Morgan broke his “No Kill” rule to protect Carol when he shot the Savior who attacked her. With six bullets, Morgan ended the man’s life without thinking twice. Morgan knows he’s a killer, and he’ll struggle with this during The Walking Dead Season 7 premiere.
Lennie James, who plays Morgan on the show, explained to Entertainment Weekly why the big kill at the end of Season 6 was a major moment for the character. Remember, Morgan desperately tried to get Rick to talk things out with Negan before going in and killing his people. Morgan believes the world cannot progress without a sense of community amongst the living, but was quick to kill the Savior when Carol’s life was in danger.
“The thing about Morgan, and probably the reason why he’s chosen to walk this path, isn’t just simply because of the ethics of the path that Eastman was walking and solely that Morgan saw sense in it,” James told EW . “Morgan sees salvation in it. The important thing to remember about Morgan is that it’s not just that he doesn’t want to kill people, it’s that he knows what he’s like when he’s free to kill people. He knows himself. He’s good at it and he’s pathological at it, and it’s not a road he particularly wants to walk down.”
James continued, “So if he’s killing you, he’s killing you until you’re dead. He’s not trying to make it okay for you to die. He doesn’t want to do it because one bullet or six bullets is ugly. So on one level it makes no difference to him, but on another level, his fear is about flicking the switch and heading back down the road of which he has knowledge of and of which he’s very, very frightened of in himself.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Carol comes back from her depression in The Walking Dead Season 7. She did not want Morgan to save her, which is extremely important to her character. Carol wanted to die, and now she’s caught up in a new community where she might fall into old habits. She doesn’t want to care about people or survive. She wants to be at peace, and for her that means death. Morgan can try to be Carol’s Eastman, but it doesn’t mean he’ll succeed. There’s always a chance Morgan can get through to Rick once he returns to Alexandria. Even though Negan killed one of their own, Morgan will hold Rick killing the Saviors’ men against him. Do you think Morgan will get through to Carol or is she too far gone? Let us know in the comments below. The Walking Dead Season 7 returns Oct. 23 to AMC.
