The Walking Dead: Why Negan Had To Kill Glenn

Years after the gruesome event on The Walking Dead, Glenn's death still ranks as one of the most shocking. Long-term comic fans knew The Walking Dead's Glenn's death was inevitable, but that didn't make it any easier. And thanks to some careful misdirection, when Glenn's death finally came, it gained even more impact, despite some major changes from the original Walking Dead comics. Initially, The Walking Dead had Negan kill Abraham instead of Glenn to throw off the comic book fans, which meant Glenn being yet another victim was a genuine shock. However, the truth is that there was no way Glenn was going to walk away from Negan alive. He had to die for several things to happen, including the beginnings of Maggie's tumultuous dynamic with Negan. Glenn also had to die to underscore the extent of the threat Negan posed. Yet when it comes to the scene itself, viewers may wonder why Negan killed Glenn after he'd already proved his point with Abraham. How & When Glenn Died In The Walking Dead: Show Vs. Comics Glenn Was The Only Member Of Rick's Group Killed In The Comics In the comics, specifically The Walking Dead #100, Negan and the Saviors had Rick and his allies at his mercy. To demonstrate the consequences of crossing the Saviors, Negan brutally executed Glenn by bashing his head in with his trademark weapon, Lucille. The TV version of the story headed in the same direction when the conflict with the Saviors in season 6 led to a direct confrontation with Negan. As in the comics, Negan picked his victim, whose identity was kept secret until the season 7 premiere. Negan's victim was revealed to be Abraham. So, with Abraham dead, it seemed Glenn was off the hook. Simply put, though, Negan killed Glenn because of Daryl, who retaliated in anger at Abraham's death. Daryl's outburst irritated Negan, prompting him to kill Glenn too. While The Walking Dead comic book series heavily influenced both the original TV series and the many Walking Dead spinoffs, the adaptations weren't afraid to change things up. The Walking Dead generally used the same story arcs as its source material, but kept viewers in suspense by killing off different characters. However, there was never a chance that this tendency would spare Glenn. Not long after the episode aired, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman explained that Glenn's Walking Dead death in the comics was far too important for him to be replaced with anyone else [via EW]. In other words, Negan killed Glenn because his death was the impetus for a larger storyline that still needed to happen in the show. All the way to The Walking Dead series finale and beyond, the respective story arcs of the remaining survivors were shaped by this particular tragedy. Glenn's Death Was Too Important A Catalyst For Future Stories Glenn Needed To Die To Move Maggie & Negan Forward Kirkman pointed to material in the comics related to Rick, Maggie, and Negan as the answer to why Negan killed Glenn. According to Kirkman, so much happened to these characters as a result of Negan's decision, which was why it was "essential" that he die in the season 7 premiere. It's true that, though any death would have affected Rick and the others, losing Glenn was particularly meaningful for Rick and Maggie. Glenn, who had been at Rick's side since season 1, had become his most trustworthy and dependable ally. Losing Glenn was a big blow for Walking Dead then-leading hero Rick Grimes, and it's what set up his story for Walking Dead seasons 7 and 8. Seeing Glenn meet such a horrendous fate is what fueled Rick's hatred and led to his revenge-driven crusade to end their servitude to Negan and the Saviors. Likewise, committing the said atrocity was essential for Negan himself to transform throughout the series. Glenn's Walking Dead death also had a similar, but longer-lasting impact on Maggie, who grew stronger and more determined. Glenn's death was a tragic but defining moment for Maggie. It made her strive to build a better society. It also meant that she was more likely to double-cross someone in the future if it meant protecting her family. Another character deeply impacted by this story was Daryl, and his role in all this was actually an addition made to the show, since Daryl doesn't exist in the Walking Dead comics. Daryl's guilt over Glenn haunted him through season 7 and resulted in a powerful, emotional scene with Maggie, who told him that she didn't blame him for what Negan did. So as sad as Glenn's death was, there's so much that wouldn't have happened if a different character had been killed in his place on The Walking Dead. Why Glenn's Death Was So Brutal Viewers Needed To Fear Negan Over All Others The brutality of Glenn's death in The Walking Dead, just like in the comics, was meant to be upsetting, not just because of the sheer gore, but because of what the character represents. Glenn actor, Steven Yeun, agreed that it was the physical and emotional combination of the scene that made it so darkly memorable. Here's what Yeun told CinemaBlend in an interview about his character's iconic death scene: "It was gory, but it wasn't any more gory than anything that we've shown before. I think what it was was just watching someone that you feel like you know getting killed that way, and getting killed in a way that was not like, 'Oh man, look at Noah getting ripped up,' which is gnarly, but it's just happening to him. Whereas, in this instance, it was just like, 'You could've stopped, but you're just gonna keep going, and you're gonna rub it in.' And that's probably where it felt like it was too much." Moreover, when looking at why Negan killed Glenn, it gave Walking Dead's Negan arguably the best story arc in the entire series, with the question of Negan's redemption remaining a point of contention among long-time viewers. Indeed, years after Glenn's death, its brutality remains cemented in audiences' minds. For better or worse, there's no doubt that Glenn's fate forever changed The Walking Dead. Killing Glenn Redefined Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Career Negan Helped Make Morgan A Major Star Arguably the character most impacted by Glenn's death was Negan himself. After the brutal execution, Negan was a wildcard that everyone hated and no one trusted. Yet as time went on, he slowly became one of the most important characters on the show. Thanks to the character complexity that followed, Negan killing Glenn redefined Jeffrey Dean Morgan's career. By killing Glenn, Negan became as important as anyone on the show, rivaling even Rick and Daryl. That was proven when Negan got a spin-off series of his own with Maggie. Morgan said if he could change anything, though, he wouldn't have killed Glenn (via Insider). "It changed my life. That one scene changed my life, literally, in so many ways. And I still get s*** for it. People remind me daily that Glenn was their favorite character." By becoming such a major character, Jeffrey Dean Morgan got something he had never experienced before in his career: the role of Negan became a long-term job commitment. Morgan portrayed one of the key characters on Supernatural, but he died pretty early on. He also got a role in the DCU as Bruce Wayne's dad, where he also ended up dying in a flashback scene. "I had a conversation with Scott [Gimple], and it was like, 'You gotta be on it for at least three years if you want to be a part of this show.' I was like, 'That seems like a long time,'" Morgan said. What Steven Yeun Said About Glenn's Death Yeun Felt Glenn Could Have Meant More Though Glenn’s death was something Walking Dead comic book fans expected, there was always the possibility that it wouldn’t happen in exactly the same way the comics depicted it. When it came to Glenn, however, Steven Yeun’s story wasn’t all that drastically different throughout his time on the show. As the emotional heart of the team and an image of goodness in the apocalyptic setting, his role as Glenn served the same purpose in the show as it did in the comics. It’s that role as a symbol that sometimes frustrated Yeun. Yeun thought that the show could have done more with Glenn as a multifaceted individual instead of propping the character up as an archetype. He said of his time on the show: I felt like I was servicing a concept of goodness as opposed to engaging with Glenn’s humanity. The result there, when seeing a character as a symbol instead of as a flawed human being, is that the actor playing the character wasn’t necessarily given as much to dig into for their role. It meant that Glenn was frequently seen as the moral compass, the one to warn characters of the darkness, instead of getting to provide a human characterization with more depth and nuance. Characters like Carol, on the other hand, got the opportunity to experience growth and change from a timid, abused wife to someone who could walk through a crowd with a knife and use it without blinking. It was a gradual and fascinating transformation that made Carol a one-of-a-kind character. Yeun’s statement about “servicing a concept of goodness” is what made many fans disappointed by Glenn’s death. While he was likable, fans wanted to see more done with the character before his time came to an end in The Walking Dead. Glenn's Death Marked A Turning Point For The Walking Dead This Moment Changed The Dynamics Of The Series Glenn's death was a huge moment on The Walking Dead. It was meant to show that anyone could die, and it was done so horrifically that no one would forget it. However, the moment also had a lasting impression in other ways. Glenn's death in The Walking Dead season 7 was a turning point for the show, and not necessarily a positive one. For five seasons in a row, The Walking Dead averaged over 10 million viewers per episode. In season 8, that number dropped dramatically to 7.92 million, almost 3.5 million fewer per episode than in season 7. Over three million people stopped watching The Walking Dead after Glenn's brutal death. It never recovered. The next season dropped to five million, and the last two seasons only had a little over two million people watching on average. There are several reasons for the drop in viewership, but the added brutality and the gruesome death of a beloved fan favorite likely drove away many fans. Yet as viewership declined, The Walking Dead's story took on new life. Negan became a huge fan favorite when his redemption story started. This even led to more dramatic moments when he and Maggie had to work together in the final season against the Commonwealth. In The Walking Dead: Dead City, Maggie finally got revenge against Negan, paying off this long-running story and proving that Glenn's death still has a purpose all these years later. Did Glenn's Death Go Too Far? The Walking Dead Understood How Impactful The Moment Truly Was Glenn died in The Walking Dead season 7 premiere "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be", which aired over a decade ago in October 2016. However, despite so many years passing since the infamous moment, there is still intense debate around it. To say that Glenn's death in TWD was controversial is an understatement, as evidenced by the sharp decline in viewership. It's worth noting that, at the time, Glenn wasn't just a fan favorite Walking Dead character, but the fan favorite as far as many were concerned. This is a key reason why Glenn's death was so impactful compared to Abraham's, who also met the same fate at the same moment. It's also the reason that many fans thought Glenn's death was a Walking Dead scene that went too far. Of all the characters Negan could have killed, the showrunners went with the one many felt was irreplaceable. There's also, of course, the fact that Glenn's death was depicted in an incredibly gruesome way. Glenn's face was shown after every strike from Lucille, with no holds barred when it came to showing the gory results. This was one of several TWD moments, such as Lori being eaten by the bloated walker, that many felt showed a little too much. The Walking Dead is an action-horror series, but there are many who prefer the action to the horror aspects. It was always controversial when the series leaned more into the horror side of its tone, and for many, the death of Glenn was one of the worst such instances. Of course, in true controversial fashion, it should also be noted that there are just as many fans who loved when The Walking Dead didn't hold back and reminded viewers that zombies belong to horror as a genre. Still, the debate around whether Glenn's death went too far has somewhat been nullified by everything else that happened in The Walking Dead afterward. Even going into The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3, Glenn's death is still being discussed in-universe. He's never been an afterthought or forgotten. The moment remains perhaps the most essential in the character development of both Maggie and Negan, showing that it was just as traumatizing for the characters in-universe as it was for viewers. With this in mind, it's difficult to claim that Glenn's death in The Walking Dead was truly favoring shock over substance. Release Date 2010 - 2022-00-00 Network AMC Showrunner Frank Darabont, Angela Kang, Scott M. Gimple, Glen Mazzara Cast Norman Reedus Daryl Dixon Melissa McBride Carol Peletier Based on one of the most successful and popular comic books of all time, AMC’s The Walking Dead captures the ongoing human drama following a global zombie apocalypse.