Yahoo Movies Walking Dead: Is it the end for Negan in season 8 finale?
A new trailer for The Walking Dead Season 8 finale is online here and it teases what is likely to be the final battle with the Saviors. Rick and the Hilltop crew are ready and waiting for Negan’s last assault. But will this really be the end of Negan?
The trailer reveals Rosita, Daryl and Carol emerging from the gates of Hilltop, ready for a fight. Ezekiel, Morgan, Jerry and Jesus march behind them, followed by Rick and Michonne. Morgan certainly sounds ready for it all to be over when he tells Rick ‘let’s just finish this’.
Eugene is still lurking around with Negan, making bullets, and even pointing a gun at poor old Father Gabriel. It looks like Gabriel’s attempt to make a run for it may not be entirely successful.
Also, I know times are tough in the zombie apocalypse, but surely somebody could make Negan a better target for practice. The trailer shows Negan having to make do with a frankly rubbish pile of hay and a t-shirt with the word Rick scribbled on it. Come on Saviors, you can do better than that.
Is it the end?
It looks like it will definitely be the end for some characters. Morgan is jumping ship to Fear the Walking Dead. Dwight doesn’t look like he’ll make it out of the next episode. I’m still worried about Lauren Cohan having not signed a contract to appear in season 9 too. And what if Danai Gurira gets too busy to return now she’s a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? So many possibilities for dying characters. It could be a bloodbath.
The comics
If you haven’t read the comics, you may not want to read any further as there are some spoilers coming up right now. What worries is me is what happens to Negan at the end of the war in the comics. Negan does not die. Rick takes him prisoner.
The show has been setting this turn of events up. They killed off Carl (unlike the comics) who had recently decided to become a pacifist. That left Rick with a moral quandary. Carl doesn’t want Rick to keep killing. Carl wants Rick to trust people more. Carl even reached out to Negan to try and make him see some sense.
The final showdown
The more people that die in the showdown, the less likely it is that Rick will spare Negan’s life. So although it has been hinted that season 9 is a new beginning, it could still feature Negan as a prisoner. We’ve had those strange flash-forward dream sequences with gardening Negan so it looks like a strong possibility.
Showrunner Scott Gimple told Entertainment Weekly “The war will absolutely be resolved by the end of season 8”. So the war will be resolved, but does that mean it will actually be the end of Negan? Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s schedule is looking pretty clear on IMDb, and he recently gave two middle fingers up to anyone who wants Negan dead.
That surely means there’s life in the old dog still. What do you think? Will Negan make it out of season 8 alive?
