Dead City Detail You Missed Confirms Maggie Is Lying To Negan
Beware, spoilers are ahead for episode 2 of The Walking Dead: Dead City. In an easily overlooked detail, the show reveals that Maggie has been lying to Negan about the villainous Croat and the circumstances of Hershel’s capture since the beginning. The Walking Dead: Dead City picks up after several years of estrangement between Maggie and Negan following the events of The Walking Dead. Their reunion is due to Maggie’s claim that the Croat raided her Hilltop community, indicating a former relationship with Negan. Maggie sought Negan’s help to take advantage of his insider Croat knowledge, but her story doesn’t add up.
The plot thickens in The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 2, revealing that Maggie has been dishonest. In exchange for his cooperation, Negan insisted that Maggie provide shelter for his new companion, Ginny, at Hilltop. Maggie agreed, and Ginny started attending school at Maggie’s community. But by the end of episode 2, Ginny has fled Hilltop in pursuit of Negan, and the breadcrumbs left behind suggest that Maggie has not been entirely truthful.
In episode 1, Maggie tells Negan that the Croat attacked Hilltop and took Hershel as an insurance policy. She claims that the villain stole all their grain and said he would return in a month for more. However, when Ginny arrives at Hilltop, she sees someone climbing a grain silo, indicating that the container is full. Furthermore, Ginny is served a slice of bread as a meal, suggesting that there is no grain shortage at Hilltop. This casts doubt on Maggie’s entire story, and it is likely that Ginny left because she realized Maggie was lying.
It is unclear why Maggie would deceive Negan about the Croat stealing Hilltop’s grain. If the villain did not attack for food, he must have had a different motive. Perhaps he kidnapped Hershel to keep Maggie in line, or he targeted her because of her association with Negan. Maggie may be exploiting Negan’s history with the Croat to rescue Hershel, but she is keeping her true plan a secret from him. The Walking Dead: Dead City has yet to reveal the true purpose behind Maggie’s lie, but she now holds power over Negan. The show continues on AMC on Sundays.
Warning: spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 2.
In an easy to miss detail, The Walking Dead: Dead City reveals Maggie has been lying to Negan about the villainous Croat and the circumstances of Hershel’s capture from the start. By the time The Walking Dead: Dead City picks up AMC’s zombie yarn, Maggie and Negan have been estranged for years after The Walking Dead‘s ending. Their reunion comes about because – according to Maggie, at least – her Hilltop community was raided by the Croat, whose familiar, ominous whistle betrayed a former relationship with Negan. Maggie sought out Negan to take advantage of his insider Croat knowledge, but her story fails to add up,
The plot doesn’t so much thicken in The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 2 as it does congeal into a sticky soup of lies. In exchange for his cooperation, Negan insisted Maggie give his young new companion, Ginny, shelter at Hilltop. A woman of her word, Maggie accepted these terms, and The Walking Dead: Dead City shows Ginny gingerly starting school at Maggie’s community. By the end of episode 2, however, Ginny has fled Hilltop in pursuit of Negan, and while the exact reason is currently unclear, The Walking Dead: Dead City leaves a trail of breadcrumbs that prove Maggie has not been completely honest.
Why Ginny Leaves Hilltop In The Walking Dead: Dead City
Back in The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 1, Maggie recounted to Negan how the Croat attacked Hilltop and took Hershel as a moody, pubescent insurance policy. The key line during Maggie’s explanation is, “[He] stole all our grain. Said they’d be back in a month for more.” When Ginny first arrives at Hilltop, she spies a resident climbing a grain silo, indicating the container is full. Even more damningly, Ginny is later served a slice of bread as a meal. There is precisely zero sign of a grain shortage at Hilltop, which calls Maggie’s entire Croat story into question.
If the villain really had demanded Maggie turn over her grain store and was due to return for another installment imminently, Hilltop would be saving its grain to hand over – not baking up fresh loaves for visitors. Alexandria virtually starved when it was scrounging food for Negan prior to its uprising against the Saviors. Hilltop, however, does not appear duly concerned about conserving its grain supply in The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 2, and realizing this may explain why Ginny leaves. More than just missing Negan, the youngster has probably clocked that Maggie’s story was clearly untrue.
There is a fly in this theory’s ointment. When Maggie was laying out her situation to Negan in The Walking Dead: Dead City‘s premiere, the non-talking Ginny was not physically present. Nevertheless, she may have been within earshot of their conversation, or Negan could have relayed the information during their long drive to Hilltop. It seems highly unlikely that Ginny would have left Negan’s side without being told exactly why Maggie needed his help. Almost certainly, therefore, Ginny entered Hilltop believing the community’s grain had been stolen by the Croat, only to see a full silo and ready-to-eat bread upon arrival.
What Maggie Lying To Negan Means For The Walking Dead: Dead City
Something is evidently screwy with Maggie’s motives in bringing Negan to New York City, and if the Croat didn’t attack Hilltop for its grain, he must have had a different purpose. Perhaps the Croat, sick and twisted as he is, kidnaped Hershel purely to keep Maggie in line, rather than due to any practical reason such as stealing food. Annoyingly, however, that fails to explain why Maggie would deceive Negan. The New York City mission is about rescuing Hershel, after all, not bringing back bags of stolen grain to Hilltop.
By lying about the Croat stealing Hilltop’s grain, Maggie can only be covering up the real reason Manhattan’s sadistic self-appointed king attacked her settlement in the first place. For example, the Croat may have deliberately targeted Maggie due to her past association with Negan. The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 2 confirms the Croat didn’t exactly leave the Saviors on good terms, with Negan shooting his wayward employee’s right ear off in a botched assassination attempt. Maggie could have known about Negan’s history with the Croat from the beginning, and now intends on exploiting that to rescue Hershel.
The Walking Dead: Dead City teased as much when Negan asked about Maggie’s plan in episode 1. His post-apocalyptic frenemy affirmed, “I got a plan,” but refused to divulge details. Negan assumed Maggie was merely struggling to trust him – not unusual given their The Walking Dead past – but the truth may be more sinister. If the Croat wants Negan dead, and Maggie knew that from the start, she may be plotting something Negan would never agree to. The Walking Dead: Dead City is yet to confirm the true purpose behind Maggie’s lie, but Lauren Cohan’s character is now finally holding the baseball bat, figurative though it may be, over Negan.
The Walking Dead: Dead City continues Sunday on AMC.
