There are similarities between Rick’s friend-turned-villain Shane and Negan’s traitor/right-hand man Simon on AMC’s The Walking Dead.
If there is one thing Rick Grimes and Negan have in common is that they have pretty bad luck when it comes to best friends and sometimes allies. All Out War during The Walking Dead promised fans just that: all-out war where no one was safe.
Not even Negan was completely safe. Unfortunately for him, Simon was just one of the links that broke the chain leading to his eventual downfall in a massive battle in the final episode of season 8.
Rick had barely survived the end of season 2 when Shane pulled a similar stunt proving that keeping your friends close and your enemies closer can be a real challenge when they are the same individual.
How do the betrayals of Simon and Shane compare when observing the scope of the big picture of The Walking Dead? Let’s take a closer look at some of the similarities between the companions and enemies of Rick and Negan.
Friends until the end?
Rick and Shane were best friends before the end of the world. When the end began Shane risked his life trying to retrieve Rick from the hospital to no avail and rescued Lori and Carl.
Perhaps Shane took his duties too seriously as he and Lori began a secret relationship just in time for Rick to return.
The secret, Lori’s unwillingness to choose Shane over Rick and Rick’s rise as leader created a crack that no amount of caulk could fix. Top it off with endless tragedies like Carl getting shot and Sophia’s disappearance, Shane felt Rick was unfit to lead and at the point of desperation to kill him.
Simon and Negan were ideally just as tight. The show gave audiences a little exposition on how they worked together to seize the future site of The Sanctuary.
Their respect for each other was what got Simon his powerful position as Negan’s right-hand man. Even though Simon slipped up and murdered all the men from Oceanside, Negan forgave him.
Negan even bestowed Simon several locations and men to lead including the task of dealing with The Hilltop. We saw times where Simon flexed this power abrasively, which might have suggested that maybe he’s not obeying Negan’s orders one hundred percent of the time.
But the more Simon disagreed with what Negan was doing the more dangerous he became. Simon’s plan of taking The Sanctuary for himself started with leaving Negan for dead hoping either walkers would feast upon him or that he’d die from his wounds.
By looking to others Negan wronged, like Dwight, Simon hoped to gain momentum after attacking The Hilltop. When Negan returned Simon’s only option was to kill the man himself.
The End
Rick and Shane were all alone in the middle of a field in the dark of night. With no witnesses, Shane had the perfect setup.
It didn’t take long for Rick to discover Shane’s true intentions for bringing him out there. The realization nearly brought him to tears.
Unhinged, pointing a gun in Rick’s face, Shane had one shot in the hopes that with Rick gone he’d be the leader, he’d have Lori back and he’d be a father for Carl and the unborn child. Rick’s tactic was calm.
Rick tried to coax Shane into lowering his gun while he unsheathed a knife from his waist. Rick promised, “There is still a way back from this. We’re gonna walk back to the farm, together. Put this all behind us.”
His ploy worked, trying to reach for the gun and stab Shane to death in the process. As Shane lay dying Rick screamed, “This was you not me! This was you not me! Not me!”
When Shane took his last breath Rick wailed in anger and heartache for having to kill the one person he trusted the most before and after the collapse of society. This was easily one of the hardest things Rick ever had to do on The Walking Dead to date and still breaks hearts.
Simon gathered “like-minded people” outside of The Sanctuary to discuss how it was for the benefit of The Sanctuary and their survival that they kill Negan. Unfortunately for Simon, Dwight warned Negan, who was already waiting behind a dumpster.
Negan is amused that Simon would go through all the effort to try to take The Sanctuary for himself. Instead of killing him with Lucille on the spot, in true Negan fashion, he makes a spectacle of the situation.
Grinning ear to ear Negan spoke, “But after all this and me being me I’m still gonna give you your shot. You wanna be the man you gotta beat the man.”
The two men grappled before a large crowd of remaining Saviors. All eyes silently watching their leader and the right-hand man battle with fists until Negan gets the upper hand.
Strangling Simon to death Negan spewed with venom, “You got Saviors killed and then you ran away like a coward! Those people, they’re always gonna know that there’s a loophole.
They’re always going to be looking for that chance to push back so now I got to kill all of them, just like I gotta to kill you!”
Upon Simon’s death, the room remained quiet as Negan panted, out of breath, out of patience, “What an asshole”.
The Aftermath
After Shane’s death, Carl arrived. Just in time to save Rick from walker Shane. Rick had little time to explain when hordes of walkers made their way into the farm and the group scattered.
It wasn’t until those who survived reunited, with the exception of Andrea, that Rick made two revelations. He told Lori the truth about Shane and then told the group about everyone being infected.
Rick’s anguish over killing Shane quickly turned to anger at Lori’s reaction. She looked at Rick in pure horror.
That look truly impacted Rick, ending the group’s democracy and turned it into the famously now known, Ricktatorship. For a short time after Shane’s death, Rick hallucinated seeing him at Woodbury while rescuing Maggie and Glenn and imagined hearing his voice on a disconnected phone at the prison after Lori died.
Judith remains to be a constant reminder of Shane. However, that does not limit the amount of love Rick has for her.
Negan shifted gears almost immediately after killing Simon. Allowing Simon to turn, the new walker was added to the fence along as Negan focused on killing Rick.
Though he looked on at walker Simon with utter disappointment he hadn’t taken the time to mourn the loss. Jumping into battle one final time, Negan lost to Rick and is spending his time locked up at Alexandria.
Maybe we will see if Negan reflects on Simon and maybe we won’t.
The Bottom Line
Both betrayals, though brutal, made Rick and Negan stronger. They both came out of it alive and wiser, but possibly less trusting of those who have already established a relationship within their ranks.
Even after losing Shane, Rick was able to form close bonds to Daryl and Glenn, making Glenn’s death and Daryl’s recent rebellious nature all the more tragic. Whom Negan will take a liking to next remains to be seen but will be interesting to watch develop.
Negan was growing fond of Carl. Perhaps if Carl was still alive a friendship might have grown during his imprisonment. Even with the surprise twists The Walking Dead throws around, it pays to have allies in the apocalypse.
No one wants to be surviving alone. And certainly, no one wants to be alone when enemies make themselves known.
Next: Top 100 moments from 100 episodes of The Walking Dead
Do you see the similarities between Simon and Shane when it comes to their roles on The Walking Dead? Do you think their end helped or hurt Negan and Rick or hurt their ability to be an effective leader? Let us know in the comments section below.