WARNING: The following article includes spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 3, "Ghosts," which aired Sunday on AMC.
During "Ghosts," the third episode of The Walking Dead's tenth season, Alexandria is hit by wave after wave of walker herds. Some are coming from the North and some from the South. And while the Alexandrians originally think this is the work of Alpha and the Whisperers, Lydia corrects them: if Alpha wanted to attack, she'd send her horde all at once and just wipe them out, she wouldn't send small groups just to wear them down. As Eugene points out, that means the walkers were probably all attracted by the satellite that fell from the sky in the season premiere.
Still, no matter the source, the walkers need to be taken out. Aaron is sent to break up the Southern wave. In her initial instructions, Michonne says Aaron should take "troops." This gives Aaron an excuse to attach a super-cool mace to his prosthetic arm. Unfortunately, after fighting for days, everyone's exhausted. So Gabriel takes it upon himself to play match-maker and suggests that Aaron take one of the few individuals that hasn't been slaying walkers: Negan.
Needless to say, neither Aaron nor Negan are thrilled with the idea. Negan is worried that Aaron will take their frayed nerves out on him (Gabriel's reaction to that concern: "It's Aaron, he's a saint."). Meanwhile, as we saw in the premiere episode, Aaron isn't feeling so saintly anymore. And in his mind, Negan's still public enemy number one.
So when the pair go out by themselves, their odd-couple dynamic is immediately apparent. Negan is only given a stick to slay walkers with, and when he finds a shiny metal crowbar that will do a much better job, Aaron refuses to let him use it. Then, when Negan attempts to have an earnest moment with him, Aaron interrupts and demands Negan single-handedly take out the walkers that are coming their way because they're on Negan's side of the field.
When Negan uses the crowbar against the walkers again, Aaron demands he tie himself up so Aaron can take him back to Alexandria. While Negan is thrilled to return to the safety of the community, he refuses to tie himself up. Aaron threatens him for his disobedience but instead of coming to blows, Aaron trips him. Yes, Aaron trips Negan.
Negan is flabbergasted at the immaturity and the pair engage in a war of words. Both say things about one another's significant others that neither take kindly to. So when more walkers attack, Negan runs off.
Aaron wildly goes after him. He stumbles into a house and two walkers follow. Aaron's movements are erratic but he manages to take one out. Negan brings down the other -- with his crowbar. Aaron calls Negan's name into the dark and he answers. Then Aaron confesses that he can't see. It turns out Negan knows the cause. The flowers growing out of the walkers cause rashes and blindness. Sometimes the blindness is permanent.
Aaron's freaked out. So Negan takes care of him, giving him water and settling him on the couch. Then he keeps watch for the night. In the morning, thankfully, Aaron's sight has returned. It's a development Negan approves of, too. The pair's arc in the episode plays out like a romantic comedy. Antagonism followed by appreciation and maybe even some affection. Plus, they're super-cute together. Will Aaron and Negan's positive feelings for one another deepen in future episodes? We can only hope!
The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, Cooper Andrews, Avi Nash, and Samantha Morton. It airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.