The Walking Dead: Dead City has wrapped up Season 3 with another bloody finale, as Maggie, Negan and Hershel are forced into a final fight against Dillard and the community he has taken control of. After Dillard killed Renata in Episode 7, tensions finally come to a head in the finale, with several deaths, a brutal showdown and a major change in where Maggie and Negan stand with each other.

Warning: Major spoilers for The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 below.

Does Dillard Die in The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3?

Yes, Dillard dies in the Season 3 finale, although Dead City gives him a particularly fitting end. Dillard spends much of the episode hunting Negan after their friendship completely fell apart. The two eventually come face-to-face, with Dillard determined to be the person who kills him. During the confrontation, Maggie arrives and shoots Dillard in the leg, but he manages to turn the situation around by holding Negan at gunpoint and threatening Maggie.

Dillard orders Negan to prove that Maggie is not his friend, leading Negan to stab her in the stomach before Dillard traps her behind a gate with walkers closing in. Negan then fights Dillard himself, but Dillard eventually gets hold of Lucille and prepares to kill him with the bat.

Before he can do it, Maggie returns and chops off Dillard’s arm. She is ready to finish him, but Negan stops her. Instead, he holds Dillard and tells him, “I hope you find what you’re looking for,” before leaving him to the walkers. The episode confirms Dillard has turned, showing him among the undead.

Why Does Negan Let Dillard Become a Walker?

Dillard’s fate connects directly to his obsession with the walkers he once treated as his closest companions. Before meeting Maggie and Negan, Dillard had spent years alone in Manhattan and coped with his isolation by talking to two walkers he named Cockenspiel and Titicaca. He came to see them as friends, with the finale showing the walkers speaking normally to him from his point of view.

His relationship with Negan collapsed after Cockenspiel and Titicaca were killed, and Dillard blamed Negan for taking away the only connections he believed he had. Rather than allowing Maggie to kill him outright, Negan leaves Dillard to become one of the undead himself. His final words about hoping Dillard finds what he is looking for make the punishment personal, with Dillard ultimately becoming part of the group he had spent so long treating as his real companions.

What Happens to Renata?

Renata was shot by Dillard in Episode 7 after she was convinced not to kill Negan, and the finale reveals what happened to her. Dillard has kept the now-undead Renata restrained and removes her teeth, intending for her to replace Titicaca as one of his walker companions. Her brother Luis is forced to watch before later escaping with Maggie. When Maggie and Luis find Renata still strapped to a table, Luis asks for a knife because he cannot leave his sister that way. He then kills the walker Renata, finally putting her to rest.

Does Maggie Die After Negan Stabs Her?

No, Maggie survives the finale despite Negan stabbing her. The apparent betrayal comes after Dillard points his gun at Maggie and demands that Negan prove she means nothing to him. Negan stabs Maggie before she is locked behind a gate with walkers approaching, but she manages to fight them off until Luis arrives to help her. Maggie then returns to the fight and is ultimately the person who stops Dillard from killing Negan.

The moment also comes after Maggie makes one of the biggest admissions about her relationship with Negan so far. Earlier in the episode, when Negan suggests handing himself over, Maggie tells him she has already lost enough people and says that, aside from Hershel, Negan is now the closest thing she has to family. Considering their history and Negan’s murder of Glenn, it is a huge shift in their relationship.

Who Else Dies in the Dead City Season 3 Finale?

Radomir is also killed during the fight against Dillard’s guards. After Hershel rallies the captive survivors to fight back, Radomir opens fire with a machine gun, but Hershel throws a knife into his head and kills him. The moment gives Hershel a much bigger part in the final battle and shows just how capable he has become.

What Happens to Maggie and Negan at the End?

With Dillard defeated, Maggie and Negan finish Season 3 working together rather than against each other. Maggie gives Negan a security badge and tells him she needs somebody to take charge of protecting their community. Manhattan may now be under their control, but Maggie points out that four other boroughs remain. She then tells Negan she has something she needs him to do, and he agrees.

It leaves the pair in one of their strangest positions since Dead City began. Maggie spent years unable to forgive Negan for killing Glenn, but by the end of Season 3 she is openly describing him as family and trusting him with the security of the community they have built.

Hershel also appears to be settling into this new life, ending the season by giving himself a tattoo, while Negan is shown playing video games with a new group of people.

What Does the Dead City Season 3 Ending Mean for Season 4?

The finale leaves plenty of room for Maggie and Negan’s story to continue.

Dillard is gone, the Manhattan community is in a stronger position and Maggie has brought Negan into its leadership. Her mention of the other four boroughs also sets up where the story could go next, especially after she tells Negan she has another job for him.

The bigger change is Maggie and Negan. Their relationship has always been shaped by what Negan did to Glenn, but Season 3 ends with Maggie admitting how connected their lives have become. It does not erase their history, but it leaves them closer than ever. not erase their history, but it does leave them closer to being genuine allies than they have ever been before.

For CultureCues, Dillard’s ending feels pretty fitting after everything he did in the final episodes. Leaving him to become one of the walkers he had spent years treating as friends is brutal, but very The Walking Dead. What we are most interested in now is Maggie and Negan. We are not sure we will ever fully get over what happened to Glenn, but Dead City is telling a different story with these two now, and Maggie calling Negan the closest thing she has to family outside of Hershel is a huge moment. We are really interested to see where that relationship goes next.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 has now concluded.

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