As a girl who's been a fan of The Walking Dead pretty much since the beginning, I've always wanted to see certain characters in a relationship. Sometimes they happened, while other times, they didn’t, but either way, I was a happy duckling because if you can find love in the apocalypse, you can find it anywhere.
With that said, that better not be the case for Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
I say this because people have actually started shipping them in The Walking Dead: Dead City. Like, they fully devoted a lot of their time and effort to connecting the dots to show their connection. And I must say, are we watching the same show?
There are so many reasons these two should not be together — aside from the obvious that he killed her former husband, Glenn (Steven Yeun). Brutally, might I add. But if that’s not enough for you, here are the reasons they absolutely would not work as a couple.
Negan is far too rash for Maggie
Yes, Maggie has made some split-second harsh decisions in the past, and she has killed people suddenly. She is nowhere near Negan's volatility, and she never has been. This was a huge talking point in season 3.
Renata (Aimee Garcia) specifically told Maggie time and time again that he was a caged dog that was waiting for the chance to bite someone because he’s just a violent man. And while he has used his violence to help Maggie, I think some of his decisions would throw her off, even then.
He thinks far too much about how to take out threats instead of finding a more effective way to deal with them. Sure, in a world like this, that can help, but sometimes you really do need to think and find that middle ground, and I don’t think he’s quite there yet. Maybe over time he might be, but right now? It’s too much.
His connections to the past would come back to haunt her
Negan also isn’t necessarily a great guy. He has grown, sure. Season 3 saw a return to Negan’s classic attitude but with a slightly more complex moral outlook. But he’s still done some pretty awful things to people that would surely catch up to Maggie, her son, and any loved ones she might have.
If these two somehow got together in some alternate reality, I have a feeling someone from Negan’s past might threaten her or her son. I mean, that was a huge reason why Negan ended up turning his old wife, Annie (Medina Senghore), and his actual biological son away when they were brought to New York, because he didn’t want them to get hurt because of him.
Maggie can certainly protect herself, but I wouldn't risk it with this man, knowing what he's done in the past.
The age difference is quite a lot to overcome
Look, I understand age is just a number, and the world is dying, and God knows there have been so many heartbreaking deaths in this show that you might not even care about how old someone is. You might look for love where you can find it, but the age difference between Negan and Maggie is pretty significant.
While the show doesn’t state their ages explicitly, we can use context clues. Maggie was in her early 20s in season 2, and now it’s been about 16 to 18 years into the apocalypse in Dead City, which puts her in her late thirties/early forties. Negan was reportedly in his late 30s/early 40s when the world turned, so he’d most likely be in his late 50s/early 60s now.
Yes, people have gotten together with that much of an age difference, but that doesn’t really make it right, even if they are older and mature. It just feels off to me.
Maggie has shown interest in someone else
The biggest reason I think we have to acknowledge is that Maggie has actively shown interest in someone else in the show — Luis (Raul Castillo). Maybe not to his face, but we’ve seen that she’s nice to him, and she had a whole visualization of what it would be like to kiss him — the first instance that she’s had any romantic feelings toward anyone. It was a great change to her character.
That relationship is easy to see because he has not only trained her son in medical practice and medicine but has also helped her countless times. He’s a genuinely kind person. And if that happened, I’d be happy for her.
That moment only proves that she and Negan shouldn't become a thing. If anything, Negan should go off and find someone else who fits him better and molds well into the world he’s living in. But I could never imagine him with her, especially when she’s already thought of someone else romantically.
While we don’t have a renewal for season 4 yet, it’s fun to think about what might happen, as long as it’s nothing romantic between these two. If you have to catch up, you can watch Dead City on AMC+.
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