The season finale of The Walking Dead: Dead City takes a big step in the story of Maggie and Negan.
In this episode called “If History Were A Conflagration,” we witness Maggie and Negan's standoff in a tense moment reflecting Negan's past violence, after he first lines up two prisoners, Bruegel and Armstrong, which I think felt very similar for fans of The Walking Dead.
However, what happens this time is different. As Maggie watches Negan set up as if to choose who lives or dies. In the end, he kills Bruegel, but this time uses a new method involving methane gas. Still haunted by Negan's history of violence, Maggie aims to kill him but falters at the last moment. Ultimately, Maggie gives him the knife and lets him do what he wants to. This suggests that while Maggie is not forgiving him, she no longer seeks revenge.
Throughout the scene, both characters are pushed to the edge. Negan struggles with returning to the kind of person he used to be, while Maggie confronts the emotional weight of all they’ve been through. The episode shows that they’ve changed—but not so much that they’ll ever be close friends.
Following everything that transpired, Maggie and Negan come to a fragile truce. In the last scene, their words share a unified sentiment suggesting that they will proceed in a forward direction—together by some measure and with some tension. They say there is only one way forward and that is side by side. While they are not fighting anymore, it is not reconciliation in the fullness.
Executive producer Scott M. Gimple characterized their "relationship" as one of "détente," in other words, a kind of peace that does not erase the past. Maggie acknowledges to Negan, that had things gone differently, she would have killed him. That level of honesty is a clear indication of how deeply her wound runs, even now.
Negan does not regress entirely, although he gets very close, especially when he picks up his old weapon. He did not choose that path. It was progress, even if not fully rehabilitated.
With the threat of New Babylon lurking, it now remains for Maggie and Negan to face a new threat together. Their friendship exists on slippery footing, and most likely will be tested in forthcoming episodes, leaving viewers wondering what is next for both characters.
Image Source: ew.com
