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

Was Gregory’s Death Justified?

From the audience’s perspective, Gregory’s death was absolutely justified. He’s been a thorn in Maggie’s side since the very beginning, and after Negan was captured and Simon was killed he found himself desperate to gain a following that would both keep him alive and return him to power. Gregory needed to go, without question.

The problem comes in how his death came about.

Maggie was elected the leader of the Hilltop, but from the sound of things it wasn’t unanimous. That means that some people still wanted Gregory in his former leadership position. Michonne has been working to develop a charter for the communities to follow, a document with rules that will help guide and govern the different groups as they continue to grow.

The decision to kill Gregory came directly from Maggie. While Gregory didn’t attack her, Maggie blamed him for orchestrating the whole thing. Earl, the man who actually attacked her, would remain locked up while Gregory would be put to death.

As the audience, we have been privvy to a lot of details about Gregory that make it easy to explain why he needed to go. He and Maggie have had multiple interactions that would justify his death. Having a traitorous fiend like Gregory around is like leaving a ticking time bomb sitting around. Eventually he’ll do something.

The residents of the Hilltop, by contrast, haven’t been able to see all of the nefarious things Gregory has done. Some might know more than others, but to the uninformed it looks a lot like Maggie had a grudge and she killed him because she wanted him gone.

It’s those optics that pose a problem for Maggie’s future.