The Walking Dead: Daryl To Go “Very, Very Dark” After Season 7 Premiere; Negan Not Considered One-Season Villain

Though The Walking Dead fanbase had months to brace themselves for the arrival of season 7, the premiere “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be” was no less devastating.

It’s spawned heated debate online as long-time supporters of the series come to terms with those characters that were bumped off in grisly fashion. But few have stopped to ask the question, what about those who survived the harrowing ordeal? Well, according to Norman Reedus, Daryl will be one member of the group to feel the brunt of what transpired, and will seemingly go “very, very dark” in the upcoming weeks.

Spoilers to follow!

Chatting to Comic Book about that nail-biting premiere, Reedus stressed that Glenn’s death “weighs heavily” on Daryl, and though he doesn’t necessarily expect Mr. Dixon to become a recluse, a combination of self-loathing and hatred will send our hero to a very dark place.

“I think it weighs heavily on him. I don’t know that anybody in that group blames him for anything, but he blames himself more than anything. It really brings him down to a certain level where whatever shitty thing is thrown at him, he is just going to take it.

“He goes very, very dark. He does certain things that he can’t go back from. He goes to a very, very dark, dark place. It’s a combination of hatred. It’s a combination of self-loathing. It’s different from when he first started on the show. He has a big chip on his shoulder. He thought people wouldn’t like him. He didn’t give a shit. He hates you, too. It turns now into he kind of hates himself. He hates the world that we’re in, and he doesn’t lose the fight in him, but he definitely no longer sees anything good in the world, that’s for sure.”

In related news, those hoping Rick and Co. will enact their revenge on Negan during season 7 may be disappointed to hear that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s bat-wielding maniac is in it for the long haul. During an interview with Rich Eisen, the actor hinted that the flashback sequence for Lucille could come in season 8, which could go some ways to explaining why Morgan himself believes season 7 will get much worse before it gets better.

The Walking Dead season 7 marches on with the arrival of “The Well” on Sunday, October 30. Tell us, will you be tuning in?