Does Daryl Die In 'The Walking Dead' Comics? "The Cell" Could Be His Undoing

The introduction of Negan to The Walking Dead has splintered Rick's group in more ways than one. Not only are Glenn and Abraham gone, costing the cast two of their most dependable people, but Daryl has been hauled off as a prisoner. The consequences of Daryl making a charge at Negan after Abraham's death are going to be major; as if it wasn't enough for Glenn to be killed as punishment, the promo for Episode 3 makes it look like Daryl is going to rue the day he ever put a foot out of line. The fear is that Negan might take it too far and kill Daryl too, because he obviously has no qualms about killing. But can the comics afford us any insight here? Does Daryl die in The Walking Dead comics?

Unfortunately, there's no help to be found in the pages of the comics, because Daryl doesn't exist there; he's an original character who was created for the show. His fate has always been up in the air for that fact, making it difficult to predict just which direction his journey will go. However, there were other characters in the comics who found their way into the Savior compound, which may provide some clues about what will happen to Daryl while he's there.

In The Walking Dead comics, Carl is the character who gives readers their first look at the Saviors' compound known as, the Sanctuary. However, the situations are more than a little different. Though Carl takes out a bunch of Saviors on his way there, he's treated to a relatively cordial tour of the community, complete with watching Negan torture a man. Negan then returns Carl to his father. Daryl, as a prisoner, is in for a totally different experience, as depicted by the promo for "The Cell." Despite the fact that Negan has apparently taken a shine to him, Daryl will still have to contend with Negan's abuse. And according to an interview Norman Reedus did with Entertainment Weekly, all the fight has gone out of Daryl. He believes he deserves whatever he endures after Glenn and Abraham's deaths.

The weight of Glenn's death is going to weigh on Daryl heavily, I know it does. He gives up, he loses the fight, he's keeping to himself, whatever's happening to him, he thinks he deserves it. He's going to let it happen, which is crushing.

Despite the fact that Daryl is in a bad place and has lost some of his survival instinct, that's no reason to believe he's actually going to die. The reasons for that are two-fold: Daryl is the biggest fan favorite on the show, and he's about as safe as Rick is for that reason. The other is that Negan has decided that Daryl is more useful to him alive than dead. Jeffrey Dean Morgan told The Hollywood Reporter that Negan wants to make Daryl into a Savior, maybe even his new right hand man, which means that he's not looking to kill Daryl. He just wants to break his spirit.

Though that will leave Daryl alive, it may do so at an incredible cost.