Issue 38 – Negan

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Shoutout to Christian & Damon’s Amazing Nerd podcast (NSFW language) – (3:20)

• Background (4:15)

  • Negan created by Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard in The Walking Dead #100 (July 2012)

  • Introduced as leader of Saviors, a group of survivors living near Alexandria in a compound called the Sanctuary, who rules over the group with an iron fist, and a barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat named Lucille

    • Lucille was the name of his wife, who he had to abandon when the zombie apocalypse started – she was in a hospital, died, and reanimated – he also had a mistress on the side

  • He and his men capture Rick, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Sophia, Michonne, and Heath, and brutally murders Glenn after selecting him with eeny-meeny-miney-mo

  • Takes a liking to Carl after he sneaks into the camp and murders several of Negan’s men

  • Discovered that Negan rules a harem of sorts with the Saviors’ wives, who must be loyal to him under punishment of branding the husband

  • Goads Rick into a standoff, which results in several Saviors dying and Lucille getting damaged – Negan escapes, but tells his people that they will go to war with Rick’s group

  • Negan captured Gregory and gained the loyalty of the Hilltop Colony after the standoff and used this as leverage against Rick and his group, but Holly drives a car through the fence of the Sanctuary and this brings hundreds of walkers into the compound

  • Dispatches all the walkers, and then arrives at Alexandria, where he uses grenades to begin destroying houses before retreating

  • He then launches an assault on the Hilltop, where he wants a showdown with Rick – during the fight, Rick is hit with an arrow Negan thinks is covered in zombie guts

  • Later has an epiphany during a discussion with Rick, and realizes that Rick has been right and his methods have not helped survivors – Rick slits his throat, but doesn’t kill him – captures him and leaves him in a jail cell

  • During his sentence, he befriends Carl, who visits him regularly, although Carl still wants to kill him

  • He is released by Brandon, a member of the community who doesn’t trust Rick, and they infiltrate the Whisperers, a rival community – gets the leader, Alpha, to trust him, before he kills her and decapitates her

  • Brings Alpha’s head to Rick as a gesture of goodwill, saying his time alone rehabilitated him – Rick doesn’t fully trust him, but uses him as a soldier against the Whisperers

  • Left alone in an outpost to survive by himself

• Issues (18:39)

  • Misogyny, but not in a violent manner

  • Ironically, otherwise a very violent man (26:00)

  • Has unique honor system – scarcity mindset (32:05)

• Treatment (41:07)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe (45:22)

• Skit (57:52)

  • WARNING: The skit is bleeped, but there is considerable profanity. Listener discretion advised
• Ending (64:30)

References:

• The Governor episode – Anthony – 0:41
• Monty Python’s Flying Circus – “Nudge Nudge” – Anthony – 3:10
• Arrested Development – Lucille/Lucille II – Anthony – 5:42
• Not Using the Z Word – TV Tropes – Anthony – 9:10
• Heel-Face Turn – TV Tropes – Anthony – 13:39
• Cain exiled east of Eden – Doc – 18:17
• Cuckold – Anthony – 24:26
• Sabu, ECW, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Terry Funk – Anthony – 29:15

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