FTWD Thoughts {𝒯𝓇𝑜𝓎 & 𝒟𝓌𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉}
Okay as you know I love this duo and they deserved more! Like, you have Troy Otto and Dwight in the SAME timeline and you don't let them interact for more than a few moments??? It's crazy
Anyway,
Dwight sees Negan in Troy. His first impression of Troy is literally another goddamn Negan, and it sets him off a bit. He's scared and it brings back some trauma that is left over from the Sanctuary.
BUT Dwight quickly begins to see everything that is Troy that Negan just wasn't, which is one of the reasons Dwight eventually sides with Troy, and works with him after everything is done with PADRE.
Troy is probably what Negan wanted to become, but Negan would never amount to what Troy was just out of the sheer loyalty of his men.
Like, Negan was ousted by his own men in the end, even when they thought he was dead for like five minutes, the Sanctuary started going to shit. Because they weren't loyal to Negan. They were either scared of him or saw him as a means to gather their own power. A means to survive.
Troy had loyalty. His men were loyal as shit to him! They didn't abandon him and when he died they didn't dissolve into chaos, they finished the mission and finished what Troy wanted them to do! (did it end well, not exactly but that's not the point).
Russell fought to the goddamn bitter end for the Ottos.
That was loyalty.
Troy's men loved him, and he loved them you can't convince me otherwise. He gave them a second chance, he inspired them, and while he was scary he didn't rule by fear. No one bowed to him, no one in his group was scared of him. And Dwight noticed that.
Hell Dwight noticed Troy actually had his own life. He looked at Troy and saw he didn't have a ton of women, a ton of other people's wives. Troy had one wife, who he loved beyond reason and who loved him, and they had a kid they would kill and die for.
Dwight looked at Troy and saw the other side of Negan. Dwight also saw a part of him in Troy. He saw Troy as the best chance at survival and he took that chance and became one of Troy's most trusted men, and his wife became best friends with Troy's wife.
Anyway, I love them and they deserve better.