The Walking Dead: Is Maggie Set to Become the Show’s Best Villain Yet?

This post contains spoilers for the Walking Dead Season 8 finale, “Wrath.”

On Sunday night, as promised, the war on the Saviors finally came to an end—and, thankfully for Rick and his allies, Negan’s attempt at deceit didn’t pan out. But as the zombie drama heads into its ninth season, is there another threat lingering in the shadows—one Rick doesn’t see coming? It sure looks like Maggie could become the series’s best villain yet.

The Saviors had Rick surrounded—but little did they know, Eugene had sabotaged all their bullets. That allowed the allied communities an easy defeat over the Saviors, who quickly surrendered. Rick chased down Negan and, just like he did in the comics (comics spoiler), he slit his enemy’s throat—but not deeply enough to kill him. Instead, following Carl’s admonition to establish peace, Rick instantly ordered Siddiq, a doctor, to save Negan. “There has to be something after,” Rick told an inconsolable Maggie, echoing Carl’s dying words. All in all, it was a pretty flawless victory, and no major character died. But as fans know, one original player will be leaving the series, at least for now—although, thankfully, he didn’t get killed off. As he makes his exit for Fear the Walking Dead, Morgan has simply withdrawn from the group, taking up residence instead in the Scavengers’ old junkyard.

The episode began with Siddiq letting Rick know exactly how Carl died: “paying respects to a woman he never knew,” Siddiq’s mother. Earlier this season, Carl’s plea to his father to show mercy to his enemies didn’t seem to sink in, but as Rick asked Siddiq to save Negan, it became clear those words actually did have an impact. Meanwhile, Morgan continued to face a struggle of his own: the perpetual feeling that he will never die, but will instead remain stuck, forced to watch everyone he loves die. Morgan, who for a long time operated as an agent of nonviolence, has found himself in a conundrum: does he kill to protect those he loves, perpetuating the cycle of death, or does he do nothing, condemning those he loves to the same fate? “We are worse than we were,“ Morgan told Rick on the way to the final battle. “Me and you. We are.” But Jesus proposed a new approach, a happy medium of sorts: “I have a simple proposal,” he said. “Something to try.” He gestured toward the sharp end of Morgan’s aikido staff. “This end for the dead.” And then the smooth end: “This end for the living.”

“Things will get better,” Jesus insisted. Apparently, however, Morgan was not convinced. In the end, he paid the dumpster dweller Jadis (Anne, she revealed, is her real name) a visit—extending her an invitation from Rick to join the new community and taking her place in the junkyard. When she asked if he was coming back with her, Morgan simply said, “I can’t. I can’t.”

So, where does that leave Rick and the group? Still in pretty good shape—but with one major, ominous catch. The Saviors who Maggie held prisoner in the Hilltop Colony turned out to be good allies, as she admitted to Jesus toward the end of the episode. But as far as she and Daryl are concerned, letting Negan live was a mistake. “Rick was wrong to do what he did,” Maggie told Jesus. “Michonne, too. So we’re gonna bide our time, wait for our moment, and then we’re gonna show him.”

Maggie’s motivation is more than understandable; Negan murdered her husband right in front of her with a baseball bat, and waged a merciless war against their community. But Rick’s decision brings with it hope for something better—the utopian future his son envisioned, in which there’s law and order but also community and harmony. Former enemies working side by side for the common good. A real society. As Rick told a hospitalized Negan, his decision had nothing to do with going soft on him—quite the contrary.

“You’re gonna be evidence that we’re making a civilization,” Rick told Negan. “Something like what we had. Something we’re gonna get back . . . You alive is gonna help show people that things have changed. Keeping you breathing earns another way—a better way. That’s the part you’ll play.”

If Maggie and Daryl stage a coup, they could undo that effort and undermine any sort of future in which enemies are able to live side by side. It would be a fascinating trajectory for a character who, so far, has withstood a great deal without going considerably dark. But given that Lauren Cohan has yet to re-sign her contract, that narrative arc is still a major variable. There is reportedly news on that front, and chances are Cohan will stay, but it’s not a guarantee. If Cohan does return, however, it seems likely she’ll do so with a massive pay bump—because as things seem now, the future of this entire drama rests in her hands.

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