Well, he has two choices, really. Either he goes off on his own and puppy Brandon and tries over again, or opts to earn major brownie points with the Alexandrians and eliminate their enemy.

I think Aaron was right to say that someone who has done the things Negan did, with a smile even, revelling in brutality, is broken. There's something broken in them that can't ever be fully fixed. But I do believe Negan has changed, mostly because he is a very smart person. Having observed Alexandria over eight years, he can clearly see that this society works much better than the one he created. He mocks and ridicules them for being soft, but on the whole, he appreciates that they managed to keep going, most people are happy, and until the Whisperers came, they only appeared to have lost one person in six years due to an attack from the wild kids group.

I don't think he would want to start out again. I think he wants to fix the whisperer problem, and establish himself in Alexandria as a free man, who's heroic deed will finally shut people up about leopards and their spots. I think that's where this is going, and it's a damn good story.

 

If he follows the comic route, he

which would make things really interesting

 

I think it's a mix with Negan. He sees that his society didn't work but he also thinks there are flaws in Alexandria. The way they treated Lydia has given him doubts. He's probably somewhere in the middle right now.

 

I’m hoping they follow the comics. Even the part at the border with Brandon


The truth is out there

 

I absolutely agree with Aaron that something inside Negan is broken. I didn’t buy his speech that he had to do the things he did to keep people from taking what was his. He enjoyed the killing, the brutality of it, not to mention he killed his own, like throwing his group’s Dr. into the furnace alive. Can you ever come all the way back from that?

So he has a soft spot for kids. At least he has one redeeming quality. Even if he makes some good choices, he will always have to be watched closely. Our groups would be fools to trust him 100%. On the other hand, people shouldn’t automatically jump to the conclusion that every bad thing that happens can be traced back to him.

He doesn’t have a lot of options at this moment, so we’ll see where he goes. If his only choices are, wander without the support and protection of a large group, the Whisperers, or our established communities, he’ll have to figure out where he fits in and try to act accordingly.

 

I don't know exactly what he does in the comics, but I believe he connects with the Whisperers and finds a way to help the group(s) defeat them. He is trying to earn his place. He will do so by helping bring down the whisperers.