No character is safe on The Walking Dead and it looks like Sasha could be the next main character to go.
Ever since Sonequa Martin-Green was cast in the upcoming Star Trek TV series I’ve been suspicious of what that means for her role on The Walking Dead. Typically, whenever a cast member signs up for another project it means that their time in the zombie apocalypse is about to end. Of course, the stars will deny it because they have to but by now fans know that they should prepare for the worst.
The news of her casting broke in December, and since then the evidence is stacking up that Sasha’s time on The Walking Dead is going to be ending in the near future. With Abraham’s passing, both Sasha and Rosita have been dealing with the grief of his loss. Even though Rosita seems to be having a harder time with the loss, that doesn’t mean that it’s affecting Sasha even less. Rather, it seems like she’s just used to losing people at this point.
Even though the two women are grieving in different ways, they have one thing in common. They want Negan gone, sooner rather than later. Rick might have a plan in place to get rid of Negan but both have been working behind his back to get their own plans in place. While Rosita has been looking for weapons, and forcing Eugene to make bullets for her, Sasha was the one who sent Jesus to the Saviors’ main base at the Sanctuary to find out how to get in.
It seemed like Rosita was intent on going on her suicide mission alone, but has recently wised up and realized she’ll be needing help. On The Walking Dead 7×12, “Say Yes,” Rosita went to Hillside to see Sasha and revealed her intentions to go after Negan. They agreed to work together, both with the knowledge that it was basically a suicide mission.
This alone is probably enough evidence to indicate that one or both of these ladies will die when they go to kill Negan. Yet, there’s even more evidence to look at from The Walking Dead comics. Abraham Ford was in a relationship with Rosita in the comics, until they arrived at Alexandria, at which point he became romantically involved with another woman. Sound familiar? While it wasn’t Sasha, it was a character named Holly that hasn’t appeared on the tv series and it looks like Sasha will be taking over her storyline.
Abraham was not killed directly by Negan in the comics, he was actually killed by Dwight, who was following Negan’s orders. Regardless, it causes his girlfriend Holly to join in the fight against Negan alongside Rick. In volume 20 Holly volunteers to go with Rick, Paul and Ezekiel to the Saviors’ base. But she’s able to break away from them and use a truck to break through a fence allowing walkers to invade the base. Injuries from the crash resulted in Holly being taken captive by the Saviors.
While in their captivity, Holly was almost raped by a Savior but was saved by Negan. Only to later be used as bait to get into Alexandria. Holly was taken back to Alexandria with a bag over her head in order to try and get Rick to cooperate. However, once Holly was back inside the walls of Alexandria and her bag was removed it was revealed she had been killed and come back as a walker. Walker Holly was able to bite another person in Rick’s group before being shot.
It seems like Sasha will be taking over aspects of Holly’s storyline. Instead of going with Rick and the others to the Sanctuary she will probably be going with Rosita alone. My guess is that there will be a similar situation with the use of a vehicle to get inside the base since it seems quite difficult to get in and out. It’s possible that Rosita could also make it inside, but I would bet that only Sasha does.
From there on out, I’d expect that Sasha would closely follow along Holly’s storyline. She’d be taken prisoner by Negan and we could even see him saving her from being raped. Maybe then the writers could explain why Negan is so against sexual assault when other villains haven’t been. Then Sasha would probably be killed before making it to Alexandria and become a walker just like in the comics. I would hope that she doesn’t bite anyone, but I wouldn’t rule it out either.
Sasha’s death would be a big blow to Rick and the group. They fully expected more deaths as they fought Negan, but Sasha has always been such a strong character that was able to escape danger time and time again. Maggie and Sasha have become particularly close this season so it will most likely hurt her the most, especially since she’s still dealing with Glenn’s death. Rosita should also feel a great responsibility for Sasha’s death, even though they both knew what they were going into from the start.
Although the character isn’t really a favorite of fans, especially compared to others, it may still be difficult for them to deal with. The season has been particularly more gruesome than previous ones, and many are still distraught from the major deaths of Glenn and Abraham in the season premiere. It would be even worse if her death causes the death of another character. It will all depend on how much of an impact the writers want to happen.
Sasha’s death may be the last one fans have to endure in The Walking Dead season 7, but there will plenty more as the war against Negan continues on into season 8.