'The Walking Dead' Showrunner Teases Negan's Arrival

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(Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you haven’t seen this week’s episode of “The Walking Dead”)

After the arrival of Jesus (Tom Payne) last week, needless to say the residents of Alexandria had plenty of questions.

Jesus tells them that he comes from a similar settlement not far from Alexandria and that they are raising crops and livestock that they would be willing to trade.

With their own food stores running low, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) decides to lead a group back to this settlement to see if Jesus is telling the truth.

Also Read: 'Walking Dead': Rick, Daryl Have Strange Encounter on the Road

On the way, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) finds himself at a crossroads. While he has been with Rosita (Christian Serratos) since the apocalypse began, he now finds himself drawn to Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green). He seeks advice from Glenn (Steven Yeun), but still seems unsure.

After a pitstop to help some of Jesus’ friends who were injured in a car wreck, the group arrives at the Hilltop Colony, a walled settlement built around an 18th century home that used to function as a museum. Series showrunner Scott Gimple compared and contrasted Alexandria and Hilltop in an interview with TheWrap.

“Alexandria was, in many ways, a housing community of the future: solar panels, cisterns, eco-based sewage filtration,” Gimple said.

“The Hilltop was the opposite,” he continued. “It was a place of the past, an old plantation house and farm, basically kept in amber by the state as a piece of living history. In many ways, the people of the past were more equipped for the apocalypse.”

Also Read: 'Walking Dead' Fans Fall in Love With Latest Twist

While Hilltop lacks firepower, they have successfully raised several kind of livestock as well as crops. They meet with Gregory (Xander Berkeley), the leader of Hilltop. He certainly takes a liking to Maggie (Lauren Cohan), but is unwilling to consider trading with Alexandria as they have nothing to offer.

Suddenly, a small group returns to Hilltop. They say that Negan accused them of holding out on him and his group. They go on to say that Negan killed one of them and is holding another hostage until they deliver a message to Gregory.

Gregory asks what the message is and one man in the group stabs him in the stomach. Rick and the others from Alexandria jump in and a fight ensues.

The man who stabbed Gregory gets Rick on the ground with a knife to his throat. But when he gets distracted, Rick stabs him in the throat. Covered in blood, he stands up and looks at the horrified Hilltop residents and says, “What?”

Jesus explains that Negan is the leader of a group called The Saviors. They have been extorting Hilltop for some time now, taking half of all Hilltop produces in exchange for not attacking and killing them.

Also Read: 'The Walking Dead's' Negan: 5 Things to Know About Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Character

Rick tells Jesus that he and his group can find and kill Negan for them in exchange for establishing trade. The episode ends as the group heads back to Alexandria. And while many have stated that Negan won’t appear until the season finale, Gimple said that this season’s villain may pop up a little earlier.

“There have been articles pinpointing exactly when Negan shows up, and that’s a bit disappointing, because they may not be entirely true,” he said. “There’s kind of a build up. But you might even see him next episode. Absolutely. Well, sort of. Well, definitely. Well, maybe. Maybe not. But possibly.”

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the group was going to Negan’s compound at the end of the episode. TheWrap apologizes for the error.

'The Walking Dead': The Most Shocking and Disturbing Deaths So Far

SPOILERS AHEAD. "The Walking Dead" has never been shy about showing lots of gore and death, but some characters' demises hit harder than others. Look back on some of the most gut-wrenching kills from the hit AMC series.
When Andrea's sister Amy ( Emma Bell) died in season 1, it proved that no one was safe.
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The death of Jim (Andrew Rothenberg) in season 1 showed the characters how to treat a bitten person for the first time.
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Sophia (Madison Lintz) was beloved by all, but Rick did not hesitate when it came time to pull the trigger when she became a walker.

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Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) was the moral compass of the group, but died in the midst of the discussion around executing their prisoner, Randall.

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Shane (Jon Bernthal) was ready to kill Rick, but Rick acted first, proving himself to be a fearless leader.

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T-Dog (IronE Singleton) gave his life to save Carol from walkers when the group tried to take the prison.

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Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) died during childbirth, prompting Carl to shoot her in the head to prevent her reanimation.
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Merle (Michael Rooker) proved he was a good man by giving his life in an attempt to stop The Governor.
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Andrea (Laurie Holden) failed to see The Governor for what he was and paid the ultimate price.
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Hershel (Scott Wilson) wanted peace, but The Governor took his head to prove a point to Rick.
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Tyrese (Chad Coleman) let his guard down for a just a moment, but long enough to get bitten by a walker.

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Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino) killed her sister Mika (Kyla Kenedy) before Carol shot Lizzie in the back of the head.
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Beth (Emily Kinney) died protecting Noah from Dawn (Christine Woods), forcing Daryl to shoot Dawn in the head.
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Noah (Tyler James Williams) endured one of the most gruesome deaths in "Walking Dead" history thanks to Nicholas.
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Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge), Ron (Austin Abrams) and Sam (Major Dodson) all died within seconds of each other. Sam got eaten when the horde invaded Alexandria. Jessie died as she tried to save him. Ron then attempted to kill Rick, but got stabbed by Michonne and was subsequently eaten.
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Abraham (Michael Cuditz) was the one we had to wait six months to see murdered by Negan. He, of course, got his head beaten in with Negan's barbwire-wrapped baseball bat, Lucille.
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But Abraham wasn't Negan's only victim that night. After Daryl punched Negan, Negan decided he had to make another example out of someone in the group -- and he chose Glenn.
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Spencer (Austin Nichols) thought he could use Negan to kill Rick in order to assume control of Alexandria. But Negan had other plans, gutting Spencer in full view of everyone in the community
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Olivia (Ann Mahoney) suffered plenty of indignities at Negan's hands, and he eventually repaid her by having her shot
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Ole Dr. Carson made a critical error by saying mean things about Sherry to Dwight over and over again. So Dwight framed the good doctor for helping Daryl escape from the Saviors -- and Negan threw him into the furnace for it.
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When King Ezekiel's crew was short one cantaloupe in its tribute for Negan's Saviors, Benjamin was shot in the leg as punishment. Unfortunately, the shot hit an artery, and young Ben bled out.
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It turned out that Richard had tossed one of the cantaloupes because he wanted to start a war between the Kingdom and Saviors -- and he thought they would kill him for being short. They shot Ben instead, but Morgan strangled Richard the next day after Richard confessed.
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Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) used Eugene's suicide pills to kill herself while she was theatrically locked in a casket because of some ridiculous thing Negan was doing. When Negan opened the casket she popped out as a walker and saved Rick and the residents of Alexandria in a clutch moment.
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Morales (Juan Gabriel Pareja) returned in season 8 after having been gone since season 1, but that return was short-lived. About ten minutes in show time after Morales, his family dead and now a member of the Saviors, showed up he got shot my Daryl.
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Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson) got shot during the Alexandrians' battle against the Saviors, and then bled out and turned into a walker after a tearful goodbye scene with his boyfriend Aaron (Ross Marquand).
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Shiva the tiger bit the dust while saving Ezekiel, Carol and Jerry from a bunch of walkers in Season 8. There were just too many and they swarmed and ate her.
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Carl died in the season 8 mid-season premiere after suffering a zombie bite in the first half of the season.
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Gregory got his long overdue death when he was executed by hanging for trying to murder Maggie in the season 9 premiere.
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Jesus was killed when he tried to decapitate a zombie only to discover that zombie was actually a living man disguised as one -- this was Alexandria and Hilltop's first real contact with the Whisperers.
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1 of 30

TheWrap looks back at those who have fallen victim to the zombie scourge–and other humans–over nine seasons

SPOILERS AHEAD. "The Walking Dead" has never been shy about showing lots of gore and death, but some characters' demises hit harder than others. Look back on some of the most gut-wrenching kills from the hit AMC series.

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