‘The Walking Dead’ Fans Are Pissed Off At Maggie

Fans of The Walking Dead are suddenly showing a bit of frustration with Maggie Rhee following a line in Episode 9×15. The thing is — some of these fans (and the characters on the show) actually might have a case in being frustrated with the character. It’s not the entire audience voicing frustrations but a portion is quite unhappy.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 9×15 follow. Major spoilers!

Maggie Rhee up and left the Hilltop in her rear view mirror sometime between Rick’s exit and Judith being old enough to rescue Magna’s group from a herd of walkers. She is off with another community, probably building some sort of new world with Georgie at what many fans suspect is the Commonwealth community introduced in The Walking Dead comics.

Here’s the thing: Maggie’s community really needs her. No one really seemed to think about it until Tara pulled out a line which might have been a bit of shade toward the character just before she was killed by the Whisperers. “I want them to know they can count on me when trouble comes,” Tara said, “That they have a leader who shows up for them.”

Maggie just left them all behind. She has no idea that the Whisperers are literally tearing her people apart because she isn’t there. Since she left, characters such as Jesus, Tara, Tammy, Rodney, and Addy have all been killed by the Whisperers. Each of those characters called the Hilltop home before dying. Now, who will they turn to, after turning to two new leaders in Maggie’s absence, already?

In Maggie’s defense, she probably left the Hilltop at a time where things were fairly peaceful. Sort of, anyway. She must have known that Michonne encountered a bunch of savage little kids out there if it’s really the reason that Michonne and Maggie weren’t getting along. This part of the story indicated that threats were not entirely extinct and Maggie would probably need to defend the Hilltop, at some point.

Still, she left.

Also, it’s not all the character’s fault. Lauren Cohan wanted to test the waters of other TV shows after playing the part of Maggie for nearly seven years. She’s finding success on her Whiskey Cavalier show, too. So, Maggie’s rare living exit from The Walking Dead is actually something fans are happy about as the promises of her eventual return continue to float around, vaguely.

But, still, some fans are now frustrated with the character for abandoning the family in the Alexandria area.

“Hilltop neds Maggie back,” writes Chris Duncanson, “every leader is dying.” He’s not wrong. Check the scoreboard: Gregory, Jesus, and Tara. All dead. Maybe it’s a good thing Maggie left?

“She isn’t wrong though,” Lalipuc said of Tara’s comment. Some fans are defending Maggie, though, also presenting a valid case. These argument is that Tara was moreso criticizing Jesus than Maggie, as Paul Rovia was electing to hang around and listen to music instead of his people. Lalipuc, however, is frustrated with Tara’s death.

Twitter user “Mt” points out the Maggie left, Jesus stepped in and died, followed by Tara stepping in and dying. Regardless of where fans stand in regards to Maggie’s exit, the end of Mt’s tweet sums up the universal thought: “Hilltop and its leaders deserve better!”

Where do you stand on Maggie’s exit and choice to head off to another community? Should she come back to town if a letter informs her of the Whisperer threat? Share your thoughts in the comment section!

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com’s After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes on Facebook.com/ComicBookNOW.