Major spoilers below for anyone still waiting to watch The Walking Dead's Season 7 finale.
Last night, The Walking Dead ended the polarizing Negan-omics of Season 7 with a bang, or rather many of them, though none were the ones that Rick initially intended to hear from his explosives. Characters died -- R.I.P. Sasha -- while others were merely injured; some with more mental than physical pain. And when the smoke cleared in Alexandria and its perimeter, and the survivors were visibly accounted for, it was fairly obvious where some of the story will be going in the future, as Negan made it quite clear he wants a war.
But what about all the narrative points that we still don't know about? What about the moments in "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" that didn't fully resolve these characters' situations? Those are the questions we'll be focusing on today, and let's kick things off with one of the three characters that have already been namechecked. here.
Why Does Negan Keep Trusting People?
Negan is responsible for building up one of the most villainous armies in modern fiction, and his list of redeeming values consists of "hating rape" and "pancake art." And we've seen him attempt to give each captive member of Team Family the benefit of the doubt in assuming they'll come over to the "I am Negan" side of things, but it's never really clear why he's so willing to trust the people he should consider his biggest enemies, or even the people within his ranks that are sexual deviants. So why does this monster keep putting his faith in people even after being given proof otherwise? Is it really just because humans are such a big commodity now?
Can Eugene Ever Redeem Himself?
Whenever Eugene was first taken hostage by Negan, it seemed as if the wily and honesty-challenged survivor was biding his time within The Sanctuary in order to form an unstoppable plan to take the deadly tyrant down from within his own community. But it appears that's not really the case at all, and Eugene barely hesitated in declaring his Negan nomenclature when standing before Rick, Rosita and the rest of his former friends in the finale. He supplied Sasha with the means of ending her own life, which is almost unforgivable, as cool as Sasha's walker emergence was, and it's surprisingly unclear if Eugene can ever come back from his recent ugliness. Sasha may have faith, but we're a bit more thin-skinned than that.
Is Morgan All Good With Killing People Again?
In an upward-swinging arc that's been in motion for a while now, Morgan seemed to fully come to the realization during the season finale that it really is impossible to keep an ongoing existence without being able to permanently stop an enemy. He definitely looked like his "life is precious" mantra was reformed within his mind to exclude The Saviors and, by default, those turncoat Scavengers. Morgan was perfectly cool using his stick to kill off a threat, and he was just as quick to snatch up a gun and start blasting people alongside Rick. So does this mean he's all good with killing now, or will he eventually fall back on "going clear" as his answer for everything?
How Will Oceanside Get Revenge On Rick?
Now that Rick realizes just how badly he got duped by Nadis and her junkyard crew, he'll no doubt be thinking back to how badly he screwed over Natania and all the female survivors within the Oceanside community. They were first betrayed by Tara, who admittedly had a reason to do so, and then when Rick showed up and (presumably) all of their weapons, that had to be the last straw for everyone, as it basically left them defenseless against walkers and humans alike. I don't imagine we've seen the last of Natania, and I don't imagine Tara will be the last member of Team Family whose life Natania threatens. It'll be difficult for the show to properly villainize this group in the future, too.
Will Negan Attack The Hilltop Colony Next?
I don't think anyone was surprised when Hilltop "leader" Gregory was completely absent from the finale's big battle scene, along with any other moments where virtues and bravery were on the table. He was last seen feeling to The Sanctuary to get help with Maggie's rising resistance, and if the comics are any sign of where things are going, Negan could likely be taking a trip to Hilltop soon after Season 8 begins. But seeing as how the comics' big attack on Alexandria was flipped around for the TV show, will we see the same thing happen with the other safe haven, or will Negan be far more aggressive during his first Hilltop trip now that he knows Maggie is still alive?
Will Maggie Be A Better Leader Than Rick?
Speaking of Maggie, she got the final inspirational voiceover in "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life," during the montage that included Jesus putting Walker Sasha down. Rick is usually the one to get the last words of a big episode, especially when it's all about doing what needs to be done to keep going from day to day. Rick's leadership skills have been more at home in the gutter recently, though, and Maggie has a chance to not only take over her own relatively massive community soon, but also do it in a way that makes Alexandria look like it's run by a tiger. (Not that we're insulting tigers or anything.) Could the TV show be setting Maggie up to run things in the event of Rick's death?
Is Carl A Legit Badass Now?
After Carl lost his eye in the comics, there was a noticeable change in his approach to handling situations, in that he truly felt like a successor in the Grimes lineage of leaders. That's been happening on the show, too, and even though Carl hasn't gotten a ton of screentime in Season 7, almost all of it has focused on him doing something fairly badass that Season 5 Carl never would have done. (Outside of skating with Enid.) In particular during tonight's finale, Carl was downright stoic compared to Rick for Negan's mini-lineup, despite being the one Negan chose to kill. And before Shiva saved the day, the teen showed zero hesitation in taking down the enemies around them when Walker Sasha appeared, ensuring the Grimes boys' survival. More of this Carl, please and thank you.
Is Dwight Really Telling The Truth?
The Walking Dead's penultimate episode ended with Dwight offering a plea of allegiance to Rick, spawned by his hatred of Negan and his heinous life as a Savior, and though Daryl and Tara wanted the scarred-up character dead, Rick gives him a chance to prove his worth. (Does Rick ever not do such silly things?) For now, Dwight seems to be on the level, intentionally avoiding Alexandrians during the big battle and sending a secret message to Daryl about not knowing the ambush would happen. But we've already seen Dwight go back and forth on wanting to get out from under Negan's thumb, so it's not out of the realm of possibility for Scott Gimple to trick comic readers by having Dwight also double-cross Rick at some point. Can we trust him?
Could Daryl Be The Next To Die?
Negan got all kinds of good information in the finale, as he discovered exactly where Maggie and Daryl can be found, and the big bad made a direct reference to wanting to take Daryl back to The Sanctuary. Considering the fan favorite redneck already had his number called after Sherry allowed him to escape the Saviors' home, Daryl won't really have a moment of peace until Negan and his deadly regime are completely wiped out, and that might not even happen until the end of Season 8, if not later. Will The Walking Dead keep figuring out ways to stall on this point, or will Rick negotiate a treaty that removes the bounty from Daryl's head? Or, to reiterate the main question, is Daryl finally going to die next season?
Is Rick Ever Going To Lose That Hand?
For all the changes that The Walking Dead makes when adapting the story from the page to the screen, none have fundamentally affected things as much as the (admittedly sensible) decision to keep Rick's right hand intact and attached to his body. It's a plot point that fans have wanted to see translated to live-action for ages, and it's one that showrunner Scott Gimple has knowingly teased on several different occasions. Specifically during the finale, Negan had Carl and Rick in his limited lineup, where he said he was going to kill Carl and take Rick's hand. Now that the morally bankrupt antagonist has stated a purpose in lopping off Nick's hand, does that mean The Walking Dead will finally make it happen next year?
Sadly, we probably won't get most of these answers until The Walking Dead returns to AMC for Season 8 at some point this fall. Until then, though, you can head to our midseason premiere guide and our summer TV schedule to see what's coming to the small screen in the coming months.
