I’m sorry, but Simon didn’t deserve to die in TWD (why his Dead City flashback proves it)

Simon (Steven Ogg) is a memorable villain in The Walking Dead Who could have had a much more interesting arc in the show if he hadn’t died so soon. In the season 6 finale, one of the greatest villains in The Walking Dead makes his first appearance. Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) arrives on the scene to terrorize Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his group of survivors. The leader of the Saviors, Negan, was the moment for me The Walking Dead Found its footing after a few seasons of stumbling that nearly turned me off the show entirely.

Negan’s community, the Saviors, is almost more interesting to me than the man himself. Undoubtedly, the Saviors are an antagonistic community The Walking DeadBut that doesn’t mean they are equal villains. If you look at them from one angle, they can be seen as the inevitable result of what Rick and his group would eventually become, an insular, but approachable society that believes that violence is the only way to stay safe. This is one of the reasons I’d like to see Simon stick around a little longer And explore the nuances of the saviors.

If Simon hadn’t died, TWD could have pitted him against Negan in an epic rivalry

Simon and Negan’s relationship may have mirrored Negan and Rick’s relationship

Simon is Negan’s right-hand man when the Saviors are introduced, and a brutal and evil member of his group. I immediately saw him as the more unhinged, but equally dangerous version of Negan. As soon as Negan worried that Simon might be a little too violent, I expected the inevitable betrayal, which, of course, happened a season later. Simon’s opinion that the Saviors kill anyone who disagrees with them goes against Negan’s philosophy that you only need to kill a few to make an example, and Simon conducts an attempted coup.

The cop is quickly crushed and Negan chokes Simon to death in a one-on-one duel, surrounded by the other Saviors, and that’s the end of Simon, at least as a person. I think I saw Zombie-Simon chained to a fence in a later episode. Despite his cruel methods, I could see where Simon was coming from. Sure, he was exceptionally violent and brutal, but he also really seemed to believe that violence was the only way for the saviors to survive. Negan and Simon are cut from the same cloth, but Simon wants to go one step further than Negan.

He feels like a real character and the triangular conflict between Rick, Negan and Simon would have opened up some really interesting story possibilities. Negan kind of floats around after Rick departs the series and I felt like his arc stagnates. Having Simon still around to pose a threat would have given Ngan an important mission. It would also be a satisfying mirror of Negan’s relationship with Rick, putting Simon in the Negan role, and Negan in the Rick role, which would be some satisfying symmetry.

I love seeing Simon pop up in TWD: Dead City and I want more

Simon should appear in more flashbacks

At least we got to see Simon one more time TWD: Dead CityIf only briefly. He appeared in season 1, episode 4, “Everybody Wins a Prize”. It happens in a flashback, set before the Saviors met Rick’s survivors. In it, Simon and Negan meet with “The Croat” (Željko Ivanek), one of their allies, who tortured a young girl for knowledge of a hidden cache of weapons. It’s a violent enough display that even Simon is horrified and that’s the type of character I’d love to explore more, whether in The Walking Dead Or Dead City In future times.