The Walking Dead season 7, episode 13: Lennie James on Morgan’s new kill

Killing is something that for Morgan on The Walking Dead is a terrifying prospect. It brings him back to a different part of his life, one where he was dangerous and at one point completely unhinged. There is a reason why “Clear” is considered one of the best and most morally complicated installments in the history of the series. You are seeing a man, effectively broken, go even further into a ravine.

So when Morgan made the decision to kill Richard last night, what that meant was that there was a part of him slowly approaching the flame once more. He wasn’t immersing himself within the first, but it’s something that you suddenly had to worry about once more despite it not previously being anywhere near the same sort of concern. This is a show where he could easily now become a killing machine once more, but Lennie James isn’t thinking that way.

As a matter of fact, Lennie James doesn’t necessarily think it was the goal of Morgan the very day of his kill to do that to Richard. As he tells Variety, the move was a result of circumstance, and also one that doesn’t necessarily mean that “Clear” Morgan is back in full force:

“I don’t think he woke up that morning thinking, ‘I’m going to kill Richard.’ I think he woke up that morning thinking he might have to. He did everything he could, short of not showing up, to prevent it from happening. And it became inevitable to a certain extent, when Morgan asked Richard if he’d told the King and the guys what he’d done, and Richard responded with, “We’ll talk about it later.” That was just the wrong answer, and I think it was a culmination of things: what the death of Benjamin has done to Morgan; who Morgan was trying to be; and that he opened himself up to the possibility of a positive life in the Kingdom, accepting himself as part of a group that doesn’t know his history, only knows him as he is now. That was all taken away from Morgan. Somebody earlier described it as ‘Wilderness Morgan’ tried to return. He’s trying to hold Wilderness Morgan at bay, but he is aware war is coming and is unavoidable and he has to take some part in it. His aim is to find peace but he may have go through war to get there.”

Morgan is a man that now understands fully that in order to find said peace, he may need to kill for a time. The question along the way is if he is going to lose himself in the process. Given that the character is beloved because of the way that he is, we certainly don’t want to see him go. He’s once of those characters who could easily be the last man standing at the end of this.

Also, Lennie James is a treasure and a brilliant performer. It’d be a shame to lose him on the series.

You can read more about what is coming up next on The Walking Dead over at this link.

What do you think is going to happen next with Morgan on The Walking Dead, and do you have a take on Lennie James’ comments and performance? Share now in the comments!