(Spoiler Alert: This post contains spoilers for “The Walking Dead” series and comics)
“The Walking Dead” returns this Sunday and will finally resolve the Season 6 finale cliffhanger of who Negan killed.
But before you watch, this fan would like to present the theory that has been rattling around my head for the last few months.
Here is who I think Negan took down: Abraham (Michael Cudlitz). Let me tell you why …
In the comics, Abraham dies when Dwight shoots him through the eye with an arrow. But on the show, it’s Denise (Merritt Wever) who suffers that fate. So why would they bother to swap him for her unless they were saving him for a more gruesome death down the road?
Another clue: in a sneak peek of the Season 7 premiere, Negan makes reference to the importance of having a “right hand man” and asks if he just killed Rick’s. Now, I know we live in the age of increased gender equality, but his use of the specific phrase “right hand man” seems to be a giveaway that it’s a man.
So that means the main contenders are Abraham, Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Daryl (Norman Reedus). In the same sneak peek, we see what looks like the blanket Daryl was wearing laying on the ground amidst the carnage Negan leaves in his wake.
Many are saying the blanket is proof that Daryl is the one who gets killed. But since he was a character created specifically for the show, there is no precedent for killing him off. The blanket could have been ripped off of him at any point and tossed aside in between the time Negan starts to kill Abraham and the end.
For example, if Daryl looked away rather than watch Abraham die, one of the Saviors could berate him and pull the blanket off then.
In the comics, it is Glenn who gets killed. But since Glenn was involved in a death-fakeout storyline in the first half of Season 6, it doesn’t make sense story-wise to kill him off now.
Add to this the fact that Daryl and Glenn have been on the show since Season 1 and the last Season 1 character to die on the show was Andrea (Laurie Holden) at the end of Season 3, and Abraham becomes the most likely victim.
He has been on the show since Season 4 and enjoys a strong fan following, meaning his death will carry emotional impact while keeping the Season 1 characters intact.
Think I’m crazy? Let me know in the comments section, or wait to tweet when “The Walking Dead” Season 7 premiere airs this Sunday at 9 p.m./8c on AMC.