The Walking Dead Season 8 Implications: What 'Mercy' Really Means

4. Father Gabriel Isn't Totally Doomed... Yet

The episode goes to pains to showcase the mutual respect and trust that now exists between Father Gabriel and Rick, and just how far the former has come, so of course he's captured by the end of it.

Whether he has his sh*tting pants on or not remains to be seen, but things could be worse for Father Gabriel. This is an adapted moment from the comics, where Holly is captured after the attack on the Sanctuary. However, Holly's capture and death have already been given to Sasha, meaning they're free to take this in a much different direction. That said, because of what happened with Sasha, there's no way Negan is going to make that sort of mistake again.

And yet he probably won't kill Gabriel in that container. For a start, Gabriel has a gun - which may or may not have ammo left - so should have some sort of advantage. Meanwhile, Seth Gilliam has teased an interesting dynamic between the two characters, and you don't get that by killing him off immediately. Gabriel, as a priest, is a potentially good sounding board for Negan - one is trained to listen, the other loves to talk. We know that Negan makes it out alive, obviously, but perhaps not before a deep, meaningful conversation with the good Father - and then he will be free to kill him.