Rick Grimes' Walking Dead Exit Prevents Darker Villain Arc
Rick Grimes' exit from The Walking Dead may have been the last thing fans wanted, but it helped prevent an even worse storyline for one character. AMC's show has certainly made many changes from Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comics.
The Impact of Rick Grimes' Exit
Rick Grimes' exit from The Walking Dead has had a significant impact on the storyline of the series, particularly in preventing a darker villain arc for one of the characters.
Sebastian Milton looking angry on The Walking Dead.
In season 9, Rick had his final appearance on the parent show, complete with hallucinations of past characters, such as Hershel and Shane. After being impaled by a metal rod, Rick meanders around until supposedly sacrificing himself by blowing up a bridge of walkers to prevent the herd from infiltrating his group's network of communities. He is then taken away in a CRM helicopter, with his story set to continue in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
Pamela Milton from The Walking Dead on stage in a blazer addressing the Commonwealth.
Had he stayed in the main show, a different fate may have unfolded, particularly for the character of Sebastian Milton. The Walking Dead's Commonwealth is vastly different in the show, from Carl not being there to the community's downfall. More so, in the comics, Rick is killed by Sebastian Milton, Pamela's son. For this, he is imprisoned for the rest of his life. However, in the show, Sebastian is turned by a walker after the truth about his disdain for the Commonwealth residents and cynical view of the community's way of living is exposed.
Major General Beale looking at Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead The Ones Who Live trailer
Although it's questionable whether AMC would've killed off Rick, his season 9 exit certainly prevented the opportunity for Sebastian from being even darker and killing the series' main protagonist at point-blank range. While Sebastian is entitled, ungrateful, and demonstrably void of remorse in both the show and the comics, had his storyline ended with him sneaking into Rick's home to shoot him multiple times in the chest, it would've prevented Pamela's unraveling that his death incited.
Major General Beale standing in front of a massive group of CRM soldiers in The Ones Who Live trailer
Sebastian's reasoning would've also made Rick's death worse, as it's because he believes Rick quashed his family's power, despite the Commonwealth continuing to stand in the comics.
Walking Dead Season 11 Sebastian Milton Death
Pamela Milton: A Better Final Walking Dead Villain
Pamela Milton, the leader of the Commonwealth, emerges as a better final villain than her son, Sebastian Milton. When first meeting Pamela, she appears to be a diplomatic politician, hell-bent on maintaining the Commonwealth's standing. Sebastian, on the other hand, is self-involved from the get-go and never really grows beyond his entitlement.
Pamela Milton speaking into a microphone in The Walking Dead
Additionally, Pamela's switch from a charismatic leader to a direct antagonist after Sebastian's death makes her more complex than her son. She also demonstrates genuine influence, as she orchestrates a self-preserving shutdown on the Estates when the Commonwealth is overrun by walkers. Her isolation by the end of The Walking Dead series paints her calls for justice and trust as more self-serving in a way that doesn't resonate with her community, thus exposing her power obsession as a major weakness.
Pamela standing with Commonwealth soldiers in The Walking Dead
The Future Villain in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
While the Commonwealth and The Walking Dead's CRM are both large communities, the CRM outshines them drastically in numbers and resources. Additionally, Major General Beale has been noted as receiving more genuine loyalty from his group than Pamela.
Beale's ability to make harder decisions, supposedly with no remorse, makes him a natural successor. It solidifies him as a more formidable antagonist than Pamela. Additionally, his apparent meticulousness makes him a more serious threat than Pamela or Sebastian. Plus, the CRM's military presence is seemingly much more expansive and committed to leadership since all the Commonwealth's claimed communities resumed their original ownership after Pamela's fall.
Because of the limited insight characters from The Walking Dead universe seem to have into the CRM, Rick and Michonne's spinoff will hopefully explore more about the group, as well as the extent of Beale's power as a major franchise villain.
