The Walking Dead Season 7: What's Next For Rick And The Group?

The Walking Dead's sixth season has officially come to a close. It's time for us, and the remaining characters to start looking forward to what's ahead.

Be warned, spoilers for the season six finale and all The Walking Dead comics follow.

Now that Negan has made his impact on the show, things are going to change. The New World Order has arrived and it's not here to mess around. We knew (and for some reason anxiously anticipated) Negan's arrival would be brutal and it was. Rick and the group will have to get used to a new way of life, at least for a little while, if they're going to survive. Based on the comics, we can get a picture of how that will happen.

It didn't matter who Negan killed. Killing any member of Rick's group would be a devastating blow to the group's morale, despite having killed dozens of Negan's unnamed Saviors. The point was made. Negan bent Rick and the others to his will.

Now, Rick and the group heads home with a slightly smaller population in Alexandria and a heck of a lot less resources in the near future as Negan will come to claim half of everything.

The Negan storyline has lasted several years in The Walking Dead comics and is one which hasn't been completely resolved to date.

First of all, a war is coming. In the comics, Rick and the group didn't so much bring on the wrath of Negan as much as they have on TV, but the outcome was the same. In the comics, Glenn was viciously killed in front of his wife and friends, and Negan walked off as if nothing even happened.

After having their supplies taken from them by a man they despise, Alexandria rallies their population and those of the Hilltop and Kingdom to take on the Saviors in an all out war for their freedom.

While Negan's man, Dwight, eventually defected and helped Rick's group prepare for Negan's attacks and other strategies, the Hilltop's Gregory was eventually roped into Negan's side of things. The war got political. The death toll was high.

Yes, the war did come down to one big battle.

Rick vs. Negan. Democracy vs. tyranny. Civilization vs. savagery.

Rick put a knife to Negan's throat but rather than kill the savage man who killed several of Rick's friends, Rick nicked some skin and shed some of Negan's blood. A fight ensued and Negan broke Rick's leg as he bled out on the battlefield. All damage considered, Rick had won the war. The Saviors bowed to him.

Negan was put in jail.

In the comics, Maggie rose to power in the Hilltop, eventually taking Gregory's position as its leader. She and Jesus became the level headed leaders in charge of the community and traded with Rick's and offered people better ways of life. Gregory is clearly a leader who people don't respond to, so we should expect the power at the Hilltop to change hands to someone who Rick Grimes can better trust.

Will this all play out during one season of The Walking Dead? Probably not. The Governor's story line was stretched out across a couple of seasons and Negan's is far more interesting, far more complex, and far more brutal. While Negan will certainly become a staple of the series and a character who will stick around for seasons to come, he will likely remain in power throughout the entirety of the show's seventh season and wreak havoc on our survivors in Alexandria.

We'll know for sure when The Walking Dead returns for its seventh season in October. In the mean time, Fear The Walking Dead kicks off next weekend in The Walking Dead's time slot, and we can expect The Walking Dead's season seven trailer to drop at San Diego Comic Con in July. We'll have all of it for you right here.