'The Walking Dead': Five Characters Who Could Take Rick Grimes's Role In The Commonwealth Story Arc

WARNING: SPOILERS for the ending of The Walking Dead comics, and possbly the show.

The Walking Dead's double-length final season is off to an interesting start. Currently, the show appears to be split into two major plotlines: The TV-exclusive battle against the Reapers, a brutal, militaristic group who slaughtered many of the residents of Maggie's last community, and the story of the Commonwealth, a well equipped community running on a rigid class system that forms the centre of the comic book's final story arc.

As the show moves deeper into the Commonwealth arc, they may find themselves running into a few problems. In the comics, Rick Grimes remains at the centre of the action. He inspires the people of the Commonwealth to rise up and abolish the class system they live under, as social classes are useless in the world. The survivors are one people now, and should behave as such. Rick's death at the end of the story, murdered by the son of the Commonwealth's former leader in desperation to restore his own high status, makes him a martyr, uniting the remaining survivors under his world view. Rick's sacrifice creates a better world for his son, Carl.

Unfortunately for the show's writers, Rick has been missing, feared dead since episode 9x05, 'What Comes After'. So, who will take his place in the Commonwealth arc?

1. Daryl Dixon

Since Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes departed the series in a helicopter for parts unknown back in season 9, Daryl Dixon, played by Norman Reedus, has been the face of The Walking Dead. Initially created as one of a group of TV-exclusive extras to serve as cannon fodder between major plot points, Daryl quickly became one of the most popular characters on the show.

While not a singular protagonist in the same way Rick was, Daryl has inherited a few major plot points from Rick, such as being the character to whom Alpha, the leader of the Whisperers, entrusts with the safety of her daughter, Lydia, in a rare moment of maternal affection. But while it is possible that Daryl could take Rick's place in the Commonwealth arc, it is unlikely for a couple of reasons. One, while Daryl can be a leader when need be, it is not where the character is most comfortable, and he is not the most articulate speaker, so it is hard to see him delivering an inspirational speech convincing people not to go to war with one another. The other major reason is that the character who fills Rick's shoes most likely has to die, and Daryl is already confirmed to have a spin-off in the works after The Walking Dead ends.

2. Aaron

Aaron, played by Ross Marquand, was introduced in season five of The Walking Dead. He is the one who introduces the group to the walled community of Alexandria, and is the first of the Alexandrians to be accepted into Rick's inner circle, first after befriending Daryl, but particularly after the horrible bonding experience that was the group's first meeting with Negan. In the comics, Rick loses his right hand to The Governor, but this storyline was cut from the series as it was deemed impractical to have the series lead missing a vital appendage. However, in season nine, shortly before Rick's disappearance, Aaron appears to inherit this storyline, losing his arm in an accident at a building site.

Post time-jump, Aaron makes use of his supposed disability as a weapon against Walkers, switching his usual prosthesis for a Mace attatchment when venturing outside Alexandria's walls. He is also the first Alexandrian to express a desire to reconnect with Hilltop and The Kingdom after the communities become estranged, mirroring Rick's desire to unite Alexandria with the Commonwealth to share resources. Because of this, some fans speculate that Aaron could fill Rick's shoes in the Commonwealth arc. However, the show may be wary of killing off one of it's few remaining LGBT characters, especially when Aaron survives to the end in the comics.

3. Ezekiel

'King' Ezekiel, the leader of a community known as The Kingdom, is first introduced in season seven, after Morgan and Carol are rescued by one of his followers. He eventually joins Alexandria and the Hilltop in taking on Negan after his surrogate son Benjamin, whom he had been grooming for leadership, was killed in a scuffle with the Saviors.

Following the time-jump, Ezekiel leads the effort to reunite the estranged communities with a Fair at the Kingdom. Though the Fair ends in tragedy, it serves its purpose, with the communities coming together to battle The Whisperers, with Ezekiel avoiding his comic book death at Alpha's hands. Ezekiel is now among the first of our group to arrive at the Commonwealth. He remains respected and well liked among the existing communities in The Walking Dead, and is likeable enough that he could possibly build a following within the Commonwealth as Rick eventually does. The main point against Ezekiel taking Rick's role is the fact that he is already dying from cancer, but with the more advanced technology available at The Commonwealth, that could change.

4. Negan

When he first appeared at the end of season six, bludgeoning fan favourites Abraham and Glenn to death with a wire-wrapped baseball bat, few would have believed he could eventually become one of the show's heroes. However, since bonding with Judith Grimes, and later Lydia, it appears Negan is genuinely beginning to change.

Ever since the death of Carl Grimes in season eight, Negan has shown a willingness to accept that his way of running things may not have been the right way. In the bonus episodes of Season ten, he vows to improve himself in memory of his wife, Lucille, and Negan has always been charismatic, which could gain him followers in The Commonwealth. Some fans are ready to accept Negan as the hero of the story. The only thing that really stops Negan from taking on Rick's role in The Commonwealth arc is the fact that the people of the existing communities would be unlikely to ever rally behind Negan or view him as a martyr. That, and a rumoured Negan spin-off.

5. Maggie Rhee

Introduced in season two, Maggie Greene, later Rhee, quickly won hearts as she fell for Glenn, with the pair becoming one of the show's most popular couples. Soon after Rick's group arrives in Alexandria, Deanna Monroe sees Maggie's potential and takes her under her wing, intending to groom her for a future leadership position in the community. Maggie lives up to that potential when she later becomes the leader of the Hilltop colony.

Though Maggie moves away to help run a new community during the time jump, she returned at the end of season ten, and in season 11, quickly resumes a leadership position in Alexandria. As one of the show's longest surviving characters, Maggie is both loved by the other characters on the show, respected as a leader, and wishes to improve the world for the sake of her young son, Hershel. While Maggie's actress, Lauren Cohan, agreed to return for the final season of The Walking Dead to give her character's story a satisfying ending, she seems unlikely to return in future spin-offs. For this reason, many fans believe that Maggie is destined to die in The Commonwealth, becoming the show's version of the martyr that drives the remainder of humanity towards a brighter, fairer future.

We'll have to keep watching the final season to find out for sure.