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The Walking Dead Season 6 Finale Recap: Who Took the Bat? DECODED

The question on everyone's minds remains: who did Negan hit with his bat?

By Allie Z.Published 6 years ago 8 min read
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The entire episode was one big suspense ride that just kept the audience waiting. But the bell never rang on the episode. We're still without an answer to the question on everyone's minds. Who did Negan hit with his bat in the last scene?

To end the season on a cliffhanger that huge is a very gutsy move by the producers of The Walking Dead. They've been teasing this inevitable introduction of Negan, along with foreshadowing how his entrance would make the season finale "utterly heartbreaking" but the season finale lacked any real substance. It was a good episode but the really entertaining piece of content happened in the last 15 minutes or so of the episode. And we're still left with the question that's been posed since the beginning of Season 6. Who is Negan going to kill?

Negan has control of Rick.

We know he killed someone but the image is hard to breakdown. Here are a few clues in determining who Negan's victim was. For one, when the camera pans to the perspective of the person going to die, we can see that the person Negan is standing over is a distance away from the Saviors surrounding the area. That puts a few possible candidates in Negan's swing range. The Saviors surrounding the group are standing by their vehicles towards the road. And where Negan is standing when he starts to swing his bat, he's nowhere near the RV or any of the vehicles on the road which puts him closer to the side of the road where Daryl, Michonne, Rosita, and Glenn were taken out of a van.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan.

The likely lineup of candidates are of those four, but we can still narrow down the list of candidates a bit more. From the view of the person who dies, we can see that their eyesight is not obstructed by any hair draping over their face; that eliminates a few of the survivors for being casualties. It can't be Rick, Michonne, Carl, Maggie, or Rosita. The draping of the hair is of note mainly because when Negan takes the first swing and hits the person, that person has blood dribble down their face but there's no disheveling of hair, or hair draping down after the swing which puts the person in contention to be Negan's victim, without the characteristics of anyone of the survivors who normally has hair draping over their face(i.e. Carl). And Aaron can be drawn out of the race, due to the weight of his death not being very significant to the main group of survivors. Aaron's boyfriend would be upset, but Rick and co. wouldn't be too affected by the loss of Aaron. Eliminating the possibility of Negan's victim being Rick, Michonne, Carl, Maggie, Rosita, or Aaron; that only leaves five possible candidates for Negan to choose from.

Daryl, Glenn, Abraham, Eugene, and Sasha. And to reiterate, the position from where Negan is standing when he goes to bat, he's standing away from Rick and his group of Saviors which would put Sasha out of the line of fire as she's kneeling beside Rick. That only leaves Daryl, Glenn, Abraham, and Eugene. Negan's standing position also eliminates the possibility of Eugene being the casualty. Which puts Daryl, Glenn, and Abraham as the only candidates to be Negan's victim. And after looking closer at everyone in Negan's line-up, Daryl also has hair draping over his face, covering his eyesight; removing him from the list of possible candidates. The list is getting shorter and shorter and it's down to Glenn and Abraham. Then looking at Glenn, after his outburst to Negan, Glenn also has the draping of hair over his face, intruding his eyesight.

Lucille, the bat.

To reiterate once again. From the perspective of Negan's victim, the person is on the opposite side away from Rick and the Saviors positioned around them. As well as the victim not having any draping of hair over their face, that eliminates most of the group as potential victims. With that being said, Negan is standing over ___ when he swings his bat. The conclusion is obvious, Negan kills Abraham with his bat, Lucille. Why would Abraham be chosen? Well Abraham is dying for a few different reasons.

Abraham's death should have already happened, according to The Walking Dead graphic novels. Abraham should have died in place of Denise in Episode 14 of Season 6. His comic-book counterpart has his death happening exactly alike to the arrow through Denise's eye which takes her life. That puts Abraham's fate in an indeterminate state, he no longer has any source material to guarantee that he has a place in the future of The Walking Dead. Although not having any source material for a character to be based off, doesn't put them in contention to be killed off imminently after. Daryl Dixon has no graphic-novel counterpart and he's survived the world of The Walking Dead since Season 1. Abraham is in the hot seat to take the bat because his character is in the best place we've ever seen him on The Walking Dead. He just concluded his relationship with Rosita, after he began to feel more for Sasha. And on the season finale, he just started planning a future with Sasha; picturing a life where he "could" have children in the f***ed up world of The Walking Dead, and so could Sasha. Placing Abraham in an opportune position, where it seems like his character is going to go places then suddenly takes the dark route would be just what the creators behind The Walking Dead have used in the past to emphasize a character's death. There's been continual build-up of Abraham becoming a more rounded out character, he's showcased his ability to survive in the world of The Walking Dead but he really hasn't had an opportunity to share his beliefs on the future. We know that Abraham is a soldier and lives like everyday it is his last but until he began to acknowledge his growing feelings for Sasha, Abraham was this emotionless beast. Going around, swinging the but of his gun at every undead bastard he could get a swing at. But now he's starting to see there's more to the world than just killing and surviving, he has to live.

Abraham, Season 6

However, his character finally coming to this realization puts him in the position to be killed. Abraham believes he has the world by the balls, and has a bright future to look forward to but that is his hubris. Believing that the world can be more than what it is, and his positive outlook are the reasons why his character is destined to be Negan's victim. Abraham really does have the most to live for now. The rest of the survivors lined up in front of Negan, have all experienced both the good and bad in the world of The Walking Dead but Abraham is that exception. Since his introduction on The Walking Dead, the world has been a hard place for Abraham to exist in. Now that he has the opportunity to actually live a life worth living, that opportunity is going to be taken out of his hands. We didn't get to see who Negan beat in with his bat, but a piece of Negan's dialogue could be used to determine that Abraham was his victim as well. Negan's last line in the episode is particularly important. "Wow, taking it like a champ" says the type of response someone like Abraham would have to taking a bat to the head. Staying upright as the bat comes down is like Abraham. Defiant in the face of death is the essence of Abraham's attitude since we were first introduced to him. Negan has without a doubt, bashed in Abraham's head with his bat. The earlier opportunity for Abraham to have his death depicted exactly alike his graphic novel counterpart wasn't a route taken, and a victim for Negan fits in perfectly for Abraham to officially meet his death; prophesied or not by the events in the graphic novels of The Walking Dead.

Negan and the Saviors

All theories aside, the progression of the season finale has mirrored the graphic novels wherein Negan is introduced to a fine point. Up to the dialogue is matching the graphic novel. Negan's line to Rick's group about "pee-pee, pants city" is a direct line from the graphic novel of The Walking Dead. Negan's monologue to Rick's group is almost identical to the speech he gives in the graphic novel counterpart which could mean that every theory on Negan's suspected victim is going to be wrong unless the graphic novels are referred to for the source material. If the end of the Season 6 Finale did play out to mirror the events of the graphic novel, then Glenn is actually Negan's victim. Apart from the shared similarities between the graphic novels and the television series of The Walking Dead, the last scene wherein the victim is hit with Negan's bat might have hinted at who took the hit. After the bat hits for the first time, a groan can be heard just before Negan says "he's taking it like a champ". And the groan sounded like it came from Glenn. As long as the fact remains of Negan standing towards one end of the group when he swings his bat, as well as the events mirroring the events in the graphic novels, then Negan's victim is that of Glenn.

Putting aside the speculations and theories, we won't know who Negan killed until Season 7 premieres or the teaser trailers for Season 7 expose enough detail to decipher who didn't make it out of the Season 6 Finale alive. We'll just have to wait. Who do you think Negan killed? Did he kill Glenn like expected? Or did he go after the optimistic Abraham?

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About the Creator

Allie Z.

I cover most entertainment related topics and am venturing into journalism.

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