With each passing day, we're closer to finding out who was killed by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in The Walking Dead Season 6 finale cliffhanger. Today, we have word there may be more than one death in this highly-anticipated episode. It has already been confirmed multiple times that Negan's victim will be revealed in the Season 7 premiere, airing Sunday, October 23 at 9 PM ET on AMC, but executive producer Greg Nicotero teased in a recent interview there may be multiple deaths in the premiere episode. Who this mystery victim (or victims) is remains to be seen, but there have already been multiple theories regarding Negan's victim.
Fans knew from the get-go that Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan would be introduced in the Season 6 finale, and most assumed that he would kill one member of Rick's group, just like his introduction in the comics. Glenn Rhee was Negan's original victim, but the show's cast members and producers have been keeping the victim's identity a secret in terms of how it plays out on the small screen, even going so far as to shoot death scenes for each character that was trapped by Negan and his Saviors in the season finale. Entertainment Weekly caught up with Greg Nicotero, who directed both the Season 6 finale and the Season 7 premiere, who said that he was surprised that the fans reacted so negatively, while stating there are multiple "deaths" in the premiere.
"I'd say in retrospect, I don't think we would have changed anything. I would have still supported doing it the way that we did it, because of the fact that the story doesn't end there. If we would have shown the deaths, then they wouldn't have felt our characters in season 7 the way they need to. And the thing that I think a lot of people will get out of it is how that moment changes the entire makeup of our universe within a split second. And it's that moment that launches our entire season 7 into that direction."
As for the identities of the victims, there had been rumors that Steven Yeun (Glenn) was missing from the set since the second episode and his on-screen wife Lauren Cohan (Maggie) was missing since the third episode. It's certainly possible that both Glenn and the pregnant Maggie are killed in the premiere, and that they could have returned for flashback scenes in the second and/or third episodes. With all of the secrecy swirling around the show, anything is possible.
The death scene not only serves as a huge cliffhanger for the fans, but marks an important change in the story. Greg Nicotero revealed that the finale really changed things for Andrew Lincoln's Rick, after watching one of his own killed before his very eyes. Here's what Greg Nicotero had to say about how Rick lost all control he had after that scene.
"[Rick] went from the beginning of that episode being in his mind 100 percent in control to having every single ounce of extra delay. So the point of the episode wasn't about seeing who Negan kills, the point of the episode was seeing everything stripped away from Rick from moment to moment to moment to set up season 7, which is about the fact that Rick really had no concept of what the world outside his sphere was like...It was about showing Rick as completely devoid of any power or control, and he's forced to do it in front of all of his people."
While we wait for the Season 7 premiere to finally debut, AMC has also debuted new posters, one featuring a kneeling Rick that reads "The Price Will Be Paid," while another with Negan reads "The New World. With more than a month left until the season premiere, fans will surely be treated to more footage and posters. Negan's victim most certainly won't be revealed until the premiere, but there may be other juicy tidbits revealed between now and then.
