Negan’s family has been physically absent, yet still an ever-present part of The Walking Dead: Dead City when it comes to his motivations and the progression of his storyline.
The bat-swinging former big bad, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, has spent a majority of the second season being coerced into doing The Dama’s (Lisa Emery) bidding after she dangled the not-so-subtle threat over his head that she’d not only discovered where his wife and child had been living, but that she’d sent for them to make the harrowing journey from Tennessee to New York.
Who is Negan’s family in The Walking Dead: Dead City?
Annie (Medina Senghore) was introduced as a member of the Riverbend group in The Walking Dead season 11. While the franchise has explored many relationships, from slow burns to whirlwind romances, Annie and Negan’s was one of the most sudden, as it was revealed soon after her introduction that they were already married and expecting a baby.
Dead City, which takes place several years after the series finale of the flagship show, confirmed that they now have a young son named Joshua.
Why is Negan separated from his family in Dead City?
Annie and Joshua were oddly nowhere to be seen in the first episode of Dead City. Negan traveled with only a teenage girl named Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) by his side, leaving fans wondering about his family’s fate. In "People Are a Resource," Negan confessed to Maggie (Lauren Cohan) that he’d been on the run from the New Babylon Federation for the past few years for killing five men who had robbed and beaten Annie when she’d gone into town alone to trade.
"It was very hard for Annie,” he said. “So, I put them on a wagon train to Missouri and I said I'd be right behind them.”
Ultimately, Negan stayed behind to keep Annie and Joshua safe.
Has Negan reunited with Annie and Joshua in Dead City season 2?
Although the second season has heavily revolved around the promise of their arrival in Manhattan, Negan has yet to properly reunite with his family one episode prior to the season finale.
The Croat (Željko Ivanek) informed Negan that Annie and Joshua were expected to join them the next day in “Bridge Partners Are Hard to Come by These Days." However, once Negan learned that Bruegel (Kim Coates) planned to betray him and stage an ambush, he had a decision to make. When they finally arrived, he got his first glimpse of his wife and child in years, but after a lingering look out of the window, he ordered them to be sent back to Tennessee without giving his family an explanation or even a chance to see him or speak with him first.
The following episode, “Novi Dan, Novi Pocetak,” once again teased a reunion when Negan was searching a hospital for antibiotics and experienced hallucinations. One of them was of his first wife, Lucille (Hilarie Burton Morgan), and another was of an emotional moment with Annie and Joshua.
It remains to be seen if Negan and his family will actually meet in person before the end of the season.
The season 2 finale of The Walking Dead: Dead City premieres on AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, June 22.