Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) and Negan Smith’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) post-apocalyptic adventures through New York continue!

In Touch recaps what happened in the first season of The Walking Dead: Dead City ahead of the season 2 premiere on May 4, 2025.

How Did ‘TWD: Dead City’ Season 1 Start?

Several years after the events of the series finale of The Walking Dead, Maggie is on a mission to find Negan – and she’s looking for a big favor.

Maggie discovers him at an inn. He flees when he sees her, but after getting into a scuffle, they eventually call a temporary truce as she tells him why she’s been looking for him. Her son, Hershel (Logan Kim), was kidnapped by a man with an undeniable connection to Negan’s past – he’s a former member of The Saviors.

It’s also revealed that Negan has been traveling with a nonverbal girl, Ginny (Mahina Napoleon), who stopped speaking after the death of her father. Maggie agrees to let her stay at their community at The Bricks where it’s safe if Negan helps her find Hershel.

Meanwhile, Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles), a marshal for the New Babylon Federation (NBF), is on the hunt for Negan too for the alleged murders of a magistrate and other marshals with the NBF.

‘TWD: Dead City’ Introduced a Former Savior as a Villain

It’s revealed that a man known only as The Croat (Željko Ivanek) is the one who kidnapped Hershel – and he’s been looking for Negan for years. He’s not only a former interrogator for the Saviors, he’s also a leader of a large group of survivors in Manhattan known as the Burazi (which roughly translates to brotherhood in Croatian).

It becomes clear throughout the season that The Croat still idolizes Negan and he kidnapped Hershel in order to find him again … but Negan has less fond memories of him.

“Let’s just say there were a lot of psychos in my crew back then, but he always stood out as being an exceptionally insane son of a bitch,” he tells Maggie.

A flashback confirms The Croat lost Negan’s trust after torturing and murdering a girl who he thought was a scout from another community. After that, Negan realized that the man couldn’t be controlled and he tried to shoot him, but he missed and only shot off his ear.

Negan and Maggie Team Up With Another Group in ‘TWD: Dead City’

Despite their tense past, Negan and Maggie had to work together to survive on their search for Hershel, whether they were battling Walkers or other survivors.

As Maggie and Negan travel to Manhattan, Maggie is plagued by nightmares and memories of Negan killing her husband, Glenn (Steven Yeun), years ago when she was pregnant with Hershel. He tries to convince her to put their differences aside and argues that he’s not the “bad guy.”

“I’m not. No one is,” he says. “But you know what, Maggie, maybe everyone is. Ask yourself one question: how many husbands and fathers have you killed?”

They meet a small group of survivors known as the Manhattan Tribespeople – led by Tommaso (Jonathan Higginbotham) and Amaia (Karina Ortiz) – after following an elderly woman to their hideout and eventually learn that they know where the Burazi and The Croat are located.

They form a plan to sneak in and use Negan as bait. Their plans are almost ruined when another member of the group, Luther (Michael Anthony), pulls out Negan’s Wanted poster and privately tells him that he and Maggie need to leave. They get into a fight and Luther stumbles backward and impales himself on a pipe, instantly killing him. Negan disposes of his body and it’s assumed by the others that Luther left because he did not want to join them on their rescue mission.

Perlie Armstrong is Captured by The Croat in ‘TWD: Dead City’ Season 1

While on his search for Negan, Perlie is caught and imprisoned by the Burazi.

Perlie later finds himself chained to a pole in an arena where he is forced to fight a Walker, who was a former member of the Burazi. He manages to win the fight and he’s later congratulated by The Croat for giving him a good show.

Perlie eventually admits to The Croat that he’s on the hunt for Negan.

Later in the season, The Croat attempts to kill Perlie as a show of good faith to Negan, but Negan rescues him and they become reluctant temporary allies – though Perlie continues to insist he will be arresting him and returning him to the NBF for his crimes.

Tommaso and Amaia’s Deaths in ‘TWD: Dead City’ Season 1

In the episode “The Stories We Tell,” Maggie learns that Tommaso had told The Croat about their plans in exchange for a boat so that he and Amaia could leave the island and make themselves a new home on the mainland.

“He said they got homes with kitchens, rooms for your things, a farm, a school for your kids,” he explains to Maggie. “That s–t sounded safe because everything was made of brick. He said that’s the kind of place we could get to.”

Shortly after his confession, Walkers attack them and both Amaia and Tomasso are killed.

Inside Maggie’s Betrayal of Negan in ‘TWD: Dead City’ Season 1

In the middle of their mission, Ginny returns, having sneaked away from Maggie’s friend and come back to Manhattan to find Negan. Frustrated, Negan yells at her for doing something so reckless and says she can’t be around him. She refuses to leave, and despite having been unable to speak for the year they traveled together, she begins to try to say something to him.

Desperate to get her to safety, Negan interrupts her and then confesses that he is the one who killed her father before sending her away with Perlie.

While on their way to find Hershel, Negan suddenly realizes that he’s being led into a trap and that Ginny had been trying to warn him. That’s when Maggie pulls a knife on him. It’s revealed she meant to trade him to The Croat in exchange for her son all along.

“The s–t thing is Maggie, we could’ve done it. We could have saved Hershel,” Negan tells her. “Maybe some part of you always wanted it to end this way. The fact is, Maggie, it doesn’t matter what excuses I give you, or how many apologies I offer, you can’t get over it. And you shouldn’t.”

With little choice, he allows himself to bartered for Hershel’s life.

The Setup for ‘TWD: Dead City’ Season 2

The Croat leads Negan to meet The Dama (Lisa Emery) – who is revealed to be The Croat’s boss and the true leader of the Burazi. She tells Negan that she’s heard of his past with The Saviors and wants him to continue his work in Manhattan.

“The island needs leadership. Now more than ever,” she says. “Someone with confidence, fearlessness, charisma, that special, shall we say, political talent. For what is politics if not performance?”

When Negan is hesitant to cooperate with her, she shows him a small box that has Hershel’s severed toe in it, conveying a clear warning that she can and will hurt the teenager again if he doesn’t fall into step.

“I can always go back for more,” she tells him. “We have a lot to discuss. A lot to plan for.”