Remembering two of the fiercest Fear the Walking Dead parents

Travis Manawa and Madison Clark shall forever be known as two of the fiercest Fear the Walking Dead parents who lived – and died – for their kids.

From the moment fans met Travis Manawa and Madison Clark in Fear the Walking Dead it was clear that for these two parents everything was about their kids. As educators they shared a natural inclination toward protecting kids, but as the leaders of their blended family as soon as the world started to collapse the only thing on their minds was protecting their kids.

Madison already faced an uphill battle keeping her kids safe. Nick was detoxing as the world ended and Alicia was resentful of how much attention her wayward brother captured. Travis’ son Chris was a reluctant member of the Manawa-Clark clan, and his sentiments were exacerbated as soon as he lost his mother to the dead. That’s when he started to become unhinged.

Madison’s instinct was to defend Alicia from Chris’ increasingly unstable behavior, and as a loving parent Travis opted to sacrifice his relationship to help his son. Ultimately Travis couldn’t save Chris, and he was utterly devastated to learn that Chris had died. Later on, when we lost Travis, his loss was bittersweet knowing he was finally reunited with his son and ex-wife.

Thankfully, Madison never had to suffer the loss of a child. She died protecting her children at the ballpark, valiantly holding off a swarm of the dead to give them time to escape. There is absolutely no question that had she been alive when Nick was killed she would have been destroyed by his death. Madison’s entire focus had been on keeping her kids safe, and that goes double for vulnerable Nick. Making it so far into the apocalypse only to lose him would have killed her.

Travis and Madison lived – and died – for their kids. It was hard to lose them both (though we technically never saw their bodies) but at the same time it’s hard to imagine having them around knowing how much the loss of their children would hurt them.

Both Travis and Madison, the fiercest of Fear the Walking Dead parents, deserve to be remembered for their endless love and devotion to their kids.