The Walking Dead panel: Who let Negan out of his cell?

Negan was gone from his cell in Alexandria at the end of The Walking Dead episode 1004, but who was it who actually freed him from his prison?

Fans of The Walking Dead have seen a major change in Negan since his introduction in the season 6 finale. Since then, he has lost the Saviors, been locked up in Alexandria, and protected both Judith and Lydia.

However, his recent accident involving Margo has him in deep water. With the group in Alexandria trying to determine his fate for accidentally killing her, someone freed him from his cell and he escaped.

But who is it that would have let him out of the cell? And what would their motivation be? We asked our The Walking Dead panel and got some replies!

Sara L. says

Honestly, the only thing I feel sure of is that it wasn’t Lydia. She may have admitted but part of me thinks with how much Negan has cared for her so far that he wouldn’t want to get her in trouble. Brandon is seen meeting up with him in the sneak peeks, which made me assume him until I heard the comment he made that it took him a while to catch him. If Brandon let him out then I feel he could have easily followed.

So since I’m really at a loss here, I’m going to swing big. Let me put on my tin foil hat. Siddiq is paranoid and out of his mind, he spoke passionately for Negan’s side during the trial they had. He went to Negan and told him he thinks they might vote to kill him, so he is letting him free and he wants him to kill as many whisperers as he can.

Joe says

To me, Brandon is the most likely suspect to have let Negan escape. He was the one in charge of watching over the former Savior leader, so he would be the one who could most easily get away with helping Negan sneak out. Additionally, while the situation here in season 10 is very different from the comics, Brandon does help free Negan in that medium, so I would not be shocked to see that show up on the screen as well.

Jeffrey says

I believe Brandon was the one that let Negan out of his cell. He is the one that is directly responsible for guarding Negan, so even if he isn’t the one that lets him out, he is still responsible. Brandon would have prime access to release Negan and get him out of Alexandria without suspicion. I feel as though Brandon may have done this to protect Negan from the mob of the angry Alexandrians that want revenge for the death of Margo and the other crimes committed by Negan when he was the leader of the Saviors.

Renee says

I initially thought it was Lydia since he saved her. Then I thought perhaps F. Gabriel but most likely Brandon since he was watching him. Brandon has spent the most time with him and had probably seen the transformation in him. Perhaps he thought he deserved to be released especially since he saved Lydia.

Adam says

Seeing Brandon in the woods with Negan in the previews sure does point the finger at him. However, I’m not sold that he was the one to actually open the cell and let the former leader of the Saviors out, even if he does track him down once he is released.

Having Gabriel open the cell makes sense. He’s hoping the other people from the committee will change their minds, but he’s not willing to gamble someone’s life on it. With Negan saving Judith and coming to Lydia’s aide, he sees progress…likely enough to give him another shot even if others don’t.

Who do you think let Negan out of his cell in last week’s episode of The Walking Dead? And why would someone do that to him while he was awaiting judgment in Alexandria? Let us know in the comments section!