[SPOILERS S7E11] The final words of the episode and their significance.

"I'm Eugene, you're Dwight. We are Negan."

Such an excellent choice for final words of the episode spoken by Eugene here, for a number of reasons. The episode is predominantly about Eugene and Dwight and focuses on their transformation from 'who they were' to 'Negan', essentially. It focuses on their abilities to hide their true selves and true allegiances/feelings and essentially dupe their way into the ranks of the Sanctuary.

Eugene: Let's not forget that Eugene's true self is a timid, terrified high school teacher. Yes, he's intelligent, but he's nowhere near the triple-PhD Human Genome prodigy he claims to be to Negan. He paints the picture with everyone he meets - a scientist and doctor with endless abilities to solve problems and an indispensable person to have around. The episode shows how he uses his intelligence to move from being the outsider to very much an insider. The poison plot was especially important here, as we see Eugene suss out the wives' intentions (and explain to them exactly that) with next to no effort. He sits playing the videogame, explaining it like it's the most simple, mediocre plan in the world. Compare this to Daryl: when he was thrown a bone in the first half of the season - the cell door left unlocked before being ambushed in an attempt to break his spirit - he fell for that hook, line and sinker. Eugene does in this episode to Negan what he did to Rick and Abe before him. He cons him into believing the facade. This is interesting because it shows how Eugene adapts to these situations and how he earns the trust of people around him. He can't assert his dominance in any other way, he has to use his brain and ability to read people to survive.

Dwight: As much as this episode focuses on Eugene pretending to be someone he isn't, it also focuses on Dwight and how he has also pretended to be someone he isn't. We've learnt quite a lot about Dwight and his backstory, how Negan took his wife from him and forced him to be subordinate. We learn that every terrible thing Dwight does is not because he's a terrible person, but because he was trying to protect his wife. The scene in the house helps to paint this picture more effectively and illustrate how Dwight has changed. The letter Dwight reads even explicitly lays this out; "I love who you were, not who you are" (or something to that effect). In the same way Eugene engineers his own persona for Negan etc., using his intelligence to solve problems and talk his way out of situations, Dwight has engineered his by being the 'brutal foot-soldier' for Negan; hunting down and killing various people throughout the seasons for him in order to gain and keep his trust. Dwight is made to admit that his wife doesn't mean anything to him, that he's happy Negan now has her for a wife and, in this episode, that he "isn't sorry" when he tells Negan he killed her. All of which is, of course, not true.

The final scene is very telling. Dwight is almost the opposite to Eugene in terms of a 'right-hand man' figure to Negan, yet he's actually quite similar, which makes them overlooking the Sanctuary together a very interesting image. They are both stood, assuming their respective personas, which we all know are lies. Dwight isn't really a cold-blooded killer who relishes murdering people, and Eugene isn't really (what he tells Negan) "Negan 100%, even before I met you". Telling him this is Eugene's (excellent) way of reading and exploiting people - he reads Negan's biggest weakness to be his hubris and exploits this perfectly - in the same way he banked on Abe, a proud, strong soldier, to want to follow through with his plan to 'save the world'. I believe Eugene has also sussed out Dwight. He knows the difference between bad people and good people doing bad things to survive, which makes this final scene all the more poignant.

"I'm Eugene, you're Dwight. We are Negan."

At first watch, it's easy to just read this statement as Eugene doing what he does best - reading the situation and understanding it alongside his over-complicated manner of speaking. Almost like he's seeing Dwight as a potential friend and reaffirming to him both his name, and the fact he's now 'Negan' to try and earn his trust. However, I don't think this is true at all and there's much more to this than meets the eye. The whole episode was about these two characters doing what they can to survive and assuming personalities which aren't who they truly are. The 'Eugene' and 'Dwight' that are referenced here relate to their true selves - before Negan. Who they were. Eugene explicitly highlights this in his statement - "I'm Eugene, you're Dwight" - firstly an admittance that Eugene knows Dwight isn't truly bad and secondly a reminder to them both of their past selves. He's telling Dwight that they are who they were and always will be. Stating "we are Negan" is purely an affirmation of the story they've both created. Neither truly are Negan, but Eugene is essentially saying, "Remember, we're both who we always have been, but while we're here in the Sanctuary, we're Negan".

Submitted February 28, 2017 at 07:05AM by mrlonelywolf http://ift.tt/2m2k9Ip