Troublemakers from The Walking Dead talk fan theories and what’s next for the show at Walker Stalker Con Chicago

Some Walking Dead troublemakers answered questions on fan theories, what’s to come on the show plus insight into their own characters.

The Walking Dead fandom has taken over Chicago this weekend for Walker Stalker Con. Steven Ogg (Simon), Pollyanna McIntosh (Jadis) and Jayson Warner Smith (Gavin) started the day with their panel aptly titled “Troublemakers.”

Yes, these three are iconic baddies on the show. But McIntosh noted she sees her character Jadis as finding “the way back to the good guys.”

“I want them to succeed,” McIntosh said of Rick and his group. “I think Jadis would be successful… What I want to do is help those folks out.” McIntosh expressed that these are her personal thoughts, not a full-on character prediction. But we can easily see Jadis finding her way to being fully good (and not backstabbing anyone ever again).

When it came to why she — and really all of the Scavengers — spoke in such short, succinct phrases? “Intimidation,” McIntosh said. “We don’t waste trash or words … It also bound us together.”

Not wanting to make waste is definitely a theme among the Scavengers, and could be a reason why Jadis let Negan go in “Still Gotta Mean Something.” McIntosh said “I think at that point, she’d had so much death and horror in her world that when she realized he was telling the truth [about not ordering her community to be wiped out], she saw one more death as one more loss, just too much. Practically speaking, we take, we don’t bother. So for him, she didn’t need to take… he showed humanity, so she let him go.”

McIntosh added that she was sad to see her community taken out. However, their ending was a fitting one due to how impactful they were to her character and truly the show as a whole.

As for those scoundrel Saviors, Smith and Ogg discussed the differences of their characters when it comes to obeying Negan.

Smith described the now-deceased Gavin as “a bit of a coward,” almost like the guy who works at a job he hates but knows he doesn’t have any other options. He also revealed that at the start, Gavin could have easily been similar to Simon. When he started on the show, Smith says executive producer Greg Nicotero guided the role of Gavin to be like Negan’s right-hand man. But that was quickly backtracked, and Gavin instead was more of a follower, as opposed to our gritty and currently interim leader Simon.

Smith explained that Gavin is easily afraid of Negan. “He’s been on Negan’s patrol… found people that have run off and knows what happens.” He added that Gavin’s a guy who “knows he is doing bad things, but thinks it is for a good cause.” A characteristic that “saves the soul a little bit” as McIntosh pointed out.

When fans brought up a few of their biggest theories and speculations for what’s to come on the show, our Walking Dead Troublemakers may have just answered a few.

How about that mysterious helicopter? McIntosh liked the idea by one fan that it could be coming from an army base. She added it is “definitely coming from a place we have not seen yet…  Safety would be cool. But it could also be bad guys.”

And will Simon face Lucille? “I think Simon crossed many lines,” Ogg told the panel crowd. “I don’t think Papa Bear is gonna be too happy with what Simon’s leaving in his wake.” Nevertheless, Ogg said Simon will take his potential punishment with pride.

“I’ll face the consequences,” Ogg answered for his character. “He’ll face it head-on. If its death, then all right. Eye to eye, smash my head on while I’m looking at you.”

When discussing their favorite moments thus far on the show, the three agreed their first days were pretty memorable. Plus just getting to hang out with everyone off-set was always enjoyable. The group gave a few beloved shoutouts to their castmates, with McIntosh describing Melissa McBride (Carol) as a goddess and Smith noting Lennie James as a role model. Ogg gave love for the whole cast, calling the whole group “amazingly talented” — and we can’t agree more.

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Keep checking Culturess for more Walker Stalker Con Chicago coverage as well as news from C2E2.