judith.

Still, being a nice guy isn’t always the best idea in a world full of so much death and destruction.  There are times when you just have to buckle down and do what you need to ensure the safety and security of yourself, your friends, and your family.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sonequa Martin-Green talked about what is going on in Tyreese’s head.  Martin-Green plays Sasha, Tyreese’s sister on The Walking Dead.  Here’s what she had to say:

"“He is very troubled right now, and it would seem that it’s going to get worse. Tyreese, who put Bob down, took a brief pause from where he had been living for a moment. He refused to kill, and he was living in that place for a while because he needed to be more adamant about holding on to humanity. He realized in the moment that Sasha needed him and that is humanity. It’s the true essence of it — helping those you love and stepping in where they fall. On one hand, it could really trouble him and come back to haunt him; but on the other hand, it could satisfy him, in a way, knowing what he did for her. We’ll see how that plays out.”"

Martin-Green makes some great points.  Tyreese has been all over the place mentally lately.  First, he showed a lot of strength protecting Mika, Lizzie, and Judith in the woods.  Then, he couldn’t put Lizzie out of her misery and had Carol do it.  After that, he couldn’t kill the walkers attacking him and Carol on their way to the cabin.  Next, Carol left to go save the group at Terminus without Tyreese, who stayed behind to watch baby Judith.  While there, he massacred a small group of walkers who attacked him outside the cabin and then still failed to kill Martin, the man who tried sending him to his death and threatened baby Judith.

One of the biggest surprises in the most recent episode is that Tyreese was the one to put the knife through Bob’s head after he passed away.  The fact that he was able to do this shows progress in his mental ability to understand that death is an essential part of survival in the universe of The Walking Dead.

So, what do you think?  Was Tyreese’s mercy kill of Bob the step that he needed to get his mind right?  Or was that just a one time event that he did so that his sister wouldn’t have to?  Or will it come back to haunt him mentally?  Discuss it in the comments below.