Fear The Walking Dead Theory: Is Troy REALLY the bad guy?

By all appearances, Troy is going to become the villain in the second half of season three of Fear The Walking Dead, but…is he?

If you watch the San Diego Comic-Con trailer for the second half of Season Three of Fear The Walking Dead, you could easily get the impression that Troy is going to become the main villain. In fact, the second title card reads “Know your enemy”, followed immediately by a shot of Troy standing alone. It certainly seems like we’re being made to think he’s the villain.

But…is he?

Sure, he certainly could become the villain (Hell, some might argue that he already has been since the season started), but, I’m not so quick to assume that.

Why? Well, the clues are in the trailer themselves, really. Let me show you what I mean…

Troy and Nick

Something that’s tough to miss in many parts of the trailer is the apparent strengthening relationship between Nick and Troy. They’re together in several scenes (Often with the rest of the Broke Jaw militia), there’s even a scene of Troy saving Nick from an attacker inside Jeremiah’s house (At about one minute, two seconds in).

If Troy is supposed to be the villain, then, he’s going to be something of an ambiguous one. With the pair apparently becoming closer (Dare I even say “friends”?), would Nick go along with removing or exiling Troy from the ranch? I don’t think so.

What’s more, between Troy apparently protecting Nick, the pair getting closer as Nick becomes more involved in the militia, and Troy’s warning to Nick that the whole ranch is about to be “obliterated” (At about one minute, thirty-seven seconds in), it looks like Troy is still trying to protect the ranch. If he were the villain, why would he be trying to protect the ranch? Why would he be trying to protect Nick?

If so…he’d be a very odd villain.

Now, I imagine you might be thinking that, if Troy isn’t the villain in the second half of the season, then…who is? And what about that clear confrontation between Troy and Madison?

Well, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure who the villain(s) might be. But, I do have an idea: Qaletaqa.

Theory: Is Qaletaqa the bad guy?

Let me begin by saying that I like Qaletaqa Walker as a character. He’s clearly a man who still has a conscience. When Alicia told him that their attack in “The New Frontier” killed Travis — Who had nothing to do with his feud with Jeremiah — it clearly bothered him. Qaletaqa didn’t want collateral damage, he just wanted The Founders.

That said, we also saw (At about forty-eight seconds in) a fight breaking out as the ranch begins to run desperately low on water.

What does this have to do with everything?

Well, while Qaletaqa may want peace, at this early stage, his first priority is still going to be his tribe, which makes perfect sense. It is, therefore, not too far of a stretch to assume that, in light of the dwindling water supply, Qaletaqa may feel there’s no choice but to take the ranch by force, to cut down on the number of people using the water.

If that theory doesn’t suit you, let’s try this one: At about two minutes and twelve seconds in, Qaletaqa accuses Madison of lying to him. This is followed by a shot of Nick trapped inside some kind of cell.

Maybe Madison promised to get rid of Troy (In that aforementioned conversation) and either failed, or was stopped by Nick, perhaps not wanting to hurt his new friend. This, in turn, may have caused Qaletaqa to grow angry and lash out, perhaps resulting in Nick’s imprisonment.

However, after seeing the trailer, I’m not entirely convinced that either Troy or Qaletaqa are going to be the villain of the latter half of Season Three.

Theory: Desperation creates dissension?

Earlier, I mentioned how the shortage of water could, hypothetically, cause Qaletaqa to choose his tribe over this new peace established at the ranch. Well, what if I have that mixed up? What if Qaletaqa is determined to hold the peace together, yet, a faction of his tribe…is not?

From about two minutes into the trailer to about two minutes five seconds, there is a clear battle going on at the ranch, with Qaletaqa getting Madison out of dodge.

Furthermore, judging by the lighting, the scene I mentioned earlier (Of Troy protecting Nick) seems to take place at the same time, immediately after Troy is heard expressing his concerns about the tribe betraying the ranch to the militia. Granted, these obviously take place at different times, but, regardless, the possibility is there.

But, why? If a faction of the tribe goes rogue, why would they do it? I can’t be sure, though there’s certainly several possibilities for the cause.

With supplies being so limited, maybe someone thought Qaletaqa should have just taken the water?

Or, perhaps, some in Black Hat didn’t want peace, and resent Qaletaqa for doing so. As we learned with Shane in The Walking Dead, even if a leader of a group wants peace, that doesn’t mean that everyone in their group does.

It’s entirely possible that, while most of Qaletaqa’s tribe respects him, it may only take one decision they dislike to cause their confidence in him as leader to falter. Once that happens, it’s easy for an absence of confidence in leadership to cascade into full-blown dissent. At that point, anything can happen.

Do these theories hold water? Maybe not, but, one thing’s for sure: What I saw in that trailer, did not convince me that Troy is truly the bad guy. I think we’re just made to think he is.

Next: The Walking Dead, Survival Rule Of The Week: Leave your hangups behind

So, that is my latest Fear The Walking Dead Theory. What do you think? Do you think Troy will become the primary villain in the back half of this season? What about Qaletaqa? Will he be that devoted to peace considering his history with the Otto family? What about someone else? Be it a rogue faction of either community or even a third party the trailer cleverly hid from us? Let me know in the comments!

And, if you like this and want to read more of my writings, specifically about how to survive a zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can get it on Kindle here and on iTunes here!