Daryl Dixon’s top 5 shining moments on The Walking Dead

He’s Daryl not Negan

After being fed literal dog food sandwiches, forced to be stripped of his clothing and then dressed in dirty sweats, beaten and locked in a cell while one of the most annoyingly catchy songs plays on repeat Daryl was forced to make a choice.

Confident that Dwight had broken Daryl down Negan believed he would readily join his Saviors which would mean good food, clothing and pretty nice room to himself. After a dramatic pause Daryl’s answer was not what Negan wanted to hear and thus he was tossed back into his cell.

In truth, Daryl did carry a heavy weight of guilt believing he was at fault for Glenn’s death. He wanted to be punished.

He was unable to cope with the fact a close friend and soon-to-be father was killed by a brute with a bat. Daryl did make the point to Dwight that he didn’t have anyone at The Sanctuary to protect which means everyone he was protecting was back at Alexandria.

In truth, Daryl’s disobedience could have backfired and Negan could have punished his friends. Instead, Daryl became Negan’s sole focus until his escape.

Negan did provide a pretty generous setup that perhaps someone else would have jumped at the opportunity to have. Life at The Sanctuary wasn’t great for those who were not Saviors.

This moment proved an earlier point that no matter how beaten down Daryl would become he would not break. The continued torture fueled Daryl’s need for revenge which proved to be a deadly weapon in All Out War.