The Walking Dead: Austin Amelio Reveals Why Dwight Follows Negan

When we first met Dwight, he seemed like a man who had a bit of a moral compass left inside of him. However, after his disappearance on Daryl's bike in the first half of The Walking Dead's sixth season, Dwight returned late in the second half to put an arrow through Denise's face, shoot Daryl, and wreak all kinds of havoc on our beloved survivors.

"When you first met Dwight last season he has a romanticized vision of what the world should be like," Dwight actor Austin Amelio says. "He's an idealistic guy. He wants the world to go back to how it was. He's not used to the rules and what is going on."

Not only does Dwight look different thanks to some serious burn scarring, which is something we will see explored in The Walking Dead's seventh season, but he has dropped all morals and almost everything else about who he was before. Amelio is well aware of this fact in his portrayal and is best suited to explain the change.

"Then you see him at the end of the season and he has totally succumbed to this universe," Amelio says. "He's fully submersed in what the world is now."

Dwight's change is not so different from that of a character liek Rick's. The two carry themselves with a kill or be killed attitude, only the difference is Dwight seems to be doing so in a sadistic and unprovoked fashion. He follows the word of his savage leader Negan which is a slippery slope for anybody, however, it might be fear which keeps driving him back to the Saviors.

"You don't really leave the Sanctuary when you are under Negan's thumb. He will find you and he will kill you. That's how he works. I don't think he understood the gravity of the situation. Negan is this weird dichotomy of someone that you hate and he protects you at the same time."

The Walking Dead returns for its seventh season on October 23 at 9 PM ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.