Fans of The Walking Dead have spent the past six months worrying and theorizing about which beloved character we'll be forced to say goodbye to when Negan's victim is revealed. Though every character who was forced to kneel in front of the new villain is in danger, some have been the focus of more theories than ever (looking at you, Glenn). However, I'm starting to think that Negan killed Maggie on The Walking Dead after seeing Lauren Cohan's emotional thank you to fans at the series' New York Comic-Con panel on Oct. 8, as well as the sneak peek of the Season 7 premiere.
Even before the clip, which you can watch below, was shown, the NYCC panel had me worried for Maggie. First, Steven Yeun only had amazing things to say about Glenn and Maggie's relationship, calling it badass and saying that they are "better together." In the world of The Walking Dead, that's basically the kiss of death, as no one is allowed to stay happy or stable for too long. Normally, I would take such comments as evidence that Glenn would be the one killed by Negan, especially since he's the frontrunner for obvious reasons, but when it came time for Cohan to speak about her role, I changed my mind.
After moderator Chris Hardwick asked Cohan a seemingly simple question about her character — how things might've gone in the Season 6 finale if Maggie wasn't so sick — she became extremely emotional and instead of answering him, took a moment to thank the show's fans. Through tears, Cohan said, "you guys have been on such a long journey with us," and, referencing an earlier comment from the panel, said she was "in bad shape" after hearing that the Season 7 finale would mark 99 episodes for the series. "This is larger than our lives, this is our larger than our show, this is such a privilege," she said. And that was before the following sneak peek played.
While it was sweet of Cohan to show so much gratitude towards Walking Dead fans, I wondered if she was so emotional because she knew her time on the show had come to an end, and she wouldn't be attending events like NYCC in the future. Though she could've just been genuinely moved by the amount of support shown in the Theater at Madison Square Garden alone, she may have been more prone to tears than usual if she was preparing to say goodbye to those fans.
But if that's not enough proof, there may be another clue pointing to Maggie's demise in the clip above. As many fans pointed out, Rick — the only person seen in the sneak peek besides Negan — has blood on the right side of his face, which likely belongs to the person Negan killed, especially since we see his bat, Lucille, dripping in blood, and someone's gruesome remains splattered on the ground in front of them. Who was sitting to Rick's right in the lineup of potential victims? See for yourself.
That's right, as many fans have pointed out on Twitter, Maggie was sitting on Rick's right-hand side (another potential clue, given Negan's speech to him in the clip), which means it could be her blood splattered on his face.
Before you get too worried about Maggie — and Glenn, who would obviously not take this well — one thing that suggests it might not have been her is that a few times in the sneak peek, you hear what sounds like a woman crying. Since Maggie was sitting so close to Rick, that could've been her reacting to someone else's death. Then again, it could have been Sasha, who was sitting on Rick's other side.
We won't know with certainty who Negan killed until The Walking Dead returns on Oct. 23, but I think fans may want to prepare themselves to say goodbye to Maggie — especially since Cohan might have done so already.
