I don't really agree, except for the first sentence. I don't think Rick would ever kill Morgan. Carol more like it.

Morgan has gotten more people killed than Eugene. And exactly because Eugene stays out of the way if he has to and doesn't make poor choices that endanger an entire group, he's not as much as a liability as you'd think. Eugene is smart. Rosita was right to leave him back with Denise because he wouldn't be able to help out there - but exactly because he stays out of the way, he's not slowing anyone down and he's definitely not getting anyone killed indirectly. Plus, Eugene should be becoming really valuable.

That Wolf will get out and he will cause damage. He may not be responsible for the attack, but he sure as hell is responsible for not wanting to take any of them down even though they are a big risk to the community. And he sure as hell will be responsible for the damage the Alpha is going to cause.

I don't think you get why people dislike him. They don't see him as Rick's enemy. They don't think he wants to take over. He's not and he won't. They dislike him because his views endanger others if you're living in a group. Deciding all life is precious even though that life has just brutally hacked an innocent woman into pieces - deciding that because all life is precious, you can let a group of brutal killers leave with a weapon, causing them to run into Rick and almost succeeding in killing him. It's a philosophy that doesn't fit in such a group. It's getting people killed. That's why people dislike him. I haven't seen anyone mentioning him being Rick's enemy or trying to take over. Morgan wouldn't even want to be a leader. He's a follower.

No. No and no.

Morgan's sanity and Rick's sanity is very much different. Morgan's sanity has been paper thin ever since his son deceased. I don't blame the man, he's gone through a lot of shit. Rick's sanity was paper thin after Lori died, but what we see now is not a paper thin sanity. He's not always on the verge of losing his cool. He's not always at risk of becoming crazy and going on a killing spree without any purpose. No "pointless acts". Everything, everything Rick does is with a reason. Killing Jessie's husband, was with a reason. Hell, killing The Hunters, was with a good reason. Killing Joe was with a good reason. Killing Shane was with a good reason. Any time he kills, he kills to protect. Any time Morgan has killed, he killed to kill. And now he doesn't kill, and causes damage even so.

Not wanting to kill is fine, but you have to sometimes. Morgan's got to realise that. You cannot lock the Alpha up in a room without bars in front of the windows, knowing that he just hacked innocents into pieces just to kill. You cannot expect that to go well. You cannot expect him to be able to come back. You just can't. Everyone in Rick's group would've killed this guy if they could, even so Eugene, who you think is useless and apparently puts them in danger.

 

You make a lot of valid points and wasn't necessarily saying that Eugene gets people killed now but he certainly has in the past. Morgan can take down zombies. Eugene doesn't take down zombies. He's smart but he also can't shoot a gun or use a weapon. He stays out of the way but he can't fight or defend people. Morgan can fight, chooses not to kill but he protects people by killing zombies and at least trying to protect others. Eugene came to the rescue on that run and he's very useful but a zombie killer he ain't.

I was making a point that not everyone in the group or the ASZ are ready to kill and some of them may never be ready to kill. Does that mean Morgan will be killed by anyone in the group. I don't think so, not even Carol. Look at Father Gabriel. Morgan is not the worst ASZ resident. I understand why people hate Morgan because his philosophy is getting people killed but his philosophy also saved Daryl and Aaron. I think some people may hate Morgan now because they wanted to see another bad*ss like Carol and Daryl.

"People aren't comfortable with killing" I think extends to the fact that people get too comfortable with killing and start enjoying killing. The Gov was protecting his people. And he enjoyed the power of taking life. I've seen Rick's face when he kills. He's done it out necessity but where does he go? He looks absolutely mad. We watched him go mad. He had to be knocked out by his own people last season. Rick could go dark but he won't. The writers just won't actually go that far because the show would lose its hero and its star. They skirt the edge to keep things interesting but really Rick has lost it a couple of times. If he was out on his own wondering the woods like Morgan he could have very well killed people that meant him no harm. Rick has had the group to take care of him, Morgan has had himself and then later the cheese maker. Morgan may be refraining from killing because he developed a taste for it and is afraid of where he'll go. Rick may have not developed a taste for killing but he's certainly become more callous in his leadership and doesn't value life like he use to.

And when I said he's not Rick's enemy I meant later on as in Morgan trying to take over ASZ. People have been speculating that Morgan is going to try to take over or there was going to be a showdown. Maybe I misunderstood or I could have read that in another post. I've read some interesting reasons and mostly it's that Morgan is costing lives and being stupid by keeping that Wolf. I agree he is being stupid but that doesn't mean that Morgan is going to get assassinated by anyone. I don't think the writers brought back Morgan after all this time to just have another character kill him.

 

What I would like to see is both Rick and Morgan to become enlightened to how their ways are too extreme. Rick is getting a little too quick and willing to throw people aside if their not up to speed. He did try to teach the ASZ people and he continues to try but not too long ago Rick was in a garden, trying to be a farmer with Carol sneaking around, trying to teach the next generation how to combat zombies while doing what was necessary to take care of the group even when it was a little on the brutal side. When she went to far she was exiled. Now Rick has encountered a whole town of people who haven't clue but you so far they have survived. Rick at one point tried to do what they were: preserve normalcy. Rick's become callous and I can maybe see Morgan bringing him back a little and also Rick and Carol helping Morgan face reality. All life is valuable and that is why you have to protect it. Between the Alpha's possible escape and a zombie horde coming, nobody is going to have time to talk about the way of Zen v. the way of the Warrior. I think what will come into play also if there is a chance is that at one point, Rick saved Morgan but didn't kill him and yet the group left poor orange backpack to fend for himself. Who is worth saving? Alpha is not savable. He is gone. But wasn't Morgan at some point and Rick both loony and dangerous. I'm thinking way too much about this. They'll probably just kill all the zombies and Wolves and at the end Daryl will catch a nice possum and they'll have a ASZ bbq and dance party.

 

Anyone that can survive by himself, armed only with his magic broomstick and "all life is precious" is pretty bad *ss, in my book.

 

I hope someone kills Morgan soon. Morgan has easily become the worst character on the show.

 

Exactly. Yet, Morgan doesn't seem to care about any possible consequences from his decision to keep this monster alive and in the middle of the community he decided to join. Yes, we all see the parallel between what he's doing and what Eastman did with him. The big difference, as you and I and many others have repeatedly pointed out, is that Morgan is living in a community with other people...who are NOT murderous psychos. Eastman was not only a trained shrink (and a better judge of people than Morgan, who is nuts and too weak-minded to judge ANYONE), but he was living alone. If he was wrong in his judgment, then it was only his life at risk. With Morgan, he is endangering a LOT of people. If he's wrong (and he is), good people (or at least non-psychotic people) will die. And, honestly, as nutters as Morgan is, I don't see him having a problem with it, since his "all life is precious" code puts decent human beings on the same level as murderous monsters who get off on killing for fun. If people want to pacify themselves (or claim superiority) with such an insane notion, fine, but they shouldn't force it onto others, endangering everyone else because the pacifists are too emotionally weak and immature to understand the difference between predators, prey, and defenders.

Yep.

I think Morgan's sanity was paper thin before his son was killed. His sanity was already paper thin when the zombie trouncing around in his wife's body kept coming around. More importantly, Morgan was weak. Contrast his refusal to put the zombie down with Andrea killing Amy before she could become a zombie. Contrast his blindness to the danger of having the zombie wife to Carl - a freaking CHILD - who did what had to be done to make sure Lori didn't turn into a zombie after her death. Morgan has been weak since day one, and his fragility is what drove him to become a mindless killer after his son was killed (and he knew his son's death was partially due to his cowardice, since he didn't have the balls to do what had to be done) and that same fragility has driven him to adopt Eastman's code without a full understanding of how it affects others. There's no place for it in a community. End of story.

Thank you. It's driving me insane that people keep going on about how Rick needs to "meet Morgan in the middle" like, somehow, Rick is where Morgan was before he decided to start crap with Eastman. Rick isn't mindless. He's not a murderer. He does what he has to in order to protect his family (and that family includes those in his group). He gives new people a chance and even protects those who are incapable of protecting themselves, but he isn't going to die (or allow his family to die) trying to lug around dead weight, and he shouldn't have to do so. That isn't insane, it's not heartless, and it's not wrong. Yes, the man has a temper...he's human, after all, but that doesn't make him crazy. He has reasons for his choices, and he may not always be right, but that's why he has others around him. There's no Ricktatorship anymore, because he trusts those closest to him.

Rick, and those closest to him, think about the situation and make decisions based on each situation. There is no mindless following some moronic code, wherein situation A always calls for resolution A. Instead, they observe the other people involved and develop plans as required, while ensuring their own survival and attempting to save anyone who can be saved.

Contrast that with Morgan's idiocy. First, it was a code of death, where he had to kill everyone he encountered. Now, he has to avoid killing anyone, no matter the situation. There is no reasoning involved, no judgment, no attempts to observe the situation and develop a fitting solution. Nope, Morgan just blindly follows whatever code he's adopted so he doesn't have to think and make any real decisions. Why? Because he's too weak. He can't handle the consequences of making a hard decision because he can't accept, mentally, any responsibility for his actions. With the code, he can't be blamed and he keeps his hands clean, even if it's only in his own mind.

 

^^ Amazing post. Nothing to add except that I agree with people saying Morgan/Rick are some kind of counter balance is wrong. Morgan's "clear" code was as much of a death wish as it was clearing out life, which it in fact made little sense because it was simply lunatic insanity. And as you have pointed out - Morgan hasn't been through as much as Rick's group has, he's a weak character and lost his mind upon losing his family... yes they had the group but they all lost their families and they all experienced way crazier enemies and trials/tribulation.

 

Why would Rick kill Morgan just because he takes a different view on killing others? Just exile Morgan from the community.

 

I can't really picture it coming down to Rick killing Morgan, or even exiling him. I've considered a possible scenario in a future episode where Rick and Morgan are in a situation that necessitates a 'meeting of the minds' and for them to both meet halfway between their respective views. It's possible that they could get information out of the captured Wolf (Morgan/Carol, good cop/bad cop interrogation anyone?) that will lead them to the rest of the Wolves. Rick and Morgan get captured, and come up with an escape plan...Rick convinces Morgan that he's going to have to kill to escape the situation, and they encounter someone else who was working with the Wolves, but only because they'd been brainwashed or something like that. Rick wants to kill them anyway, but Morgan convinces him that people can change.

Alternatively, I can picture Morgan holding fast to his philosophy and ultimately getting killed by it before this season ends.

 

Ok so I missed the part that "this" was Morgan's fault.

Aaron was the one who dropped the backpack with not only pictures of a utopia, but also pics of Rick and his son as a means to convince stragglers they're run into that ASZ was real!

Morgan let the group go that grabbed the gun that Rick eventually killed.