The Walking Dead franchise has seen a lot of beginnings throughout its time as well as a lot of endings. It's what happens when you've been around for a long time and few franchises can compete with the TWD Universe when it comes to longevity. The original Walking Dead series ran for 11 seasons before spinning off further shows (after already spawning three spinoffs throughout its run) designed to carry on the overarching stories via some of the main characters.
As a result of that, some of the legendary show's long-running storylines got the chance to continue in a new series while others got a more definitive chance to wrap up (Rick Grimes and Michonne's arcs concluding in The Ones Who Live was the perfect example of that). And now, one of the TWD Universe's most enduring stories has done the latter, ending a long-standing era for the legendary franchise.
Maggie and Negan officially end their feud in Dead City season 3
Maggie Rhee is one of the longest-standing characters in the TWD Universe, having been a part of the franchise since the second season of The Walking Dead, but character journey completely changed years into that run. In season 7, Negan made his debut and brutally killed Maggie's husband Glenn right in front of her, starting a bitter feud that saw Maggie become The Widow, vowing to take him down. In the season 3 finale of spinoff The Walking Dead: Dead City, she officially laid that feud to rest when she told Negan that he's one of the only people she has left.
Negan, who was planning to sacrifice himself to protect Maggie and her son, was confronted by the very woman who once wanted to kill him. Although they had transitioned into uneasy allies over the years, it was here that Maggie made it official: She has moved past what he did, even if she can never forgive him. She also added that, like it or not, they are connected forever and she will never be able to shake him; aside from her son Hershel, she considers him the closest thing to family that she has got left. The comments made Negan emotional before he agreed. And, together, they defeated Dillard and saved New York City once again.
It was a controversial scene that really highlights how complex the pair's unique relationship is, but it comes after years of intense hatred, a lust for revenge, acknowledgement of some growth, uneasy allies and, eventually, an unlikely friendship. And despite how odd that scene will undoubtedly seem to longtime fans who stopped watching the franchise after The Walking Dead ended back in 2022, it was what Dead City needed to do in order to move forward. This is something that both Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan believed, with both pushing for it to finally happen in season 3.
See, after the original series ended, three new TWD Universe spinoffs arrived to carry on the story. Unlike previous offshoots, these weren't prequels or companions; they were sequels designed to move the story of the legendary franchise forward. And yet, of the three (Dead City, Daryl Dixon, and The Ones Who Live), it was the Maggie and Negan one that felt like it was stuck in the past.
Although Maggie emotionally acknowledged that Negan had changed in the series finale of the original series and that she could never forgive him despite that, their eventual spinoff ended up retracing much of their story - going backwards to add the doubts about Negan's true motivations back in. That ultimately set the show up to fail because, while Maggie would absolutely be sceptical and vengeful towards Negan in real life, as a TV show it undid the progress that the original series had made.
Remember, The Walking Dead showed us that Negan was capable of redemption (after spending years imprisoned at the hands of Rick Grimes, showing remorse for his heinous actions and offering his services to protect Alexandria. Maggie saw that and she spared him, ultimately becoming an uneasy ally in the fights against the Whisperers and the Commonwealth. While it was always fine for Dead City to go a little backwards to highlight Maggie's uneasiness of having to team up with him again in New York City, it spent far too long stuck in the past. And that's why the season 3 reset was necessary.
Set well into the future, the dynamic between Maggie and Negan was noticeably different. They got on like friends without really acknowledging their past. Although multiple people pointed out to Maggie that Negan was still capable of monstrous actions, his defense was that he was willing to do anything to protect her - because he felt guilty after all that he had done to her. In the final episode of season 3, she told him that he has caused her so much pain but that she has officially moved past it.
There is no denying that having Maggie and Negan enter their apparent friendship era is controversial and it's completely understandable that fans are on the fence about it. But it's also important to note that this creative decision - and the storytelling leading up to it - allowed Dead City to have what is easily its best season. And with the pair now officially leaving their dark history in the past, season 4 may be even stronger. We just need AMC to officially renew it now!
Dead City has ended a 9-year chapter for the TWD Universe, bringing an era of television to a close once and for all. Now it can move into the future.
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