And for what exact reason? Aaron didn't even look dangerous. And it would be stupid, because he is one of the supply runners, and as you know, the Alexandrians have to work for Negan or they'll die. If they had 1 supply runner less, the supply drops would be lighter, resulting in more casualities for Alexandria.
I like the reasoning on everything except for Abraham. Abe definitely was likeable, I'm a Cudlitz fan as much as anyone but his two season tenure did not and would not have created as much popularity as a character like Glenn.
Abe's death very likely was a result of a few factors: His size and demeanor, the fact that he dodged his comic fate and the general logic behind who would be the most killable for the most impact on the group [from Negan's observations]. As you mentioned, the safe characters (and it's not because Kirkman and Gimple are afraid of backlash, Glenn has significantly more fans that Carl) and the ones that could not carry a significant impact.
That immediately rules out Aaron, Sasha, Eugene and Rosita for their significance. Maggie, Carl, Michonne and Rick are all too important to the present storyline to be killed, or for one reason or another couldn't carry that impact (particularly Michonne and Carl for that latter reason). Daryl is safe because Daryl (now there, I will agree it's likely because of fear of backlash). That leaves the infamous two. Until the premiere, I fervently argued that Abraham could not carry that death for the audience. Logically though, taking out the biggest and most buckwild made perfect sense - Negan got lucky with Abraham being the only soldier in Rick's group too.
Tragically, Abraham was the bargain deal: Not afraid, wouldn't become afraid, physically imposing and the physically strongest there. Throw that in with him not having a story beyond this point, and it's an easy choice. Glenn, not just because of Daryl's actions, was for the impact of it for us as the audience as a whole.
He was jealous of the 'stache. In fact, the whole plot was set up by Kenny from the video game since he knew Abe's stache threatened his own masculine epicness.
Since Glenn was on his way to getting a tiny playboy stache himself, the Kenmaster decided to eliminate two threats at once and cut off a potential future enemy as well.
He killed Abraham because of his game of Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe. Then that's when his baseball bat Lucille landed on him.
Wow, thanks Captain Obvious...
Honestly, the whole Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe thing was more of a cover/facade. Look at how Abraham near enough straightened up when Negan went at him. He literally screamed with his body language "You don't scare me motherfucker", how do you break a guy who's probably been through a lot worse when he was in the military. As long as Abraham was alive, there was no way Negan would've been able to break Rick as long as Abe was around.
Plus, how do you instill fear and submission into a group with a guy like Abe around? Simple, you kill him off to show you aren't fucking around.
Plus, how do you instill fear and submission into a group with a guy like Abe around? Simple, you kill him off to show you aren't fucking around.
I agree with you on this. And, it also raises why he killed Glenn. Yes, as Steven Yeun said, Glenn's death was important, but in the show itself, its more than that. He killed Glenn because Glenn was most likely to rebel as well. My reasoning for this? The moment it looked like Negan would go for Maggie, Glenn tried to stop him: that shows Glenn's love for Maggie made him rebellious enough that Negan knew he'd do something like this again. It was also to punish Daryl, and to show the others that he meant it when he said that he would 'shut that shit down'. It was done both to break their rebelliousness, and reinforce that he keeps his word when he makes a threat.
Plus, how do you instill fear and submission into a group with a guy like Abe around? Simple, you kill him off to show you aren't fucking around.
That couldn't be more false about Glenn. Mind you, after his outburst Glenn did NOT rebel. He did not get out of line. He had zero intent to, because Glenn is smarter than that. Doing so risked his life, which would take away his child's father and possibly get someone else in that line up killed. He could've figured too, that killing Maggie would not accomplish Negan's goal of instilling fear into the group. Everyone there, he had a degree of care for.
True, he killed Glenn to show the group that he sticks by his word; after Daryl leapt up and got out of line. Daryl was the rebel, Daryl was the "knight in shining armor" to "defend" Rosita's honor. Glenn was just kneeling there. As long as Maggie was safe, he likely would not have cared until Rick finally said "We need to fight back." or if harm came to Maggie.
Him finding out Glenn cared about Maggie, wasn't for the sake of finding who would rebel. He found emotional leverage. The same thing by inferring that Carl was Rick's son, and then by showing Rosita the bloodied Lucille. Negan did want to break their spirit; but that could've been done without Glenn's death. You're right on a great deal, Glenn's death served three purposes: Further Maggie's story, show what happens when someone gets out of line and to impact the audience. However, it was not to shut Glenn down.