Saying Farewell (Maybe) to ‘Fear the Walking Dead’s [Spoiler]

[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Fear The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 6, “All I See Is Red.”]

He made the journey from Atlanta to Virginia, and then from Virginia to Texas… but now it seems Morgan Jones’ (Lennie James) tale of survivorship in the zombie apocalypse is coming to a close.

As of the ending of “All I See Is Red,” Morgan and his adoptive daughter are leaving in search of the friend who once told Morgan “not to run” — a.k.a., Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). He buries Grace (Karen David) on the same land with Eastman (John Carroll Lynch), gives a heartrending little speech about “making life mean something,” and walks away… potentially out of the franchise, but for sure out of the show.

Here’s why we’ll miss Morgan.

Ryan Green/AMC

A Genuine Moral Compass — With A Dark Side

Throughout his time on both the main show and its spinoff, Morgan often had the thankless job of serving as the group’s moral compass. His “all life is precious” mantra occasionally drew ire from fans who wanted to see less philosophizing and more zombie killing, but there’s something to be said for a survivor who still believes in the enduring good of humanity after witnessing the worst of it. Whether he was arguing to save one of the Wolves who attacked Alexandria or putting down boxes on the side of the highway to help survivors in Texas, Morgan always tried to do what was right—and in the Walking Dead universe, kindheartedness is in rare supply. While Rick was always his closest companion, we also have fond memories of his bond with Carol (Melissa McBride). While they didn’t see eye to eye at first, both characters frequently struggled with the necessity of killing. When it came down to it, Morgan’s influence helped pull Carol back from some of her darkest days.

That said, some of Morgan’s intrigue came from his “dark passenger,” too. All the way back in Season 3, we learned that he had the potential to slide into a kind of grief- and rage-induced madness, during which all he saw “was red.” Morgan lost himself when he lost his son, and again when he lost Grace. There’s a reason “Clear” remains one of the show’s best episodes: James plays good-guy Morgan well, but he’s phenomenal at delving into the character’s dark side.

Gene Page/AMC

A Unique Fighting Style

Plenty of Walking Dead characters have their signature weapons. Rick has his Colt Python. Michonne (Danai Gurira) has her katana. Daryl (Norman Reedus) has his crossbow. Morgan, however, has his Aikido staff, and his fighting style allowed for some epic action sequences over the years. Take, for example, the fight between him and Jesus (Tom Payne) in Season 8, which highlighted the skills of both characters (and was one of the few action scenes Jesus was afforded outside the source material). Eventually, he even upgraded the stick with an axe, making him even deadlier in a fight.

Lennie James’ Portrayal

In the end, we’ll miss Morgan, sure — but we’ll really miss having Lennie James in the TWDU. James’ acting was consistently among the best in the franchise, and even if the writing sometimes faltered for Morgan’s character, James’ real-life skill never did. The moment when Morgan tries and fails to kill his zombified wife remains one of the most emotional, moving scenes in the entirety of the franchise, and that’s thanks to the actor playing him.

While James appears to be done with Fear, we wouldn’t be shocked to see him show up at least once more. Because he left in search of Rick, we’re betting he’ll show up in Summit, the Rick-and-Michonne spinoff. It’s not clear (ha) how large a role he’d have on that program. Whether he takes part in some climactic final faceoff against the CRM or walks in as calmly as he did during that pivotal Season 5 post-credits scene, we doubt AMC will forget about him. When The Walking Dead franchise concludes, we’d bet it’ll do so with one last meeting of the two initial Atlanta survivors.

Fear the Walking Dead, Season 8, Part 2, TBD, AMC