Who did Negan Kill? The Case for Rick or Carl

Negan Killed Rick… or maybe Carl? Okay I know no one believes that. Which is why I’m including them together and making this article first in my “Who did Negan Kill?” Project. Let’s look at the evidence supporting either of their deaths. Late in that scene Negan seems to realize that Carl is the son of the leader Rick. He is very intrigued by this relationship.

As Rick was the one who lead the assaults against the savoirs and Negan has vowed to kill only one member of the group Carl is the easiest choice. The future serial killer's death makes a statement and shows everyone that Negan is not messing around. It would be a brutal and heartbreaking moment for Rick. The group is a family but Carl is actually his blood. Everything he has done in the series has been to protect Carl.

Storywise Carl’s story doesn’t seem be at an end. He still has his relationship with Enid to work out. Also he needs to let her out of that closet so that’s a loose end that should really be taken care of. He also was horrifically injured in the middle of the season. However he did survive so it would make little sense for him to survive that only to be killed by Negan. So Carl is officially off the board in my opinion.

When talking about Rick I will be referencing some comic spoilers but nothing too important. So you have been warned but your viewing experience won’t be affected in anyway because of them. In the comic Negan makes it clear that he isn’t going to kill Rick because one it would be too easy and two it would turn Rick into a martyr. He has no interest in that, infact Negan would prefer not to kill anyone. His whole operation is to offer protection for settlements in exchange for goods. A possibly once noble cause that has clearly gone off the rails.

Rick is the main character of both the show and comic. It is his story. We are viewing the world according to Rick even though he has done some pretty terrible things from an outside perspective we understand him and his motivations. If you watch the episode we get a supremely confident Rick in the beginning. Why wouldn’t he be? Everything and everyone who has come in conflict with Rick have been dispatched. Shane, Thomas, the Governor, the people of Terminus and Pete all were killed by Rick for opposing him and threatening his people. Not to mention the countless zombies who have meet the end of Rick’s Colt Python. He seems unstoppable. Contrast that with Rick’s face at the end of the episode, this is a broken man, pale and horrified. He is well on his way to pee-pants city.

Negan needs to keep Rick alive to show the people of Alexandria that there is a new sheriff in town… pun intended. The point needs to be crystal clear that Rick couldn’t do anything to stop Negan and as such there is nothing they can do to stand up to him. They have to play by his rules. The new World order as he calls it.

So that’s why I don’t think Rick or Carl are dead. It wouldn’t make story sense for them to be the one’s whose eye’s we see through at the end of “Last Day On Earth”. Let me know your thoughts. I’m not holding myself to a timetable for these articles. We still have seven more months to wait until the show comes back so there will be time. Also remember to watch”Fear The Walking Dead” this sunday, you can catch up on that show on Netflix. Next up I will present the case for everybody’s favorite mullet enthusiast Eugene.

PS check out my friend Will’s kickstarter and donate some money or share the link!
The Rare Project

In Defense of Jason Rothenberg and The 100

So by now most people have watched and reacted in their various ways to the shocking but not that shocking death at the end of the episode. When watching this episode I found it quite entertaining the two stories intercut throughout the episode separated by nearly 100 years, it really was a unique direction for the show to go in. In the past timeline we are shown the beginning of the war that wiped out civilized society as well as what happened to to the thirteenth station Polaris. It was shot out of the sky for not joining the other twelves space stations. This parallels the current story in a way that is almost heavy handed but stops short of force feeding you. In fact a character in the show even says it's a novel concept to just destroy the thirteenth station. In the end we are shown that the first commander came from Polaris and that each commander carries with them an implant perhaps containing the memories and experiences of all the other commanders. 

The most important thing that happened in this episode is the death of Lexa at the hands of her teacher Titus though it wasn't purposeful, she still ended up dead. People online really didn't like this ending to the Clarke and Lexa storyline to say the least. As an openly gay character being killed off was considered to be playing into tropes. In fact it has gotten so bad that the creator of the show is being harassed on Twitter. 

I have two problems with people being incredibly upset about Lexa’s death the first is practical. The actress who portrayed Lexa, Alycia Debnam Carey has been cast on amc’s Fear the Walking Dead so she was only allowed to appear in seven episodes of The 100. Fear the Walking Dead isn't going anywhere so she will most likely be locked into that show for a long time. It sucks but that's showbiz as they say. The second issue I have has more to do with the show as its own entity. Jason Rothenberg created this show, it's his intellectual property, he didn't make you become a fan of the show. You became a fan because something about the show spoke to you. You don't have any ownership over the show. 
In the end Rothenberg does and it’s his story to tell. If he thinks killing Lexa is the best way to progress his story that's his decision. It sucks when you favorite character dies on a show, believe me I grew up watching Lost I get it. But you can't go attacking someone for writing that character off. They are trying to tell the best story possible, and they are trying to tell their story. So don't send hate to Jason Rothenberg on Twitter. He seems like a nice guy and if you listen to the Dropship podcast he seems to be really sorry that people took this death so hard. If you really loved Lexa and Alycia Debnam Carey then you're in luck as I said above she's in another show Fear the Walking Dead and she's really good on it. At the end of the day it's just a tv show and maybe shouldn't be taken so seriously. Those are just my thoughts let me know what your thoughts are.