The Walking Dead: Rick has finally become a villain
By Shawn Lealos
On last night’s episode of The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes finally broke and officially became a villain.
Now, that statement will make a lot of hardcore Walking Dead fans angry because, in most fan’s eyes, nothing Rick (or Daryl or Carol) does is wrong. They can murder anyone they want, and many fans will see them as heroes anyway.
However, last night Rick lost his honor completely.
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If Rick has done anything, it has remained honorable among less honorable people. The Governor lied to people to lure them into his community before sending them out to die in zombie gladiator fights for his amusement. He also promised peace if Rick and company gave up and then cut Hershel’s throat anyway.
Last night, Rick promised the Saviors that escaped from The Hilltop that he would take them back and then slaughtered them anyway. What Rick did was what The Governor did — he made a promise and then broke it and killed everyone.
Sure, people will cry that these Saviors (especially Jared) were bad people and deserved to die. That doesn’t mean anything here because Rick made a promise and then broke it — and now Rick has no decency and morality left.
Of course, this is not anything new.
When Rick and company went into Alexandria and found a community living in peace, he told Carol and Daryl that they would take it away from them by force if they did not give in to their demands. That was a sign that Rick was growing callous to human life.
When Rick went to The Hilltop, he made a deal with Gregory. Based solely on Gregory’s word, he went into the Saviors bunkers and murdered them all in their sleep. He executed them and killed them in cold blood to get free food and supplies from Gregory.
It was those cold-blooded murders that got Glen killed.
Now, even after Carl asked his father to find peace with the Saviors and Negan, Rick responded by murdering an entire group of them after he gave his word that he would take them back to The Hilltop and allow them to live.
What makes it worse is some of the Saviors saved Rick and Morgan’s life at the bar from Walkers. Then another Savior personally saved Rick’s life as well. To repay that man for saving him, Rick drove a hatchet into the Savior’s neck and then he and Morgan brutally murdered them all.
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The Saviors saved Rick’s life, and he killed them in response.
At that moment in time. Rick officially stepped over the line and had become a villain in a story where he was once the greatest hero. To hammer it home, watch that final scene with Michonne. Rick knows he has lost himself.