Who Does Negan Shoot at the End of Dead City Season 3 Episode 6? Alan and Fabian Explained

Dead City Season 3 Episode 6 strongly implies that alternate-reality Negan shoots Alan, the abusive man he had already admitted coming to New York to kill. The sequence does not linger on Alan’s body or explicitly confirm his death, so saying Alan definitely dies would go slightly beyond what Genesis shows. What matters most is how the gunshot is edited: Alan reacts, the shot fires, and the episode immediately cuts back to the real timeline as Hershel tells Maggie that Negan shot Fabian in the head. The two moments are deliberately paired to show that even in radically different circumstances, Negan remains capable of reaching the same violent conclusion.

That makes the final minute much more important than a simple transition out of the alternate universe. Genesis spends almost an hour asking whether another world could have produced another Negan, then answers with a very uncomfortable maybe.

Why Does Negan Want to Kill Alan?

Negan believes Alan was responsible for destroying the life of one of the teenage athletes he once coached. In the alternate timeline, Negan worked as a physical education teacher and coached a talented girl who began arriving with injuries she tried to hide.

Negan says he attempted to get help through the school system, but nothing meaningful happened because Alan had connections with law enforcement. Later, after losing track of the young woman, Negan discovered her obituary and learned that she had died by suicide at only 18.

Relared: Is the Dead City Season 3 Episode 6 Alternate Reality Real? Genesis Explained

Negan subsequently encountered Alan and broke his jaw, which sent Negan to prison for two years. When Maggie asks what he is really doing in New York this time, Negan finally admits that he has returned to kill him.

Doesn’t Maggie Stop Negan From Killing Him?

Maggie prevents the first confrontation from becoming murder. When Negan finds Alan outside Beth’s performance, his anger immediately takes over and he threatens to kill him.

Maggie repeatedly tells Negan to stop because another violent assault could send him back to prison for life. Alan then insults Maggie, and she responds physically herself, allowing the pair to get away without Negan carrying out his original plan.

It becomes one of the episode’s clearest examples of why Maggie and Negan work strangely well together. He pushes her toward acting instead of carrying every burden quietly, while she stops him from making an irreversible decision.

Why Does Negan Call Joshua?

Maggie gives Negan one direct piece of advice before they separate: go see his son. She tells him Joshua is not better off without him, challenging Negan’s belief that staying away is somehow an act of protection. Negan listens.

Near the end, he calls Joshua, learns that his son has landed the lead in a school play and begins talking about arranging a visit. For a brief moment, Genesis appears to show Maggie successfully breaking Negan’s cycle of self-destruction. Then Alan appears.

Does Negan Actually Shoot Alan?

The episode strongly implies it, but does not provide a conventional on-screen death confirmation. Alan is heard nearby, Negan abruptly tells Joshua that he needs to call him back, and the sequence continues until Alan suddenly reacts with alarm and a gunshot is heard.

The edit immediately replaces Alan’s fate with another version of Negan’s violence.

Hershel calls for Maggie and tells her that Fabian is dead because Negan shot him in the head. He then reveals that Negan attacked Dillard as well, leaving him with a severe facial wound and requiring a trip to the hospital.

Until the series explicitly shows Alan’s body or otherwise confirms his fate, the careful wording is that Negan appears to shoot him. The storytelling purpose of the shot, however, is much clearer than Alan’s medical status.

Why Does the Ending Connect Alan With Fabian?

Alan and Fabian are different men, but both activate the same part of Negan. Alan represents someone Negan believes destroyed a vulnerable young woman’s life, while Fabian threatens Maggie and openly talks about killing her before Negan executes him in the real timeline.

Episode 5 already showed Fabian’s death, so Genesis is not revealing a second major death when Hershel mentions it. Instead, Episode 6 reframes that act after showing viewers an entirely different version of Negan.

In the world without walkers, Maggie manages to stop Negan once. She encourages him to reconnect with Joshua and gives him a genuine chance to choose a different future.

Yet the gunshot implies that Negan still cannot completely leave Alan alone.

That is why Genesis cuts directly from one shooting to the other. The apocalypse did not create every part of Negan Smith, and the violent instinct to punish people he believes deserve it appears to exist in both versions of him.