Our favorite moments from The Walking Dead season 8

Rick Spares Negan

Season 8, Episode 16 “Wrath”

Joe says:

Throughout most of All Out War between the Saviors and the other communities, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) was deadset on making sure Negan (Jeffery Dean Morgan) and his group were killed for what they had done to Rick and his friends. All that changed, however, when Carl (Chandler Riggs) pleaded for his father to end the war peacefully as his dying wish.

While Rick’s decision ultimately made sense in the end, it was still difficult to see the reaction of some people when he made it. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) was a big player in All Out War, essentially leading Hilltop while seeking vengeance on the man that killed her husband Glenn (Steven Yeun). When she realized that Rick wanted to save Negan rather than let him die, she could not handle it, tearfully screaming, “No! No! He killed Glenn!” This was heartbreaking to watch, as Maggie was never able to fully get revenge for Glenn. While she eventually comes to terms with the decision after seeing Negan’s sorry state in season 9, it was tough to see her break down like that.

I personally went through a similar journey to Rick when he heard his son’s wishes. At first, Rick was apprehensive, telling Negan that he was still going to kill him despite what Carl said. He eventually came around though, realizing that Carl’s desire for people to stand together in the “new world” was the right way to think.

My immediate thought when Rick told Siddiq (Avi Nash) to save Negan was that he was making a mistake. Negan’s actions led to the deaths of Glenn, Abraham, Sasha, and countless others! Eventually, however, I realized that by saving Negan, Rick can prove that the remaining survivors need to keep their humanity and work together in order to survive. There are already frighteningly few people left in the world thanks to the walker threat; there’s no need to make their job easier by killing each other.

The choice was difficult, but Rick did what he thought was best in order to honor his son’s vision of a better world for everybody.

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