Warning: Major spoilers below for The Walking Dead: Dead City's season 1 finale!
Summary
- Dead City's season 1 finale reveals the villains' plans for Negan and sets up an intense second season with potential for Negan to return to his darker side.
- The Dama wants Negan's help to take over the city and defend it from rivals, recognizing his value as the former leader of The Saviors.
- Negan is blackmailed into cooperating with the Dama through threats against Maggie's son Hershel, forcing him to confront his past and consider returning to his old ways.
Walking Dead spinoff to base itself around the duo. Dead City saw the former enemies become reluctant allies, as Maggie enlisted Negan's help to rescue her son Hershel (Logan Kim) after he was taken to New York by new villain the Croat (Željko Ivanek).
Dead City later revealed the Croat really wanted Maggie to bring Negan to the city, as he and his boss the Dama (Lisa Emery) had big plans for the former Saviors leader. finale "Doma Smo" revealed the full extent of the Dama's plans, and set up a more intense second season. After so many years of attempting to redeem Negan for his past misdeeds, Dead City season 2 may even see him return to his bad old ways.
The Dama Foresees War Against New Babylon
The Walking Dead: Dead City's "Doma Smo" opens with Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) reuniting with Negan, but before she can reveal Maggie's plan to betray him, Negan tells her he was the one who killed her father. He claims all Ginny ever was to him was a debt he needed to pay, which is enough to push her away and leave the island with the wounded Marshal Perlie (Gaius Charles). Negan is still smart enough to deduce the reason Maggie brought him to Manhattan though, and after the duo have a vicious fight, she hands him over to the Croat in exchange for Hershel.
The Croat then takes Negan to see the Dama, who being a gracious host, offers him a drink and explains why they want him. In short, the Dama wants the city for herself and knows that once New Babylon becomes aware of their use of methane as a power source - courtesy of the Croat's ingenuity - they will be coming to take it over. This isn't paranoia on her part either, as Perlie's debrief when he returns to New Babylon sees his boss give a long monologue about the importance of a reliable power supply - but ordering him to retell his story with a focus on the methane.
The Dama Was Impressed By Negan's Deeds In The Walking Dead
While The Walking Dead: Dead City may have set the Croat up as the main villain, later episodes revealed he's essentially the Dama's henchman. Regardless, she seems to trust him regarding Negan, where the Croat once served as his right-hand man before they had a falling out of his torture and killing of a young Kingdom scout. When Negan led The Saviors, he inspired loyalty and strength in his own people while striking fear and obedience into the communities they stole from.
The Dama wants the old Negan back, both to complete her takeover of Manhattan and then defend it from New Babylon or other "hyenas" who might want what she has. Considering the Croat is a Negan copycat who stole most of his ideas from his former leader, the Dama recognizes how invaluable the real deal could be to maintain a grip on the city. Of course, she anticipated that merely asking for his help wasn't going to be enough.
How The Dama Blackmails Negan Into Cooperating
Negan listens to the Dama lay out her game plan in Walking Dead: Dead City's finale with wry detachment, but is clearly gearing up to throw any offers back in her face. Before he can, she gives him a box to open, which contains a toe inside it. The Dama explains this was a souvenir from Hershel, and she's well aware of the history between him and Maggie. In essence, if Negan refuses to help her, she threatens to keep taking pieces off Hershel, as she knows his lingering guilt over his killing of his father Glenn (Steven Yeun) will drive Negan to protect the boy no matter what.
Does Negan Want To Be Bad Again In Walking Dead: Dead City?
In short, the Dama has Negan cornered and has discovered his weak point. The Walking Dead: Dead City's ending closes with Negan making this realization, and no doubt wondering what he can do next. There's also the question of whether or not Negan wants to go back to his old ways. His road to redemption for his past actions has been long and led to further heartbreak and regret.
He came to Manhattan in Walking Dead: Dead City to help Maggie save her son, only to be betrayed by her. Maybe in Walking Dead: Dead City's "Doma Smo," he's beginning to feel that embracing the dark side again is the easier choice. The Dama references his killing of a Burazi henchman in the spinoff's second episode, where he brutalized the man before cutting him open to scare away the others. For Negan, this was a way to buy himself and Maggie time to escape, but there was a flicker of excitement about being "Evil Negan" again.
With Negan being separated from his wife and son, in addition to being wanted by New Babylon for five killings, he doesn't have much to live for outside of New York either. The Walking Dead: Dead City has been setting Negan's return to the dark side all season, but the question remains if that's what he wants. He's come a long way since his time in the Saviors, so it would be disappointing to see him throw all that work away.
What's Next For Negan In Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2?
That said, after so many seasons of the character being on his (somewhat) best behavior, the return of Saviors-era Negan for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 sounds kind of exciting. Presumably, Negan will have to go along with the Dama's plans for the time being, while possibly plotting to escape or maybe even take over the city for himself. The Dama might be creating a monster by taking Negan into the fold, as by blackmailing him into cooperating and demanding he return to his old self, she might not be able to control what happens next.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 1 was an entertaining if familiar outing. Dead City had a fresh setting, but it still felt like the first season was leaning on familiar tropes and twists. That might be because it was laying the groundwork for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, which in addition to a comeback for evil Negan, it may also see him and Maggie finally come to with one another. Perlie might be in trouble too, as he lied to his bosses about killing Negan, but now New Babylon wants to take over the city, the two may have to face off again.