The Walking Dead's Khary Payton Reveals His Theory On Ezekiel And Negan

On last night's episode of The Walking Dead, "The Well," fans were introduced to King Ezekial, the leader of the Kingdom, played by Khary Payton.

Ezekial's Kingdom presents an interesting power dynamic within the current balance of The Walking Dead. He and his are under the thumb of Negan and the Saviors, just like Alexandria and Hilltop, but his relationship to Negan may be unique among them.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Payton reveals that The Walking Dead's showrunners haven't yet explained to him everything about Ezekial's attitude towards Negan and the Saviors, but he has some ideas of own, and they involve Ezekial's tiger, Shiva.

"His philosophy is that he puts a good front, and the front has been working," Payton said. "I may be talking out of turn here because I haven't discussed this with Scott at all and he may come back to me say, 'Khary, that was total B.S. I don't know how you came up with it,' but since he hasn't given an explanation, I'm going to tell you what I think.

"My idea is that the Kingdom was the one place that Negan hasn't come to on his own and hasn't Lucille-d anyone from. I think the Saviors came upon him and he brought out the tiger and he made a deal: 'If you don't touch anybody, we're going to be all right.' I think the whole king thing and the tiger and everything might've thrown them off just enough to be like, 'You're gonna do as we say just as long as we walk away and don't go any further.' I think as far as Ezekiel's concerned is that as long as he can keep his people alive, then that's all that matters. If he can keep the peace, he can walk this fine line with the Saviors, and as long as they don't do any harm to the people in the Kingdom, because I think that's kind of where he draws the line."

That concern for his people is evident in Ezekiel's relationship with the young Benjamin, whose father died while Ezekiel was in charge.

"Benjamin is kind of a metaphor for the Kingdom as a whole," Payton says. "He absolutely has this connection with Benjamin and feels the need to kind of take over as a father figure in his life and to give him responsibility and help him become a man, but beyond that, he absolutely feels a responsibility that these lives are precious and that the true mark of a leader is how you treat your people and how you protect your people. I think that that, in his mind, is the most important thing."

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.