Why Walking Dead Fans Are Divided Over Maggie's Big Commonwealth Decision

Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) has had to make some rather difficult decisions during her tenure on AMC's mega-smash hit "The Walking Dead." She's been dealing with not only hordes of the ravenous undead but also rival factions that range from friendly to downright hostile. Recently, Maggie and her comrades were able to deal with the threat from the Reapers, a group of military veterans who use their skills to pillage and kill. However, this was not the first time an aggressive group had to be dealt with, nor was it the last.

Now that the Reapers have finally been defeated, politics between the more civilized settlements have come to the fore. Between the outposts of Hilltop, Alexandria, and Oceanside — and the remnants of the Kingdom — the former Coalition has been met with a new political adversary, known as the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is a highly tuned bureaucratic government with its own heavily armored and armed army. This provides a great deal of security for its citizens, but they are stringently controlled and trapped by a caste system that creates a rough divide between the haves and the have-nots. When forced to choose whether the survivors of Hilltop will join the Commonwealth, Maggie makes a decision that has fans split almost down the middle.

The great debate was kicked off by a tweet from the "Talking Dead" account that asked if Maggie made the right decision when it comes to membership in the Commonwealth. Despite the best efforts of its representatives, Maggie denied their request, creating a firestorm of fan opinions. Twitter user @adjist_ responded, "She literally has no reason not to trust them, she doesn't know anything yet." User @walkingwithmegz agreed, adding, "Maggie has that fear, like many others of Trust. Everytime [sic] someone new comes in, something bad happens. She is trying to do what's best for whoever is left of her family."

User @Momma_Ryan10 also feels that "something fishy's going on," while user @gillianbuettner figured the answer to joining "was always going to be no." However, not all were entirely on board with Maggie's decision, with user @VilleKathy asking, "Why does Maggie call the shots without asking what anyone else wants? They clearly don't agree with her." User @HARDWIIIRED feels like there will be a reckoning down the line because of Maggie's decision, adding that "it would be easier to take [the Commonwealth] down from the inside instead of from the outside." Fans will just have to wait and see how Maggie's decision pans out.