Walking Dead: Dead City flashback reveals truth of Hershel’s kidnapping
By Renee Hansen
When AMC announced a Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) spinoff, fans wondered what could possibly happen to bring these long-time enemies together. It was speculated that the only thing that would force Maggie to seek Negan’s help is something to do with her son, and this speculation was correct. But the story Maggie had been telling wasn’t the whole truth. In episode 5 of Dead City, the truth of the kidnapping and Maggie’s betrayal was revealed.
This article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Dead City, episode 5, “Stories We Tell Ourselves.”
This episode featured a flashback to the night that The Croat (Željko Ivanek) and his Burazi came to The Bricks, Maggie’s new home. When she told Negan the story, she stated that The Croat raided her community, took all of the grain, and abducted Hershel (Logan Kim) with the promise he would return for more food.
The reason Maggie sought out Negan’s help was that The Croat was a former member of his Saviors. Maggie became aware of this through the telltale whistle familiar to her as it was what she heard before meeting Negan for the first time. She believed Negan would be familiar with the workings of The Croat giving them insight to rescue Hershel.
There were signs that Maggie might not being telling the whole truth, the one most obvious was the man checking the grain bin at The Bricks when Nina (Pallavi Sastry) was showing Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) around. Why would he check an empty bin? This was also suspicious to Ginny, who before leaving the Bricks for Manhattan, checked to find it was full of grain.
The Walking Dead: Dead City – Maggie betrayal
When Ginny hears Maggie lies about the grain and after they come upon the Walker King, Ginny runs off and writes LIAR in blood on the wall of the sewer. This let’s Maggie know that Ginny is aware of her lies. This is what brought back the memories of Hershel’s abduction as Maggie is crawling through the sewer tunnels, hoping to catch up to Ginny before she can find Negan and ruin the plan.
The flashback shows the Burazi manhandling Herhsel who is yelling for his mom, while Maggie runs towards him screaming his name. Next, The Croat appears and hands Maggie the wanted poster with Negan’s likeness. This is where viewers learn that Maggie always planned to hand Negan over in exchange for her son.
This was a shock to some viewers but others knew something was up. Maggie has always done whatever she needs to in order to protect her son. He is her only remaining family member and her child with Glenn (Steven Yeun), any mother would do the same.
The episode ends with Ginny safely exiting the sewers and shooting off a flare, a tactic she was likely taught by Negan, who sees the flare.
The season finale of Dead City airs on July 23. It will be interesting to see what happens between Maggie and Negan in the end.
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