Walking Dead season 7 spoilers
Norman Reedus teases whether his “The Walking Dead” character will join The Saviors. AMC

Daryl Dixon has a very tough choice to make. On Sunday’s Season 7, episode 3 of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” Daryl was given the opportunity to join Negan’s team and become one of the top lieutenants of The Saviors, or continue to live in his tiny cell and get tortured. Daryl chose the latter, but towards the end of the episode, he broke down into tears.

Norman Reedus did an interview with IGN about his character refusing to cave and become one of The Saviors. As it turns out, Daryl’s refusal has a lot to do with Glenn (Steven Yeun), who was killed in the Season 7 premiere.

“Glenn was such an optimistic, good person and such a close friend of Daryl’s that that’s the last shred of dignity and hope that Daryl has at that moment,” Reedus told the outlet. “You can beat the hell out of him and feed him dog food and torture him, but if Daryl were to give that up he did it all for nothing. He has to have that to hold onto. … It’s a very heroic moment, but it’s sad too. It’s the last shred he has left, and Glenn represented that hope to all of us in the group. He was The Guy. He was the heart of that group.”

According to Reedus, the worst thing that could happen to Daryl while being held hostage by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) would be for him to break. “I think the worst punishment for Daryl would be to take away his hope. I think if he was to say he was ‘Negan’ and join that group, that would be the worst thing that he could feel,” he explained.

As for what’s in store for Daryl and the others, Reedus told Entertainment Weekly Monday that everyone is hoping their tragedy turns into something positive. “It’s been a very emotional season for everybody. It’s a different season,” he said. “I mean, we saw last week there’s some fun things, but it’s also very serious, and then it’s a very dark, dark season, and hopefully there is light at the end of that tunnel.”

Although there seems to be a lot in store for Daryl, next week’s episode will focus on Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the others back at Alexandria. In a promo for episode 4, Negan shows up to Alexandria to collect supplies and terrify the residents.

“The Walking Dead” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.

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