The Walking Dead: Negan’s expression says it all about Simon
There was no denying the look on Negan’s face upon learning that Simon had wiped out the Scavengers on The Walking Dead. This changes everything.
Negan used to have a very calculated life in the world of The Walking Dead until Rick Grimes showed up and ruined all of it. His lieutenants might have gotten a little greedy every now and then, perhaps upon discovering a cache of booze, but everyone was Negan and life was good at the Sanctuary. Until now.
Ever since Negan returned from his stint in the storage
unit he suspected something was off with Simon, and he assumed Rick’s rage was caused by Carl’s death. But as soon as Negan learned what happened to the Scavengers, he knew what happened and who did it, and he knew that there would be game-changing implications. He could talk until he was blue in the face, but no one was going to believe that he didn’t order the slaughter.
But there’s more to it. Now that Negan knows he has been betrayed, everyone is suspect. No one can be trusted in his inner circles because it would have taken manpower to take out the Scavengers, so Simon wasn’t acting alone.
The problem, of course, lies in the fact that after Negan was attacked by Rick, he was kidnapped by Jadis and now his people think he’s dead. Simon (and Dwight) has made a case for their leader being dead and gone, so no one is looking for him and once again Simon has a chance to play the part of the leader until Negan returns.
Until now, Negan has been in control of the Saviors with no one there to challenge him. Without knowing who he can trust, Negan has an uphill battle in front of him. No one is looking for him, and by the time he gets back the damage will be done. Slaughtering the Scavengers is already a huge problem, but Simon is dangerously unpredictable and hell-bent on revenge and there’s no telling how far he’ll go while Negan is gone. In fact, it might be too late to rein him in at this point and Negan knows it.
Next: The Walking Dead 812 recap: The Key
The story will continue on the next episode of The Walking Dead, which airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.