WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 7, “Promises Broken,” which aired Sunday on AMC.
Before Maggie returned to Alexandria, Negan was on a multi-season redemption arc. However, when Maggie returned, all of that came to a screeching halt. So far, their relationship has been tenuous at best during The Walking Dead’s eleventh and final season. There has been some progress since the premier’s cliffhanger, but a scene in “Promises Broken” might officially have ruined any chances of a Negan redemption.
The show’s current arc has pit Maggie and the Alexandrians against Pope’s religiously fanatic Reapers. Amidst many challenges and defeats, Maggie has not given up her mission of destroying the Reapers and regaining Meridian -- her home since she left Hilltop -- and its food supply. However, an ambush by the Reapers left many of her fighters injured, some dead and others captured, so it’s not an easy position that Maggie has found herself in.
During this episode, things get even worse when Maggie finds some of her former people in the woods as walkers. A little bit later, Negan and Maggie have a conversation where Negan tries to be nice to Maggie, saying that he understands how she feels. Maggie is naturally unimpressed, but Negan retorts with: “Look, all I’m saying is that I remember when my home was invaded and my people were killed.”
Maggie argues semantics over Negan’s brutality, but Negan gets almost sentimental when he says that the Saviors were real people too. After the massacre at the satellite station, Negan remembered the loss that his people felt “and [how he] had to explain to them why their leader failed to protect them.” By that point, Maggie, perhaps feeling bad for him, gives him a shot at full redemption by asking if he regretted his actions or if he would do things differently in retrospect.
Fans, who have been eager for a true Negan redemption arc, probably jumped when he quickly confirmed her question. However, those same fans were quickly shut down when Negan kept talking, saying, “If I could do it all over again… I’d have killed every last one of you.” Maggie is appalled, but Negan just might have had a real reason for answering as he did.
Tactics notwithstanding, Negan was an outstanding leader, but he dropped the ball by prolonging the war with Rick. Answering Maggie in such a brutally honest way might be his way of not allowing her to make the same mistake he did. In other words, he was telling her that when they get to the Reapers, they need to eliminate Pope’s group completely. If they do not, Pope could come back to haunt them as Rick did to Negan.
So, while Negan might not have positioned himself for redemption by telling Maggie that his biggest regret was not killing all of Rick’s people, he was simply speaking the truth as a leader, even if it meant completely ruining his reputation with Maggie.
To see what Maggie and Negan do to the Reapers, tune into Season 11 of The Walking Dead. The series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and is available to stream early on AMC+.