The Walking Dead: Richard got the death he wanted but not the way he expected
By Sonya Iryna
Richard had a lot of potential on The Walking Dead but his desire to get The Kingdom involved in Rick’s war against Negan and The Saviors led to his downfall.
Richard got his wish to be a martyr for The Kingdom, although not the way he wanted. He wanted The Saviors to kill him in order to force King Ezekiel to fight back. But instead he got Benjamin killed. His reckless actions didn’t just affect him. His selfish plan to make himself a martyr could have gotten even more innocent people killed. So ultimately Richard got what he deserved when Morgan killed him.
Although it was hard to see Morgan kill someone he respected Richard probably felt like it was the right thing that Morgan would be the one to kill him. No matter how it went down Richard had no plans to leave that drop with The Saviors alive.
That’s why he dug his own grave and put his daughter’s backpack in it so that the only thing he had left of her would be buried with him. But in his conversations with Daryl and with Morgan it was clear that Richard was getting more and more desperate to force a confrontation between King Ezekiel and Gavin.
For the last several drops he’s been deliberately trying to start fights with The Saviors. He planned to attack them on the road and frame Carol. He figured that because King Ezekiel respects and cares about Carol if The Saviors killed her King Ezekiel would finally fight them.
When Daryl ruined that plan he decided that he would be the one to die. As long as it would get The Kingdom to fight he felt like his death would have some meaning. But did it?
Richard’s Descent Into Despair
Richard lost a lot. But his losses weren’t greater than any of the other people that he knew. He lost his family. He lost his daughter. Carol also lost her daughter. But instead of allowing that guilt and sadness and emptiness to overwhelm her Carol become a fighter. She fought to live over and over again. And now even though again she’s lost people that she loved she’s ready to fight.
Richard was not strong enough to overcome the trauma of his losses. He couldn’t bear to see The Kingdom fall to The Saviors. He didn’t want to see the people of The Kingdom struggling to pay their way under Negan’s Draconian rule. And he couldn’t stand to see any more people he cared about die.
But that’s the way life goes in that world. It’s unpredictable. It’s short. And it’s never guaranteed. Richard was too fragile to face the possibility of The Kingdom falling apart or being destroyed. He wasn’t cut out to live in The Walking Dead world.
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Richard got the death he deserved. Morgan killing him for his role in getting Benjamin killed was a fitting way for Richard to go out. It’s sad that he wasn’t strong enough to survive but The Kingdom is better off now. He was putting all the residents of The Kingdom at risk with his schemes to get King Ezekiel to agree to fight with Rick