The Walking Dead: Maggie’s bold decision blurs the lines

The Background

When Rick and his group first arrived at the Hilltop they met Gregory and quickly realized that he was about as sleazy a leader as they come. Gregory’s self-interests, namely his own survival, were paramount to everything else. He was ready to reveal Maggie and Sasha to Simon during one of Simon’s visits. He showed up at the Sanctuary to clear his name with Negan and to establish that it was Maggie who messed up the situation at the Hilltop. (For what it’s worth, Negan was smart enough to know that Gregory was a fool, but he played along with it)

Maggie’s ascension to power at the Hilltop began as soon as the Hilltop residents started to see that they could fight back against their oppressors. Rick and Maggie inspired them to fight even though they didn’t necessarily have a reason to get involved in All Out War. Most Hilltop residents agreed that Maggie’s leadership was much better than Gregory’s and that fighting Negan would allow them to keep their crops and supplies for themselves.

When Gregory appeared with Negan at the Sanctuary, Negan called out to the Hilltop residents who were fighting and said that they needed to follow their leader, at which point Jesus uttered the now-famous “The Hilltop stands with Maggie” line.

Suddenly, Maggie was the leader of the Hilltop.

At some point during the 18 month time jump there was an election at the Hilltop and Maggie was elected as the leader. Try as he might, Gregory wanted people to believe that the election was rigged and that’s one of the arguments he used to trick a grief-stricken Earl to attack Maggie.

Fast forward to the end of “A New Beginning.” Earl has been captured and locked up, and Gregory has a noose around his neck. Soon enough, he’s hanging from the makeshift gallows.