Don't continue reading unless you're prepared to be spoiled on Walking Dead, both the TV Show and the comics, and anything else I might spoil in discussing the topic.
Is Glenn dead?
That's the question that everyone was asking after this week's episode. In the show itself, Glenn seemed doomed The way the producers handled the after press seemed to make it clear that he was still alive. So which is it?
First off, if Glenn is still alive, then the show absolutely faked us out. A lot of reviewers are pissed at that alone. They think that if Glenn isn't dead that the showrunners cheaped out. I disagree, because I think the writers have earned a true fakeout, with the past deaths, so I don't think him NOT dying will suddenly make us feel like the writers are afraid to kill a main character. I also think the fakeout could serve a greater metaphor.
But first, let me state this up front. I think Glenn is alive.
Here are my reasons:
1. That scene was clearly shot to be ambiguous
2. We've already done a Sophia.
3. I don't think Glenn would have died that way.
Let me elaborate on that last point, and let's get into comics spoilers. Glenn DOES die in the comics.
Glenn is killed by Negan in the comics. Negan being perhaps the biggest and best villain of the entire Walking Dead comic series. And the reason Negan is the best villain, is because he killed Glenn. That scene set Negan up as the most important villain of the series. Take out that Glenn killing, and Negan just isn't as important to the show.
Of course, I think enough has changed about the show that Negan won't actually kill Glenn in the TV series (I think he'll kill Daryl.) But I do think Glenn needs to be there, so that comics fans are scared that he'll get killed.
But I don't think Glenn will die in the show. I think the show has made Glenn and Maggie the only real couple to root for. We don't have a Rick and Andrea to root for like we do in the comics. And I think there does need to be a rootable couple for the sake of the series, to prevent it from going TOO dark.
And that leads me to why I think Glenn is alive, and why I am okay with the fakeout. I think Glenn is the light of the show. I think of the main characters, I think Glenn is the only one with his humanity still fully intact, as shown by his willingness to spare Nicholas. And I don't think you can lose that.
So why do the fakeout? I think its because what the show is doing with Season 6, is driving us too the breaking point of our characters' morality. I think at the end of this season, our characters will have come right up to the point of no return in terms of their humanity. And Glenn's "death" will be a big part of sinking in that message. People still clinging to their humanity die. But then Glenn will return, and with his return the characters will finally turn around, and start trying to be human again.
So Glenn is basically a metaphor for the group's humanity. His "death" symbolizes the group becoming monsters and seemingly losing their humanity, and his return will mark the group's return to trying to be human.
What does everyone else think?
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