WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 9, “No Other Way,” which aired Sunday, February 20th on AMC.
Season 11 of The Walking Dead introduced the Commonwealth community glimpsed in the trailer, while also showing how badly the Whisperer War decimated the Alexandrian survivors. Maggie led a group of warriors to reclaim a food supply from the war-mongering Reapers, but for many fans the Reaper story arc felt completely unimportant even though it took up the entire first half of the season.
A former military group with a grudge against Maggie was a great idea, but the end of Season 10 had promised the threat of the Commonwealth. Knowing another villain was coming made the Reapers story feel forced, rushed and extraneous. “No Other Way” wrapped up the Reapers, but the episode also gave some purpose to the otherwise wasted arc. Here are three reasons why the Reapers were absolutely necessary to The Walking Dead, even if it didn’t feel that way until the end.
Daryl and Maggie Are Now At Odds
During “No Other Way,” Daryl killed his fair share of Reapers, but when everything ended he wanted to let Leah and two others leave alive. He had had enough of senseless killing and simply wanted to go home. Maggie wasn’t having it; she wanted her revenge and gunned down the three unarmed Reapers. The act signaled a dark turn for Maggie and started a new argument between her and Daryl.
After the six-month time jump, Daryl and Maggie were at odds over cooperation with the Commonwealth. Maybe Maggie knew something that Daryl didn’t about the Commonwealth and they were having a difference of opinion, but it’s more likely that Daryl never got over Maggie’s murderous rampage against the Reapers. The whole Reaper arc was about setting up conflict between Daryl and Maggie in Season 11B.
Maggie is Becoming Negan…
From Negan’s very first appearance in The Walking Dead, he was an awful human being. He was also one of the most effective leaders and best motivators in the entire series. He crossed many lines — but he was willing to do those things in order to protect his people. With revenge on her mind, Maggie’s decisions in “No Other Way” had her acting in a very Negan-esque fashion.
In fact, it was Negan who validated her murdering the Reapers in the first place, and Maggie actively chose to oppose Daryl’s wishes by doing so. From this perspective, the Reapers were necessary to prove that Maggie could get in touch with her dark side in order to protect or avenge her own. It’s also likely that she will have to go to that dark place again when she faces off with the Commonwealth.
…and Negan is Still Becoming Someone Else
Negan and Maggie have been rivals and character foils since Negan murdered Glenn. However, over the past few seasons, Negan has become almost penitent for his actions and Maggie has become ruthless like Negan used to be. Their long-running rivalry still exists but they’ve switched sides. In “No Other Way,” Negan saw Maggie kill the Reapers, and seeing that vicious side of her was unsettling for him. As a result, he decided to leave everyone — at least for now.
Maybe he left because he was no longer the top dog, or maybe he feared for his safety. The most likely answer, though, was that Negan left because he saw too much of his old self in Maggie and didn’t like it. That means the Reaper arc was important in continuing to humanize the Negan character, showing through his reaction that he’s definitely not the bloodthirsty killer he used to be.
The Walking Dead Season 11B airs Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on AMC and episodes are available to stream early on AMC+.
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