The Walking Dead audiences were introduced to a whole new world in the post-zombie apocalypse, the Kingdom, in Sunday's episode, and with it they met its capable ruler, Ezekiel. But in a world where Negan is out to conquer every community within reach, what is the relationship between those at the Kingdom and the Saviors?
Full spoilers for The Walking Dead continue below.
It was revealed in "The Well" that Ezekiel is responsible with providing goods to Negan's crew, just like Hilltop must and Rick's group soon will have to, but the king of the Kingdom has a certain amount of confidence and rapport with the Saviors that the other two leaders don't have. Khary Payton, the actor who plays Ezekiel, explained why he thinks that is to IGN.
"I think that he's got a particularly unique situation with the Saviors," Payton said in a phone interview. "In my mind, I don't know if anyone was killed in his community by the Saviors. That somehow, maybe he got away with just a very tense confrontation. And frankly, if you bring a bat and I bring a tiger, I'm thinking maybe you're going to be like, 'Maybe I won't hit you with this bat. Maybe it's better if I more politely than most say listen we're going to make trouble unless you give us a little something.'"
Though that means Ezekiel must also bite his tongue, Payton believes his character's primary objective is "preserving the life of his people." Of course, the residents of the Kingdom don't know about his deal with Negan, but it seems that he is keeping them apart from that terrifying reality to help them preserve the idealized lives they're living.
How Ezekiel's Introduction Compares to the Comics:
At the end of the episode, Ezekiel reveals to Carol that his king persona is essentially an act he puts on to live up to his community's expectations, but Payton defends his character's actions as not just being make believe.
"This is not a fantasy that he's living. It's a construct to be sure, but it's not different than the construct of the United States government," said Payton. "When people say, well, he's kind of putting on this character or whatever, it's not any different than what we do in this real life. That is real life to him. This is the way that he's able to protect his people, and as far as they're concerned, he is a king. He's not pretending to be king. He didn't call himself a king. They did because it made them feel better, it made them feel protected, made them feel comfortable. They call him a king and a king he is."
For now, Ezekiel has two new allies in the form of Carol and Morgan -- two Alexandrians who notably were not present for Negan's power play and brutal murder of Glenn and Abraham. They are a connective tissue to instigate Rick's inevitable introduction to the Kingdom, but Payton thinks there's a more interesting reason they were the first characters to meet Ezekiel: both of them are having a crisis with their sense of self, and they might find peace with what they're wrestling with at the Kingdom.
"As far as Ezekiel is concerned, if you kind of turn off your love and turn off that light, that spark that makes you see beauty in the world, then you might as well be one of these mindless creatures roaming the countryside. That to turn off your humanity is to die a death before death. He's not willing to do that," said Payton. "I think that Morgan's coming to realize that which is why he finds such a confidant in Morgan and seeing him as an adviser, someone who can help him lead.
"As far as Carol is concerned, I think he sees an incredible strength that she was literally pulling herself from the brink," he continued. "The woman was shot up and cut up and was unconscious for two days and woke up ready to get back up and fight. That kind of strength is not something you see every day. And even though, yeah, she's trying to cut herself off it is a survival mechanism. He feels like if he can just get her to see a little bit of the light that she can, that that strength is something that he could really use in his community."
Since the Kingdom isn't filled to the brim with fighters like Negan's Saviors, Ezekiel is doing his best to protect the seniors and kids who also reside under his jurisdiction while also bringing in new assets like Morgan to help train his warriors. His way of throwing "a little but of a middle finger" to the Saviors is by feeding them pigs fattened up by the dead, but he's not willing to face off again's Negan's forces... yet.
When asked what could happen to inspire Ezekiel to raise arms against the Saviors, Payton said, "I don't know, but it's probably going to be bad. It's like, there's some people who like to fight and there are other people that don't like to fight until you make them mad. It's like those old Bruce Lee movies. He didn't want trouble. He's just trying to work in his family's restaurant, then somebody beat the crap out of his cousin or killed his sister and it was like, all he saw is red. It's like, aw crap, you made Bruce Lee mad and everybody is going to die now. I feel kind of like the same way. You know, you really shouldn't poke this guy. He's got a scepter, but there's a sword in there."
Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
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