The Walking Dead: Will Negan Being Free Ruin Maggie and Carol’s Friendship?

Maggie (Lauren Cohan) returns to The Walking Dead to find Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) a free man and set loose by Carol (Melissa McBride), something McBride says could make for a “really hard” hurdle to get over. Years after plotting to execute a jailed Negan for the murder of husband Glenn (Steven Yeun), Maggie unearths a letter warning her about Alpha (Samantha Morton) and the Whisperers. Victims of the skin-wearing Whisperers include Maggie’s protege Enid (Katelyn Nacon) and Carol’s son, Henry (Matt Lintz), whose death spurred Carol to break Negan out of jail with orders to bring her Alpha’s head. Negan delivered and helped the survivors silence the Whisperers, deciding he’s going to stick around “for now.”

Because Carol’s letter was written before the events of Season 10, what happens when Maggie learns Carol set her husband’s killer free?

“You know, I don’t know,” McBride admitted when asked that question on Talking Dead. “You know what, there are plenty of people that, at this point, can vouch for Negan. I don’t know that Maggie wants to hear it, and every time you look at that face, you can only think that one thing and remember that one thing.”

Getting past it might be “really hard,” McBride added, “but if it means that Carol and Maggie get to have a scene together, that makes me happy. I don’t know. [Maggie’s] got a lot of catching up to do.”

Cohan’s comeback is the start of a “new chapter” for Maggie, who will reappear in the six all-new bonus Season 10 episodes coming early next year on AMC. After that, Cohan is back full-time as a series regular for the eleventh and final season of The Walking Dead.

“Her character is so impactful and has these longstanding relationships with various characters that are on our show, such as Daryl and Carol. They’ve been through so much together,” showrunner Angela Kang said on the Walking Dead Universe Preview Special. “But also we know there’s still Negan to contend with. He’s just kind of been on this redemption arc, making some progress, and now that she’s back, they were never expecting to be in the same community together again. So obviously, that’s going to have a big ripple effect into the season to come.”

The Walking Dead returns with new episodes early 2021 on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.