Negan's Latest Move in 'The Walking Dead: Dead City' Is Further Proof He Regrets What He Did to Glenn

For all the blood and gore The Walking Dead is known for, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) still managed to make waves when he sauntered in and crushed the skull of fan-favorite Glenn (Steven Yeun). Since then, he's miraculously redeemed himself and become a beloved character himself, even earning his own spin-off show, The Walking Dead: Dead City, alongside Glenn's vengeful widow, Maggie (Lauren Cohan). Even though Maggie still finds him irredeemable and certainly doesn't believe him when he says he regrets the loss he caused her, Dead City Season 2, Episode 2 further proves that he does.

Despite the two being separated this season, with Maggie being drafted by New Babylon and Negan being imprisoned in Manhattan, their paths momentarily collide, which is when his actions demonstrate his remorse. In the episode, he directly saves her son, Hershel's (Logan Kim), life and subsequently risks (and eventually, incurs) the wrath of his current captor, the Dama (Lisa Emery). As such, we don't only see proof of Negan's regret, but the price he has to pay because of it, which is a critical turning point in his arc.

Negan Saves Hershel in Season 2 of 'The Walking Dead: Dead City'

Dead City Season 2, Episode 2 sees Hershel sneaking onto the alleged exploratory mission that his mother was drafted on by New Babylon, a powerful community that has subjugated the one Maggie leads. They need to take a boat journey to reach Manhattan, but Maggie's warnings about the Croat (Željko Ivanek) knowing they are coming go unheard, leading the troops right into the Croat's trap. What she doesn't suspect is that it is Negan leading the defense, who is now a puppet on the Dama's strings. However, this fact is also what saves Hershel and Maggie's lives, as Negan delays firing at the boat when he spies Hershel trying to escape through a telescope. He waits for the boy to reach safety before calling for the next attack.

The fact that Negan even saved Hershel's life indicates his regret in multiple ways. For one, he doesn't want to cause more loss to Maggie. In a way, Hershel is an extension of Glenn, which is a reminder of Negan's previous actions. It's Morgan's performance in these brief moments that speaks volumes. Negan had suggested making a show of defending Manhattan to further dissuade the invaders and encourage the other groups to join their cause. Hence, Morgan taps into the old, boisterous Negan as the character bellows orders and laughs at the results. But when Negan sees Hershel, Morgan catches his breath, nervously glancing around and barely whispering to his friend to wait. It is a charged moment where we are unsure what Negan is about to do — considering his new role in Manhattan — but by ultimately stalling, he proves he still has some sort of loyalty to Hershel and thus, the remorseful words he once said to Maggie.

'The Walking Dead' Uses Negan's Soft Spot for Children Against Him

During The Walking Dead, we found out that Negan had a soft spot for children, as he gradually cultivated an unexpected friendship with Carl (Chandler Riggs). The latter even wrote Negan a letter when he found out he was dying, almost putting the former villain at the same level of importance as Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), the other letter-receiver. Negan would also later go on to form a tentative friendship with Rick's other child, Judith (Cailey Fleming). Dead City reiterated this personality trait in Season 1 when we found out the reason he exiled the Croat from the Sanctuary and even tried to kill him was because the Croat tortured a young girl in order to get information out of her. Negan may be cruel, but even he has limits.

Using Hershel as a vehicle for Negan's regret is ironically fitting. Arguably, Negan could have just chosen to save Hershel due to this ethical boundary he has, but it also feels like he has some sort of responsibility towards the child. After killing his father and spending a season searching for Hershel with Maggie, it feels like Negan has developed the need to look out for him. Additionally, in Season 11 of The Walking Dead, Negan did admit that if he had the chance to do everything all over again, he would kill them all, but since has insisted that he does feel remorse for taking Maggie's husband away from her. This can be extended to him regretting taking Hershel's father away from him. As such, between his soft spot for children and this remorse, Hershel just becomes the perfect painful reminder of Negan's past.

How Will Negan's Decision Impact Him in 'The Walking Dead: Dead City'?

However, the cost of Negan's remorse may have been more than he bargained for, as the Dama realizes that he hesitated to save someone's life and punishes him for it. In the Season 2 premiere, we find out that over the year of his imprisonment, Negan had formed a tentative friendship with his jailer, Victor (Logan Schmucker). In this episode, their bond blossoms when Victor plays Bach on the violin, the same song he plays when the Dama kills him in front of Negan as the latter's punishment. Even though they weren't traditional or even really close friends, it is still a harrowing sight for Negan as he becomes the cause of another innocent person's death.

This complicates Negan's arc in Dead City, even more so than the fact that he brings back his old, performative and brutal ways. While Negan never trusted the Dama or Croat, he was slowly getting used to working with them to defend the city's methane production process. But this vicious act further alienates him from their goal and the rest of the army, as he is unlikely to form another bond with anyone else in case they use it against him again. This alienation, on top of the trauma of witnessing his "friend" die, could go a few different ways for Negan's arc: he could either be more likely to rebel against the Dama and be more motivated to help Hershel and Maggie with their mission, or it could break him further, driving him towards the old heartless Negan that helped him survive. As such, the stakes just rose for Negan, as Episode 2 firmly convinces us of his guilt over his past, which ends up leading to a turning point for him in Dead City.