The Walking Dead: Will Negan Kill Daryl?

11/06/2016 12:30 pm EST

To close out The Walking Dead's Season 7 premiere, newcomer villain of the series Negan took fan-favorite Alexandria hero Daryl hostage.

In Sunday's new episode of The Walking Dead, the aftermath of Negan's introduction is shown as we follow Negan, Dwight, and Daryl through Negan's Sanctuary home. Daryl, however, is a prisoner of war and will be treated as such. Of course, it is typically against the rules of war to kill a prisoner but Negan doesn't seem to go by anyone's rules but his own.

So, is Negan going to kill Daryl? Or does he have other plans?

We're going to go with the latter, though the possibility of the former exists.

Negan will attempt to break Daryl down and turn him into a loyal follower and servant to the Saviors. As egotistical as Negan is, killing Daryl would show a sign of weakness - a chink in the armor - for Negan. If he shows his men that he wants to turn Daryl Dixon into one of them, he will do anything and everything it takes to show that he can do whatever he wants to whoever he wants. If Daryl is able to stand up to him and keep it together, the rest of the Saviors will see that their god can bleed.

Furthermore, Negan chose not to kill Daryl in the first place. When the last remaining Dixon brother acted up during Negan's introductory sequence, Negan chose to spare Daryl and make an example out of Glenn. He saw something in Daryl which grabbed his attention - and a twisted layer of respect. The same can likely be said for Carl Grimes, which is a relationship many fans hope to see explored throughout the coming episodes.

Daryl does not exist in The Walking Dead comics which makes him a wild card on the AMC series. Do we expect him to die? No, not yet, but we expect a major shift in his character. Given the fact the he blames himself for Glenn's death more than anyone else, Daryl will likely head down a dark path of disconnection from the world and possibly play out a heel role for the first time on the show. Should he choose to serve Negan as a method of survival or simply because he is so broken to not care either way, fans would be destroyed.

Then, there's the bouncing back arc, which sees Daryl try to redeem himself and reunite with his brother Rick Grimes and the rest of the Alexandria crew.

"I think anybody could die on this show," Reedus told ComicBook.com. "I think Rick could die. I think anybody could go on the show. I don't think anyone is safe ever on the show. I think they're really good at throwing you zingers out of nowhere."

"I'd like him to just walk away and just walk away into the woods, and people go, 'Where the heck is that guy?'" Reedus said. "It's like, 'Oh, he gets shot.' 'Oh, he turns into a zombie.' 'They put him down.' We've seen all of that happen so many times. I think with Daryl, because he came in that way, I think he should go out that way. He should just walk away, and people are like, 'What ever happened to him?' Nobody knows. He's like the Outlaw Josey Wales or some s---."

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.

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