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Dwight Faces An Uncertain Future On 'The Walking Dead'

by Megan Walsh

After weeks of working with Rick behind Negan's back, Dwight was finally discovered in "Worth." Negan promised him a punishment that would be a fate worse than death, but didn't elaborate on just what that would be. Is it possible the show's source material could shed a little light on Dwight's future? Does Dwight die in The Walking Dead comics?

Dwight does survive in the comics, but unfortunately that might not mean anything when it comes to figuring out where his story on the show is going. Carl is still alive in the comics too, and fans witnessed every moment of his long, drawn-out death onscreen. Just because Dwight lives on the page doesn't mean the same will be true for the live action version of the character. In fact, The Walking Dead has already deviated from Dwight's journey in the comics.

Much of the story was the same, down to the double-crossing, but it unfolded in a very different way. Negan didn't discover Dwight was lying to him until the last possible moment, which was what allowed Rick to come out on top in the big battle. Now that Dwight has been found out, all of that is subject to change — and suddenly Rick's victory doesn't seem so assured.

In the source material, it goes down like this: Dwight's sneaking around goes off essentially without a hitch, allowing him to form a plan with Rick, Ezekiel, and Maggie about how to take down Negan. When the war is raging, Negan implements his infected weapon strategy: by dipping all the knives and arrows in zombie guts, he guarantees that even the tiniest scratch will destroy its victim.

He instructs Dwight to shoot a poisoned arrow at Rick, but Dwight picks a normal one instead — unbeknownst to Negan, of course. Negan thinks Rick is dead but he's actually just fine, allowing for a last minute surprise altercation that ends with Negan in a jail cell and Rick reigning supreme. Dwight continues to be a useful ally, even taking control of the Saviors at one point. He's still going strong.

Dwight wasn't so lucky on the show. He thought he was flying under the radar and maintaining Negan's faith in him, but Negan was well aware of Dwight's deception long before he revealed as much to Dwight. A Savior named Laura had witnessed one of Dwight's rebellious acts and she knew he wasn't on their side, but she was M.I.A. for too long to put that information to good use. She tattled as soon as she came into contact with Negan again, and Negan used that knowledge to his advantage.

He got Dwight to pass a fake plan along to Rick before confronting him at the Sanctuary. Now Rick will be walking right into a trap and Dwight is incapable of warning him because Negan is going to do something awful to him. He might not kill Dwight right away but it's clear that Negan has nothing good up his sleeve.

Negan finding out what Dwight was up to a lot earlier in the show than in the comics might change the entire outcome of the war. It will definitely alter the course of Dwight's story. The show has always rearranged details and switched around storylines to keep the audience from guessing everything ahead of time, but it had been sticking to the comics fairly faithfully before Carl's unexpected demise. Now everything is up in the air and there's no way to predict how it will all turn out. Fans will have to wait for the Season 8 finale to see just how much was changed from the comics — and just how much stayed the same.

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