The long-awaited moment Maggie finally forgives Negan might've been understated, but The Walking Dead's all-important scene succeeded... despite a spinoff specter. The dynamic between Lauren Cohan's Maggie Rhee and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan is a storyline 5 seasons in the making. Immediately upon his arrival, Negan bashed Glenn's head with a baseball bat while forcing his pregnant wife to watch on. A friendly first impression it was not, and even after Negan was defeated and imprisoned, Maggie's grudge, understandably, wouldn't budge. Even after Negan then saved Judith, defeated Alpha, and helped win the Whisperer War, Maggie couldn't bring herself to accept him like most others in her community begrudgingly had.
Because the moment Maggie finally extends a hand toward Negan has been building for so long, audiences might've expected The Walking Dead's payoff to come during an epic, showpiece scene. Maybe Negan takes a bullet for the Rhee family, prompting Maggie to absolve him as he bleeds. Or perhaps, after an mammoth battle against the Commonwealth, Maggie acknowledges Negan as a changed man before an emotional parting of ways.
Ultimately, The Walking Dead's climactic scene between Maggie and Negan wasn't so climatic. During a seemingly innocuous rendezvous between Hilltop and the hidden survivors of Riverbend, Maggie suddenly drops the bombshell Negan has been desperately longing to hear - she trusts him. Not only that, Lauren Cohan's character looks at Negan without barely-concealed murderous intent - a truly historic day for The Walking Dead. Certainly, it's a strange time for The Walking Dead to complete Negan's redemption story, sandwiched between a major conflict at Hilltop and Lance Hornsby's Order 66. Maggie accepting Negan doesn't receive the pomp and circumstance you'd necessarily expect, but understated as it might've been, that subtlety works in The Walking Dead's favor. It allows Maggie to forgive (or as close to forgive as is realistically possible) Negan on her terms.
The Walking Dead season 11 has been a relationship roller coaster for the widow and widow-maker. Fighting Reapers brought them closer together, and though romantic hints mercifully fizzled out, Negan did admit why he murdered Glenn. More recently, the father-to-be protected Maggie's son from Commonwealth soldiers, and even promised the youngster vengeance for Glenn when the time came. After everything they've been through, it's saving Hershel that finally changes Maggie's heart. Negan has, in the past, committed acts of kindness believing acceptance would be his reward - killing Alpha, for instance. When he left and joined Riverbend, however, Negan essentially gave up on that dream, so Maggie knows saving Hershel from the Commonwealth must've been genuine goodness, rather than a ploy to make friends. The Walking Dead gives her power to decide when Negan is trustworthy - an infinitely more powerful statement than if she had dropped their feud after one of Negan's grand overtures to win respect.
Two major factors in why The Walking Dead's small-scale Maggie & Negan scene succeeds are the respective performances of Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Cohan's shift in demeanor tacitly sells Maggie's softening attitude, while Morgan somehow conveys Negan's mixture of delight and relief despite the words "big balls" falling out his mouth. The scene might be surprisingly swift, come from nowhere, and take place in a nondescript area of stereotypical The Walking Dead woodland, but the low-key context pushes emotive acting to the fore, elevating this interaction to a level truly befitting Maggie and Negan's longstanding feud.
The only nagging sensation is The Walking Dead's upcoming Isle of the Dead spinoff, which stars Maggie and Negan on a road trip to New York. Though season 11's subtle forgiveness scene does work, it's impossible not to question whether The Walking Dead has rushed to get these two mortal enemies on friendlier terms solely because they're due to travel together in an upcoming solo series. These are the perils of mapping out a shared universe before the main show has even closed out. Fortunately, The Walking Dead got away with making Maggie's forgiveness of Negan a simpler, more humble occasion.