Warning: Spoilers for Fear the Walking Dead season 7, episode 10
Both sides of the Morgan vs. Strand war bear responsibility for the events that have taken place in Fear the Walking Dead season 7. In other words, Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) isn’t the only one to blame for what’s happened so far. Morgan (Lennie James) himself is a big part of the problem.
Thus far, Morgan has been framed as the hero who’s been working tirelessly toward opposing Strand, who has seemingly evolved into a full-fledged villain. At first, the two were divided over their ideological differences and the mistakes Strand made in season 6, but now their issues go much deeper. Their conflict has grown into a war between Morgan’s group and the people of Strand’s Tower. It’s reached a point where the two former allies are even willing to kill each other. Currently, Morgan and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) are making an effort to strengthen their forces while Strand is using Grace (Karen David) and Mo as leverage.
Since innocent people like Will have died at the hands of Strand and his men, he’s certainly earned the title of season 7’s villain. However, that doesn’t make Morgan (his main opponent in the war) the hero of the story. Morgan’s decision-making in Fear the Walking Dead season 7, episode 10, titled “Mourning Cloak” is the latest example of the character making morally questionable choices in his efforts to take down Strand. To get inside the Tower, he sent Charlie – a 12-year-old child – on a dangerous undertaking to deceive Strand’s underlings and turn off the lights just so that Morgan can make his way inside. Now, Charlie is fated to die of radiation poisoning. Morgan couldn’t have predicted this particular outcome, but what he tasked her with certainly does sound like a suicide mission, especially since it didn’t come with a solid exit strategy.
This isn’t the first time Morgan has gone too far to stop Strand. It shouldn’t be forgotten that he’s the one who really started the Morgan vs. Strand war in the first place. Morgan claimed that he wouldn’t strike out against Strand unless the latter harmed his friends, but broke that promise when he tried to poison him without proper provocation. Morgan said he had no choice, but in reality, Strand hadn’t crossed any lines yet (that Morgan was aware of, anyway). Morgan’s attempt to kill him is really what escalated their conflict and made Strand commit to his goals.
Strand keeping Grace and Mo at his tower, Howard killing Ali, and Alicia’s discovery that he murdered Will have all provided the group with good reasons to stop Strand now, but these issues don’t excuse Morgan’s mistakes in Fear the Walking Dead season 7. Before Victor Strand decided to keep Grace and Mo at the Tower, Morgan’s stance against him was built primarily on his argument that Strand was picking and choosing who to save. Morgan’s moral objections to this approach should have motivated him to help those who Strand had turned away – not turn him into an enemy, which is essentially what the character did.
More: Fear TWD's Weird Timeline Made Charlie & Ali's Romance Worse
Fear the Walking Dead releases new episodes on Sundays on AMC.