Walking Dead: Dead City revisits the Sanctuary, Simon returns

The Walking Dead: Dead City’s fourth episode, “Everybody Wins a Prize,” begins with a trip down memory lane back to the Sanctuary, home of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his Saviors. Dead City’s villain, The Croat (Željko Ivanek), is a former Savior, and this episode reveals his truly dark side; the flashback also sees the return of Simon, played by Steven Ogg.

This article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Dead City “Everybody Wins a Prize.” 

Dead City’s first episode revealed that Maggie (Lauren Cohan) encountered a former associate of Negan’s, The Croat, who raided the new Hilltop location of their grain. She knew he was a member of Negan’s former group, the Saviors, from the telltale whistle The Croat used. This was first heard a moment before she met Negan for the first time in the scene, known as Negan’s Line-up. The Croat also took something more precious to Maggie than the much-needed grain, her son Hershel (Logan Kim).

Negan would eventually reveal to Maggie how dangerous and twisted The Croat is by telling her of the incident that would see The Croat separated from the Saviors. In episode 4, viewers watch more of what occurred to see The Croat and Negan become enemies.

The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 4 – return to the Sanctuary

The Croat’s job, while with the Saviors, was that of torturer. Negan told the story to Maggie of a young girl that The Croat interrogated and brutally tortured to get information.

“Everybody Wins a Prize” begins with a flashback of the days when Negan ruled supreme over the Saviors with his trusty Lucille at his side. Simon enters to tell “Neegs” of a problem they have with The Croat and his methods.

The Croat is proud to tell Negan his torture methods worked on a young girl who would confess to being sent to spy on the Sanctuary by King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) of the Kingdom. Simon reminds him that Negan gave a direct order to let her walk, and The Croat disobeyed. Viewers then see the brutally beaten dead body of the young girl.

There is obvious tension between Simon and The Croat, and Simon calls him “A Slavic, psychopathic nutjob.” Coming from someone who can oftentimes go off the rails as Simon is quite the statement.

This is where it gets interesting; Simon berates The Croat for killing a kid. He states that kids are a line they don’t cross. But it is well known that Simon oversaw the slaughter at Oceanside, where he ordered all males 10 and above killed. He was also one to blatantly disregard Negan’s direct orders, another item he berates The Croat for.

Negan is silent throughout this conversation. And from his previous conversation with Maggie in Dead City, viewers know this will lead to forcing The Croat out of the group and shooting at him, resulting in The Croat losing his ear.

It was widely known that Steven Ogg was seen on set, and fans hoped for a Savior’s flashback. It was an important scene to show what extreme measures The Croat will go to. The worrisome part about this is that he isn’t opposed to harming children and still has Hershel as a captive.

With only two episodes remaining, season 1 of Dead City is quickly drawing to a close.

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