Maggie Greene (later Maggie Rhee in the television series) is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead, portrayed by Lauren Cohan in the television adaptation of the same name.
In the comic book series, Maggie becomes the surrogate mother to Sophia following the suicide of the girl's mother, Carol. Maggie is initially insecure and depressed, attempting suicide at one point after her entire family is killed. Over time, she hardens and becomes independent. Maggie later becomes involved with the war against the Saviors, during which she encourages the people to follow Rick Grimes instead of Gregory and Negan. The people of The Hilltop listen to her and she becomes their de facto leader. After the war, Maggie has a son named after her father, Hershel. She remains fiercely protective of her children, as well as Carl Grimes, while being at odds with her predecessor, Gregory. Many people question her leadership due to her higher concern for her inner group, but there are some who idolize her, including Dante, who is shown to have feelings for her.
In the television series, Maggie does not share the insecurities of her comic book counterpart, and is more independent from the start. Initially, Maggie is inexperienced and ignorant of the apocalypse, being largely sheltered at the Greene family farm, but once Rick's group arrives, she quickly grows into a fierce and skilled fighter, becoming proficient with weapons and participating in supply runs for the group. Maggie forms a casual relationship with Glenn after becoming aware of his crush on her but insists it is purely a temporary arrangement. She later realizes that she has fallen in love with him, and they eventually marry. Maggie assumes the same leadership role of the Hilltop as she does in the comics, as well as her conflict with Gregory.
Appearances
Comic book series
Maggie Greene is Hershel's second daughter, a rebellious and independent young woman, as well as a college dropout. Herschel barricaded her, her family, and her friends within the farm and kept them secluded, dependent solely on their farm's resources without knowing what was going on in the outside world.
She quickly takes a liking to Glenn when his group arrives at the farm, and the two begin to have a string of sexual encounters while her father is unaware of the relationship. Their relationship gradually becomes more serious and heartfelt each day, with the two often relying on one another. After a barn massacre that claims the lives of several of Maggie's siblings, Hershel ousts Glenn's group from the farm; however, Maggie convinces her father to let Glenn stay. As days go by following the group's departure, the Greene family notices the weakening defense structures of the premises. They decide to go to the prison afterwards. Maggie and Glenn continue their affair in the prison, constantly having sex in open spots.
Tragedy soon befalls Maggie, her brother Billy, and Hershel, when her two youngest sisters are brutally murdered by one of the remaining prison inmates, who is revealed to be a psychopathic sadist. The family remains close and in a deep state of depression for an extended amount of time, with Maggie caught in the middle of Billy and Hershel's strained relationship. She initially attempts to break off her relationship with Glenn, paranoid about the idea that the ongoing death pattern of her loved ones will soon reach Glenn. She decides at the last minute to continue to hold onto him after he convinces her that he will help her get through the deaths. As the inmate is prepared to be hanged out in the courtyard, Maggie shoots him to death in cold blood.
Because of her deepening interpersonal connection with and emotional reliance on Glenn, his brief absence from the prison becomes difficult to deal with and sends her into her father's arms. She subsequently marries Glenn in a ceremony performed by Hershel. Maggie yearns for a child, but Glenn and Hershel turn down the notion when they remind her of the cruel reality they are living in; despite this, however, she still holds out hope that she will be able to at some point when they have a more secure and better supplied environment.
When the Woodbury army descends onto the prison and begins their assaults, Tyreese leads Maggie, Glenn, and other members of the group into town, where they are ambushed by Woodbury and yet are able to make it out alive. The tension heightens when they return to the prison, and the second assault from the army (guaranteed to be more deadly) is looming. Hershel convinces Maggie to leave with Glenn and other members of the group until the war blows over, and those who left soon station themselves back at the farm. It is within this timeframe that Sophia, having faced the loss of her mother, begins to look up to Maggie as a surrogate parent, which fulfills Maggie's gap of not being able to conceive.
Upon reuniting with Rick and others, Maggie learns of Hershel and Billy's deaths during the assault; this sinks her into a deep depression, made even worse by the reminders of them around the farm. Glenn's attempts to console her prove effortless, and while journeying with the group led by Sergeant Abraham Ford to Washington D.C., she sneaks off into the woods one night and hangs herself.The Walking Dead #56 (December 2008) She is, however, rescued by Glenn and Abraham and successfully resuscitated.
She struggles to convince the group that she is fine and begins to feel like she has to hide herself emotionally from Glenn. Glenn assures her that she should have nothing to hide from him and reminds her of his love for her. His words prove to be insufficient however, as he takes notice during their stay at the Alexandria Safe Zone that she is becoming increasingly distant from him. Their situation becomes even further strained when Glenn opts to start going out on risky supply runs with fellow Alexandria citizen Heath. Maggie fears for his well-being and refuses to take the risk of losing him, seeing as how he's become her entire life since Hershel and Billy's deaths. After many strenuous events at the Alexandria Safe Zone, she and Glenn finally get some good news in the form of Doctor Cloyd telling her she is pregnant (much to the couple's surprise).
Fearing another attack after the Saviors' attempt to break into the community, Glenn convinces Maggie to leave the community with him and Sophia and head toward the Hilltop Colony, which he believes to be a much safer place. They are later ambushed by the Saviors while camping out during their trip, and she is forced to watch Glenn be viciously bludgeoned to death while crying her name.
Maggie is initially bitter and resentful toward Rick for not stepping up and protecting Glenn and furiously beats him before Carl stops her at gunpoint. She later is able to come to peace with Rick and decides to stay behind at the Hilltop with Sophia as per her and Glenn's original plan.
Later on, Maggie has regained stability and has continued focusing on her parental duties to Sophia while still mourning Glenn's loss. She befriends a woman in the community named Brianna who has also lost her family and makes regular visits to the community physician, who updates her on the baby's condition. She eventually ousts the Hilltop's leader, Gregory as a selfish coward, who pledges allegiance to Negan in order to avoid his own death, with no concern for the community itself. Maggie delivers a speech coercing the entire town to support Rick in his war against the Saviors, citing their precarious position and future as a reason to push forward against the Saviours. In result, the people follow Maggie in her actions to secure the town's future as she patrols the troops at the Hilltop Colony to save the people of Alexandria after the bombings that have destroyed the town. She relocates them to the Hilltop temporarily before it is re-constructed. Maggie successfully overthrows Gregory's position as leader and the allied forces manage to work together and capture Negan, who subsequently resides as a prisoner at the Alexandria Safe Zone.
Two years after the war is won, Maggie has had her son, whom she named Hershel after her father. She maintains her empowered leadership position, but her abilities are often challenged by the vain and self-absorbed previous leader, Gregory. Maggie remains protective of Sophia and Hershel (who is often cared for by Brianna in Maggie's leadership absence). After Sophia is brutally beaten almost to death by two bullies, and is saved by Carl Grimes, now working as a blacksmith apprentice and living at the Hilltop Colony with Maggie, she is forced to send him away. Maggie's leadership position comes at a struggle when the boys' families turn against her and follow along with Gregory's suggestion to kill her. In addition, a new threatening mysterious group of survivors known as "The Whisperers", a tribe of people disguised as roamers, have been capturing and murdering the town's supply runners and herd teams who come their way, as they successfully locate the Hilltop Colony, where one of their people, Lydia, has been interrogated by both Maggie and Jesus.
Television series Maggie is introduced as Hershel (Scott Wilson)'s confident and athletic eldest daughter and the sister of Beth Greene (Emily Kinney). She has grown up on her father's farm all her life and suffered the loss of her mother at a young age. As the outbreak began, Hershel barricaded the Greene family and friends on the farm. It was during this time that her once-strong sense of faith began to dwindle, and she was left with doubts about what she believed in. She frequently made supply runs for everyone.
Season 2
In the episode "Bloodletting", after Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) is accidentally shot, Maggie retrieves his mother, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and brings her to the farm, where her father Hershel (Scott Wilson) treats the boy's wounds. In the episode "Save the Last One", Maggie strikes up a conversation with Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun). In the episode "Cherokee Rose", they share a few tender moments before going off on a supply run together. They ultimately have sex inside the local pharmacy. In the episode "Cherokee Rose", Maggie tells Glenn that their tryst was a "one time thing". The two ultimately start a romance, however, and keep their relationship a secret, until Glenn finds the barn full of walkers across from her house.
In the episode "Secrets", Maggie begs Glenn not to tell the others about the barn, but he soon reveals this secret, leaving Maggie feeling frustrated and betrayed. However, her feelings for Glenn become stronger after he saves her from a walker during another supply run. In the mid-season finale "Pretty Much Dead Already", Glenn tells the rest of the group about the barn, and Shane eventually breaks the barn open, leading Glenn and the other survivors to kill all the walkers as they file out, as Maggie and her family watch in horror.
In the episode "Nebraska", Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) confronts Hershel about the barn, specifically accusing him of knowing that Carol Peletier's (Melissa McBride) daughter Sophia (Madison Lintz) whom the group were searching for was one of the walkers in the barn, Hershel and Maggie deny it. When Hershel disappears, she pleads with Glenn not to look for him.