AMC's monster hit The Walking Dead owes a sizeable chunk of its success to its fantastic array of fleshed-out characters, yet when discussing the series most iconic, Maggie Rhee is always set to be near the top of the list. Lauren Cohan's portrayal has made for a fascinating watch over the show's decade-long run, and with her absence then comeback, Maggie's return has been one of the highlights of season 11 so far.

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Lauren Cohan is back, and what better time to look at just how much her beloved character has changed since she first emerged on her daddy's farm way back in season 2. Maggie may be one of The Walking Dead's MVPs, yet she is far from the young, not-so-innocent woman that fans first met many years ago.

8 A Young Maggie Greene Fell In Love

 Glenn hugging Maggie in The Walking Dead.

Love in the post-apocalyptic landscape is never as rare as one might assume, particularly within The Walking Dead universe. Throughout the series, there have been a plethora of romantic tales, yet few can match that of the Korean pizza delivery boy and the farmer's daughter.

Maggie and Glenn went from lust to the strongest form of love, and whilst their journey wasn't as long as fans may have liked, their time together is certainly one of AMC's greatest love stories.

7 Following In Her Father's Footsteps, Maggie Became A Leader

The Walking Dead - Season 10C Maggie and her people

Maggie's Father, Hershel Greene remains one of The Walking Dead's wisest and most beloved characters, a voice of reason and a leader beside the iconic Rick Grimes, Hershel did his best to pass on his morals and values to his children while he still could.

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Though Maggie spent her early seasons doing right by and learning from her dear old dad, his tragic death left her with little choice but to step up and become a leader herself. With encouragement from little sister Beth, Glenn, and later Jesus and Georgie, Maggie became one of the show's most headstrong honchos.

6 The Farmer's Daughter Tragically Lost Her Entire Family

Magie from The Walkign Dead

Maggie's losses have really piled up over the years, from her family's farm to her family itself, few of Robert Kirkman's characters have been tormented with as much hurt as the woman sometimes referred to as The Widow.

Her father was decapitated before her very eyes, and after receiving the wonderful news that her sister Beth had been found and was alive and well, Maggie didn't make it to her in time to see that tree bear fruit. As much pain as she had been through, it sadly was far from over.

5 Maggie Rhee Became The Widow At Negan's Hand

The Walking Dead - Season 11 Maggie and Negan

The love story of Maggie and Glenn was met with one of the all-time tragic ends with Glenn's gruesome death. Maggie was forced to watch as Negan took a baseball bat and bashed her husband's brains out, it made for heartwrenching and disturbing TV, and would leave Maggie a nearly broken woman.

Nearly is the keyword here, as the farmer's daughter proved herself one of the show's most resilient figures, and Lauren Cohan's captivating performance has only aided the great writing when it comes to Maggie's rise to a prominent leader. After losing so much, she still had something left to fight for.

4 The Widow Became A Fiercely Skilled Warrior

Walking Dead Reaper and Maggie

Maggie's first appearances came complete with a few impressive swings of her own baseball bat, after Carl had been shot, the eldest Greene girl rushed out on horseback to inform his mother, and she took down a few walkers in the process.

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This display is a far cry from the seasoned warrior that Maggie is in season 11, now skilled with multiple weapons, and seemingly not afraid to use them on humans or the dead, Maggie Rhee is a seriously skilled fighter in more ways than one. The Reapers have a considerable task on their hands planning to take the farmer's daughter out, she learned from the best after all, and she's somehow managed to end up on the same side as a man who seems impossible to kill, the incomparable Negan Smith.

3 Maggie Has Seen The Very Worst Of What Man Is Capable Of

Maggie Cohan The Walking Dead

Whilst held up in a train car in the early stages of season 11, Maggie tells a story of which the details are simply too gruesome to document. She has seen the very worst of humanity in the time that she has been absent from Daryl and company, and this is all in addition to the horrors she was forced to witness before The Walking Dead's time jump.

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She does appear to still have faith in the friends she has left, and though she still has a group and people to look out for, Maggie appears to be a lot less trusting and open-minded when it concerns strangers. She's all too aware of the dangers that lie outside the walls of wherever she calls home, and she'll stay on her toes to keep her people safe.

2 All The Tragedy Has Turned Her Into A Ruthless Killer

Walking Dead Acheron Part 1 Maggie

The young Maggie Greene that first appeared at Hershel's farm seemed the type unwilling to hurt a fly, yet fast forward to later seasons and she has murdered multiple Saviors, Reapers, and even sentenced Hilltop leader Gregory to death by hanging.

It's clear Maggie's once open heart has turned cold after so much tragedy, it's hard to imagine her leaving people behind in earlier seasons, yet she has done just that already in season 11. Though the fact she is yet to kill Negan may signal that old Hershel's wholesome daughter is still in there somewhere, time will tell if Mrs. Rhee has really been corrupted by the world of the zombies.

1 Her Most Important And Significant Change, Is That Maggie Became A Mother

The Walking Dead - Maggie and Hershel

Perhaps the reason behind all of the fierce fight left within Maggie is her young son Hershel. Named after her iconic father, Glenn and Maggie's son is one of the few things that she has left to love in the world ruled by the dead. She may have lost her family in the most upsetting circumstances, but The Widow now has one undeniable reason to live.

Whatever happens in the end, every walker fan knows that Maggie will absolutely do anything to protect her son, and given that she's proven herself a ruthless killer in the past, The Walking Dead's final season remains near impossible to predict when it comes to Maggie and Hershel's fate.

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