It’s a moment that’s still being talked about by fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead the world over, and the repercussions of which still echo throughout the show to this day. We’re referring to the season 7 premiere, of course, where Negan mercilessly beat two main characters to death, and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) was the first to feel the wrath of the villain’s barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat, Lucille.
Though Glenn’s demise was ultimately more disturbing to witness, fans of the comic already expected that, so Abraham’s violent end was arguably more shocking. Plus, though the tough-as-nails former soldier went out like a champ, his final peace sign to his new lover Sasha made the scene even more poignant.
Cudlitz recently appeared on The Skybound Insider’s show with The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and while there, the actor revealed what he felt would have went through Abraham’s mind (other than Lucille… sorry!) in his final moments.
He was praying that it would be him. I think that at this point, in the end of Season 6, Abraham knows he’s figured out these guys. He knows that this kind of operation to work the way it is, for all of this men to be under his control the way it is, he sees the lay of the land. He sees when Negan is describing what he has to do now, that someone has to pay for this, he knows that he wants it to be him because he wants to protect everybody else. That’s just in his nature. Once he is chosen, I think he is at peace.
That definitely fits with Abe’s character, and his expression did indicate that he was glad nobody else was chosen. Of course, Glenn did wind up suffering the same fate, but let’s assume Mr. Ford was spared that knowledge in the afterlife. At least, we sure hope he was.
The Walking Dead season 8 is set to premiere later this year, with the first trailer expected to be shown off at Comic-Con. As always, watch this space for more.