Why Negan Kills [SPOILER] In The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 Episode 2 Explained By Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Published Aug 3, 2026, 11:14 AM EDT Nick Bythrow is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant. He has been writing for the site since September 2022. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2022, where he triple majored in Journalism, Communications, and Media Studies. When he's not writing about TV and movies for ScreenRant and his blog, Frayed Branches, Nick is penning speculative fiction and poetry on Amazon. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts. Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3, episode 2!Negan kills again. The Walking Dead: Dead City star Jeffrey Dean Morgan has explained the reason behind Negan killing a major character in season 3, episode 2. Dead City season 3 has seen many major developments unfold as the show switches gears, focusing more on Maggie and her attempt to create a sustainable community in Manhattan. However, this is threatened by the Dama, who the group captured without knowing precisely what to do with her. Negan makes a decision behind everyone's back, going into her cell and killing her with a knife Maggie gave her should she have chosen to die. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Morgan unpacked Negan's decision to kill the Dama in Dead City season 3, episode 2, explaining his perspective on the threat she posed to Maggie's new community. While Negan has become more docile by living life with Dillard in his bar, the Dama posing a threat to both Maggie and Hershel makes him decide he needs to act. For him, the threat she poses to the future of the community is clear, and even though his former enemy can't see it, he can: Negan has kind of closed himself off from what Maggie has been up to and this new group of people. And he has Dillard, and his bar, and his liquor, and his video games, and he’s quite happy with his life at this point. Or seemingly quite happy with his life. And then Margaret shows up and she needs his help. And the Dama is a direct threat to the Hershel and Maggie of it all. I know who the Dama is because I’ve spent time with her and I know how dangerous this person can be. And so he kind of tells it like it is. ‘How can you possibly keep this person alive? You’re keeping alive the wrong people. You’re letting someone else make this decision for you when you shouldn’t be.’ Morgan continued by unpacking the layered reasons behind Negan's decision to kill the Dama. Her actions have terrorized Dead City's main characters for multiple seasons, with her cutting off Hershel's toe and attempting to brainwash him being actions Negan finds unforgivable. For him, there is a level of vengeance to his decision to kill her. At the same time, though, he's also making what he believes is a tough but fair call to keep Maggie's community safe, even if it goes against Renata's vision of a world where nobody dies, even if they commit atrocities: If you wanna get something done, you kinda have to do it yourself. And Maggie’s not there yet, obviously. Sure, I think there is a certain amount of revenge there. And he enjoys it, obviously. When he walks into that the jail cell in that power room that she’s being held in, there’s no ifs, ands, or buts about what’s about to take place. And he’s enjoying it. He doesn’t like this woman. He does wanna protect Maggie. And he knows the only way Maggie’s gonna be able to move forward in any way — and especially with her son, Hershel — is if this woman is gone. Tuna Casserole or not, he’s gonna take care of business. And he does. Negan's decision comes as Maggie and Renata have begun making preparations to expand the community's reach, lighting up the Statue of Liberty in hopes of attracting new groups to the hospital. A large group is now on their way to the city, but Dead City season 3, episode 3's trailer signals trouble is afoot. This includes Negan seemingly channeling his past as the leader of the Saviors in a protective way, even if, for the community, it doesn't completely align with the values they have. Yet Negan's decision to kill the Dama is still an understandable decision from his perspective. Her influence over Manhattan is what's kept so many smaller communities in the city afraid, and her corruptive vision of the future made her a danger to anyone who'd listen to her. Although she chose to live, Negan's logic is that keeping her alive only delays the inevitable. However, when Maggie finds the Dama turned, she notices the knife in her chest, with a look crossing her face making it seem like she deduced Negan had something to do with her death. Just how much a rift this will put between him and Maggie remains to be seen. But, since The Walking Dead: Dead City established she wanted to kill her, knowing it would protect the community, she might just keep his secret. As the series progresses, though, it remains to be seen where the pair will land as the hospital community begins its expansion. Release Date June 15, 2023 Network AMC Showrunner Eli Jorne, Seth Hoffman Directors Kevin Dowling, Loren Yaconelli Writers Brenna Kouf Franchise(s) The Walking Dead Creator(s) Eli Jorne