Danger for moral compasses in the Walking Dead Universe
One thing is true between The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead: Being the show’s moral compass is a death sentence. (Spoilers for Fear the Walking Dead 301 and 302)
Fear the Walking Dead is very similar to its companion show The Walking Dead in many ways, but one of the most prevalent similarities is that it does not pay to be the Jimminy Cricket of the group. (Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the season 3 premiere yet — you have been warned!)
When we watched Travis Manawa fight the Infected in the pits, it was like he was a new man. Gone was the man who always tried to broker peace and find peaceful solutions to problems. Gone was the man who hesitated and struggled prior to accepting that this was the zombie apocalypse and the old rules don’t apply anymore. Travis was finally on board with what was happening and the future of the Manawa-Clark family looked a lot better than it did previously.
And then Travis died.
While we probably should have seen Travis’ death coming given that Cliff Curtis signed on for the Avatar sequels, the fact is that characters who serve as moral compasses in the Walking Dead Universe don’t tend to fare well. They tend to die. A lot.
Fear the Walking Dead only has two seasons and change under its belt, but you might consider Strand’s beloved partner Thomas Abigail to be one of the show’s moral compasses (at least for Strand), and he’s dead. So is Travis.
With seven seasons in the bag, The Walking Dead has an even longer list: Dale, Hershel, Beth, Glenn, Sasha. Those are just the main moral compasses. Almost every character that has played the role of moral compass has died. Maggie is one of the lone exceptions to this rule. She’s still going strong with no signs of going anywhere.
Moral compasses are to the Walking Dead Universe what redshirts are in the world of Star Trek. They tend to die with alarming regularity.
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- Will Morgan Jones find Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live spinoff?
- Watch Tales of TWD actress Jillian Bell in Prime Video’s Candy Cane Lane
As Fear the Walking Dead continues its third season, keep an eye out for the next moral compass and be sure not to get too attached because history always repeats itself.