It Hurt Me To See The Walking Dead's Negan Perform Another Glenn-Style Execution

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, episode 8!

Despite his attempts to reform in recent years, it hurt to watch Negan perform another Glenn-style execution in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2. One of the most interesting part of Dead City season 2 has been Negan having to wrestle with the two worlds he's trying to live in. The Dama and the Croat expected him to be the ruthless leader he was when he commanded the Saviors. But ever since The Walking Dead series finale, he's been more docile, finding redemption despite Maggie's inability to forgive him for brutally killing Glenn.

However, all this changed in late season 2, when an injured Ginny arrived at the church, intent on killing him. However, her infected wound caused her to collapse, prompting Negan to go on a risky hospital run to get supplies that could save her life. Out of all the characters in Dead City, the young girl was the only person he still deeply cared about. This is why, in season 2, episode 7, he vows to kill anyone that tries to harm her. He makes good on this promise in the season finale, with actions that hurt me to watch.

Negan Completes His Return To Villainy In The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2

His Brutal Murder Of One Core Character Completes His Regression

In Dead City season 2, episode 8, Bruegel arrives at the church to negotiate a peace deal with Negan after the Dama faked her death and the Croat was exiled. However, he knows the Silk Stockings' leader is willing to do anything underhanded to win, including use a real person as a supposed Walker warrior in a cage match. Now believing anyone who threatens his group needs to die, Negan ambushes him, Perlie, and their soldiers with dozens of zombies, while also setting the church ablaze with flamethrowers. He doesn't trust the antagonist, and will do anything keep Ginny safe.

But, in his strides to ensure she survives, he also goes back on his promised reformation. When Bruegel and Perlie make it into the basement of the church, it seems like the former is going to try using Ginny to get Negan to give up the methane. However, they're both cornered by the former antagonist, who makes them kneel. He decides to play "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" with them, deciding who is going to die. Much like the last time he played, though, he's already made his decision: he's going to kill Bruegel using Lucille.

Unfortunately for Dead City's newest villain, he gets an even more destructive death than Glenn did. Instead of just beating him with Lucille, Negan takes a hose pumping methane and shoves it into his mouth, then lights it on fire. This burns Bruegel from the inside, his flesh charring so much Negan just swings Lucille down once to kill him. Little does he know, Maggie watches his kill, conjuring the trauma of her husband's death in the process. I was also disappointed to see Negan kill Bruegel in a familiar way because of what it symbolized for his character arc.

I Was Invested In Negan's Redemption, So It Hurts To Watch Him Relapse Again

I Didn't Want To See Negan Torpedo All The Progress He'd Made

Negan has been making good strides in his redemption arc since the later seasons of The Walking Dead. Despite Maggie's misgivings toward him, he's proven himself loyal to the main group, even if his methods have been unorthodox. This includes gaining the trust of the leader of the Whisperers, Alpha, and getting close enough to kill her upon Carol's request. He also helped defend the Commonwealth against a massive zombie horde, partially to protect his wife, Annie, and their then-unborn son, Joshua. Even in Dead City, his selfless attempt to save Ginny showed how much he cared for others.

However, by killing Bruegel in such a horrific fashion, Negan allowed that more villainous side of him to come out, utilizing how he'd handle enemies in the past to define what he did in the present. Although Bruegel was a threat that needed to be dealt with, the way he killed him was clearly meant to evoke the same fear he harnessed when killing Glenn and Abraham. Seeing him relapse hurt to see, since I'd been so invested in his redemption arc and everything he was willing to change about himself to become a better person.

To some extent, it's understandable why he decided killing Bruegel was the only way to protect Ginny. If he hadn't done what he did, then perhaps the antagonist would have harmed her. But, while taking him out to protect the people he cares for is understandable, the way he went about it unsettled me. Instead of killing Bruegel in a manner that other protagonists have had to kill villainous survivors, he instead employed methods that drew a big enough rift between him and Maggie that she believed trying to kill him would be justifiable.

Is Negan Still A Villain At The End Of The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2?

His Final Actions Indicate His Lapse Of Judgment Won't Follow Him Forever

The way Negan killed Bruegel leads Maggie to try and kill him, stabbing him in the back during a tussle with Perlie. He manages to crawl his way into the basement, where it's revealed Ginny has died and turned. Saddened by his loss, he stabs her in the head with a knife offered to him by a concerned Maggie. Alongside Perlie, she ends up taking him to a nearby apartment complex, where she uses medical supplies to patch up his wound.

Although he reverted back to his old ways during the season finale, Dead City season 2 ends with Negan no longer a villain. His momentary lapse, though disappointing, was followed by his realization that becoming a monster isn't going to protect the people he cares about. Instead, the only way he can truly save others is by embracing the path of reformation he'd been treading for so long. Whether he can truly ensure himself to this is unclear, but I don't think the way he killed Bruegel is going to be a normal occurrence from now on.

It hurt to see Negan become a monster again in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 finale. But, despite everything he did in the season finale, it seems like the good in him still has a chance to rise back to the surface. His brutal killing of Bruegel was necessary for him to learn this lesson, even if it temporarily reverted him into the person who killed Glenn. Depending on how a potential season 3 shapes up, his villainous ways probably aren't going to come back in the same way again.

All episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City are now streaming on AMC+.