The Walking Dead: Dead City will return to AMC and AMC+ beginning May 4. The series' second season looks full of excitement as things heat up in the battle for Manhattan. Several characters will return in season 2, including The Croat, a former Savior portrayed by Željko Ivanek. Was the Croat featured in the main series?
Dead City greatly expands The Walking Dead universe by moving the setting of this story to the streets of post-apcalyptic Manhattan. Here, viewers were reintroduced to Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), former enemies turned allies, as they planned to rescue Maggie's son Hershel (Logan Kim), who had been abducted.
Warning: Spoilers for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 1 ahead.
Their search led them to Manhattan, where gangs run rampant as there are no longer any laws to govern them. Maggie's son was abducted by the Croat leader of one gang, the Burazi, who viewers learn was a former member of Negan's Saviors.
The Croat's primary motive in abducting the boy was to offer Maggie a trade, Negan, for her son. To Maggie, this seemed a win-win situation as she had no love for Negan, who brutally killed her husband and Hershel's father, Glenn (Steven Yeun).
Dead City season 1, episode 4, "Everybody Wins a Prize"
The Croat originally met up with Negan early after the outbreak after he lost his family and was in a very low place. Negan took him in and he became a vital member of the group.
Negan eventually discovered that the Croat was a loose canon who had no place in his organization after he disobeyed direct orders not to torture and murder a young girl. Negan's attempt to kill the Croat failed, with only his ear being shot, allowing him to escape.
These events predated the Savior's introduction in TWD series, so the Croat never appeared in the main series.
The story of the Croat's time with the Saviors was featured in a flashback during the fourth episode of season 1 of Dead City, "Everybody Wins a Prize." This episode also featured a cameo appearance of Simon, a Savior portrayed by Steven Ogg in TWD.
This episode reveals the tension between the Croat and Simon, two men vying to be second to Negan within the group. Simon informs Negan of the Croat's brutal torture and murder of the young girl, who was a scout from the Kingdom, which was too much brutality for even Negan to stomach. Negan tried to kill him, but the bullet only grazed his ear, unlike Simon, whose betrayal would later find him a walker on Negan's fence.
In Dead City's present timeline, Negan was traded to the Croat by Maggie and introduced to the Dama (Lisa Emery), who wasn't sure if the man the Croat described was real. She was pleased to see that he was captured and blackmailed him into joining her plan to take over the gangs of Manhattan. She ensured his involvement by threatening Maggie's son, who she already took the pinky toe of when he was in their capture.
The second season will see Negan returning to his Savior roots where he will join the Dama and the Croat in the battle for control of Manhattan. Is this the true nature of Negan coming out or is it only a show to protect Hershel?
The Walking Dead: Dead City returns to AMC and AMC+ beginning May 4, at 9 p.m. EST.