The Walking Dead: Are the Scavengers more dangerous than the Saviors?

Is it possible that The Walking Dead has two sets of villains? Are the Scavengers just as bad as the Saviors?

The Scavengers have a habit of taking what they want. Jadis said it herself in “New Best Friends” when she said that they don’t fight for things, they take them. They asked for guns, Rick brought them 63 guns, and Jadis says they want more. Is it possible that the Scavengers might be just as bad as the Saviors?

We don’t know anything about the Scavengers. They don’t appear in the comics so they are completely new territory as far as fans are concerned. We know for a fact that the Saviors are bad guys, but what do we really know about the Scavengers?

Are the Scavengers Turncoats?

Let’s start by looking at the guns. Jadis told Rick her group would fight with them if he brought them guns. He brought guns, and then she said she wanted more. Who’s to say she won’t keep asking for things? What would happen if someone came along in the interim and offered the Scavengers more stuff? Would Jadis go with the side that offers the best/most stuff?

What concerns me here is that Jadis and her people really don’t have any need to fight the Saviors, but they are motivated by things they don’t have, or things they want more of. They seem to know a lot about the area because they had been watching the boat full of supplies for a while, and they were upset when Rick and Aaron came and raided it. So are they loyal to people they make deals with, or are they playing along in order to have other people bring them things?

Based on what we know of the Scavengers, their loyalty only seems to be to themselves. If that’s the case, how much can Rick trust them to fight his battle? (Especially considering that they have many more weapons now than Rick does)

The Scavengers and Saviors Seem To Have Competing Interests

Since you can see the Sanctuary from Up Up Up it stands to reason that Jadis and the Scavengers are, at the very least, aware of the Saviors. We’ve already discussed the idea that the Scavengers could be loyal only to themselves, and they might offer their help to other groups only to take what they want in the end.

The Scavengers and the Saviors, then have competing interests. They both want stuff from people, and they expect payment. Obviously this makes it easy to justify the Scavengers going to war against the Saviors; the Saviors are causing other groups to take stuff that the Scavengers wanted for themselves (as in the jars and guns on the boat), so putting a stop to the Saviors would end up benefitting the Scavengers in the end.

Could the Scavengers Be Worse than the Saviors?

Greg Nicotero gave fans some key insight into Winslow’s identity during Walker Stalker London. Winslow was someone who made a play for power against Jadis, and he lost. Not only did he die, but he was made into Full Metal Walker. That’s like a double punishment. We don’t know how he lost his life, but what if they have similar punishments to Negan’s iron?

Next: Who is Winslow?

We also know from Pollyanna McIntosh’s appearance on Talking Dead that she had been informed of Winslow’s story, which signifies that this story means something deeper to the overall plot.

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My guess is that if Jadis and the Scavengers are capable of that kind of punishment toward one of their own, they might not be as friendly as Rick thinks. After all, these are the people who stalked Alexandria and stole all of the food in the middle of the night, and they also took Father Gabriel prisoner.

The Scavengers don’t have any boundaries, and they take what they want when they want it. That makes them very similar to the Saviors, but unlike the Saviors they don’t seem to follow any rules. They do as they please. This is what might make them more dangerous than the Saviors.

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