9 Years After The Walking Dead Killed Glenn, Negan Is Turning Glenn's Son Into A Villain

Nine years after The Walking Dead killed off Glenn, Negan is turning Glenn's son, Hershel, into a villain as The Walking Dead: Dead City continues. Dead City season 2 has been giving a larger focus to Hershel, Glenn and Maggie's son. Born in the original Walking Dead series, Hershel never met his father, who was killed at the start of season 7 by Negan. While the antagonist later went through a reformation arc, his tension with Maggie has been ever-present, even over a decade later in The Walking Dead's timeline.

This tension was a key factor in season 1, when the Croat kidnapped Hershel, demanding that Maggie bring Negan to Manhattan in exchange for her son. She complied because of her mistrusting relationship with the former villain. However, despite every other character in Dead City having taken a clear side, Hershel's sided with both Manhattan and the New Babylon Federation since his return. Season 2 has shown he holds some loyalty to his former kidnappers, something that's directly tied to Negan's role in the story. It explains his evolution as a character, while also hinting at a potentially villainous future.

Maggie's Obsession With Negan Has Ruined Her Relationship With Hershel

Maggie & Hershel Aren't Close & It's All Because Of What Negan Did

Negan has played a direct role in Maggie and Hershel's relationship, explaining why the mother-son pair aren't very close. Throughout the original series, Maggie continually questioned the idea of Negan's reformation, to the point where she grew obsessed with what he'd done to Glenn. The Walking Dead series finale seemed to bring their conflict to a resolution, though, as she explained she would accept that he was reformed, but that she could never forgive him for what he'd done. However, Dead City revealed this obsession continued long after their final conversation in the original show.

Hershel himself acknowledges this at the end of Dead City season 1, criticizing Maggie for her years-long grudge over Negan killing Glenn. He doesn't feel a deep connection to his mother because of this, since it appears she's been more concerned about what happened to her husband than giving proper attention to her son. Negan killing Glenn has caused generational effects, as the grief and anger Maggie feels has ruined her relationship with Hershel. This years-long obsession also makes it more difficult for her to break away from it.

This is part of why she became so concerned about Hershel's drawings of the Dama and New York. She doesn't know who the true leader of Manhattan is yet, but knows Hershel is lying when he says she's a woman he saw on a billboard. These drawings are part of that rift, as season 2 establishes early on that he's harboring secrets about his time in Manhattan. If Negan hadn't tarnished the relationship between him and Maggie, then perhaps he would have been more honest about his drawings and what really happened to him when he was being held captive.

Negan's Connection To The Dama Has Accidentally Led Hershel Astray

Hershel Trusts Her More Than He Does Maggie

Dead City season 2, episode 3 revealed that, despite being held captive, Hershel was given relative freedom by the Dama. She allowed him to draw and even let him out of his prison cell so he'd be able to sketch the Manhattan skyline. Their conversations together reflected how she seemingly cared for him, providing him with a maternal affection it seems Maggie never truly gave him. While it's clear the Dama was manipulating him to turn him into a mole within the New Babylon Federation, it was behavior that resonated with him because he'd never been treated that way before.

This is what leads him to make a smoke signal in season 2, episode 2, warning the Dama that New Babylon is planning a scouting mission to Manhattan. In turn, Negan and the Croat bomb their boat with methane-filled zombies, forcing them onto a life raft and killing the group's leader, Charlie Byrd, in the process. The group gets stranded in Central Park because of Hershel's choices. However, he's not entirely to blame, either; had Negan not been of interest to the Dama, the young boy wouldn't have gotten caught up in the war for the city.

Negan's connection to the Dama is what led Hershel to get captured by her, turning him against his own mother in the process. This makes the former antagonist somewhat responsible for what's happened to him, as the history he shares with Maggie dragged her into the conflict revolving around Manhattan. It's a domino effect that's leading Glenn's son down a path that could make him the next big antagonist of the show, especially now that he's directly betrayed his mother. If he continues growing closer to the Dama, then, at some point, it could be too late to save him.

Negan Really Wants To Protect & Help Hershel In The Walking Dead

Negan Cares For Glenn's Son & Clearly Wants To Make Amends

Despite being the reason for the rift between Maggie and Hershel, Negan still wants to help her son. His motives are influenced by his morality, that killing children is wrong, and by hopes to make amends for his past misdeeds. This is why he protects Hershel by killing a member of the Burazi in season 2, episode 3, secretly betraying the group while maintaining his cover. Hershel clearly has mixed emotions about this, shooting at Negan with his gun but not hitting him. He later vanishes, leaving the young boy to be rescued by the Foragers.

However, unlike Maggie, Negan doesn't know that Glenn's son is now in league with the Dama, and that the pair share a similar vision of Manhattan's future. The work he's trying to do to protect him is going to need to take a drastic turn in the future, especially now that he's helping the Dama with uniting the people of Manhattan against New Babylon. His approach will need to be one that doesn't drive the boy to her side even more. If that happens, then Maggie and Hershel likely have no chance of repairing their broken relationship.

Negan played an important and tragic role in Hershel's current character arc, something that could make him The Walking Dead: Dead City's next villain if he doesn't see how he's been manipulated. But this will require major changes for multiple characters, including Negan being more direct in his betraying the Dama, and Maggie finally letting go of the past. If figures other than the Dama won't direct Hershel onto a path for a better future, then Negan may have accidentally turned him into a major threat.

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City air Sundays on AMC and AMC+.