Warning: this story contains spoilers for Sunday’s “The Rotten Core” episode of The Walking Dead. Negan Smith (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has had many wives, but only one love: Lucille (Hilarie Burton Morgan). “We would’ve loved to have had a kid,” Negan told Michonne (Danai Gurira) in Season 9 of his beloved wife, who died by suicide as she succumbed to pancreatic cancer. “We would’ve loved to have had a kid like Carl.” While Negan would take a fatherly liking to Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming), there was never a Negan Jr., or another Mrs. Smith.
Until now.
Sunday’s “The Rotten Core” episode of The Walking Dead revealed Negan and Annie (Medina Senghore) are married — and she’s 12 weeks pregnant with Negan’s child. Six months have passed since he left Alexandria in the mid-season premiere, only to fall in with Annie’s group of tenants holed up inside the Riverbend Apartment Complex where they live.
Negan left because he couldn’t trust Maggie (Lauren Cohan) not to avenge Glenn (Steven Yeun), her husband murdered by Negan years earlier. Negan lives, for now, but he promised to settle the score with Maggie and Glenn’s son when Hershel Rhee (Kien Michael Spiller) has grown up.
“When we left Negan, and he walked off and he left Maggie, we really felt like that was finishing the arc of, ‘I want to be a joiner now, I want to be part of this group, let me redeem myself, let me prove myself.’ Everything really changed when Maggie came [back],” showrunner Angela Kang explained on Talking Dead. “I think if you’re Negan, why would you trust Maggie after what she did at Meridian? We felt like with that headspace, he really went into the world feeling like, ‘I’m just going to start over,’ whatever that looks like. But we know that Negan is a social animal, he really likes to have people to talk to, so it felt to us like he would fall in with a group.”
“He would probably pretty quickly make himself invaluable to some people,” Kang continued. “It felt like if he falls in with a completely different group and there’s no baggage there, he really is in a different headspace where he realizes, ‘If I can wipe the slate clean, can I make some choices that are different this time around? Can I? Have I changed? Can I change?'”
See reactions to the Negan baby below, and follow @CameronBonomolo on Twitter and @NewsOfTheDead for TWD Universe coverage all season long.
“…and then I felt a great disturbance, like millions of single women crying out in anguish.” #TheWalkingDead #TWD @TWalkingDWorld pic.twitter.com/GciuJsvyQI
WHOA! Negan is married?!?!?!?!
WHAT? #TWD #TheWalkingDead @WalkingDead_AMC
What? Negan and Annie are married? Wow. Really moved on from Lucille. ? #TheWalkingDead
NEGAN IS MARRIED #TWD #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/ddBGAVNXgm
Negan works fast #twd #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/QhMgGsuOkC
Negan put a ring on it! #TheWalkingDead #TWD #TalkingDead pic.twitter.com/LKpTqB8qtt
This really caught me off guard, not sure how I feel about this. Kind of feels like it was only put here so Maggie can’t kill Negan, not sure but we will see how it plays out. I’m really interested in Annie’s character though!! I hope she isn’t killed off so soon #twd pic.twitter.com/Ro2U9mW4pc
that was shocking about Negan……but I am really liking Annie #TheWalkingDead
Negan married ? #thewalkingdead #twd pic.twitter.com/BY09Mzqzak
Negan got married while he was away. #TWD pic.twitter.com/nyDfg4HFhv
Married?! #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/89a8AZH25I
Negan’s going to be a father!!!! ???#TheWalkingDead #TalkingDead
NEGAN’S HAVING A KID!?!!!?!??! #TheWalkingDead
So Negan got married and impregnated Annie within two months? #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/H9pFJL94Yp
Married and expecting. I was not ready for all of this tonight. HOT DAMN THIS IS A LOT!!! #TWD
In the span of a couple episodes Negan got married, got a woman pregnant and is saving Maggie’s kid #TWD pic.twitter.com/SDtmkSMxsf
Negan catching some feelings in this episode. #TWD #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/T4NeoSbile