In Season 7, Negan taunts Rick with the MAN’S OWN AXE. After forcing Rick to watch him bash in the skulls of Glenn and Abraham with his barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat, Lucille, Negan then takes him for a ride in his RV, intent on breaking him.
He teases him, placing the hatchet on the table and challenging Rick to grab it and kill him. After, he tosses the axe out into a crowd of fog-enshrouded walkers and compels him to play a game of fetch. Negan later drives Rick to the point of willingly hacking off his own son’s arm at his command.
It’s reasonable to assume that the axe will play a significant role in Season 8, not least because of all it now symbolises. We can’t help but hope that Negan will meet his demise at the business end of it. But aside from that, it’s also blatantly the best weapon to use in the zombie apocalypse, whether you’re slaying the undead or dispatching living bad guys.
The walking dead really got me feeling some type of way still….😳 Rick needs to bury that axe in yah boys back! @Kaittmariee123
— zachary lebeouf (@ztl1121) October 24, 2016
FANDOM spoke to an actual living professional axe thrower, called Jack, who shared his thoughts on why it’s the best weapon in The Walking Dead.
“Silence. Absolute silence,” he says. “You’ve got a gunshot, making loud noises… [an axe] would be absolutely silent. You throw that axe, get that headshot, done.”
Daryl favours the crossbow and is pretty effective with it, but Jack is quick to point out its failings.
“A crossbow is useful but then you haven’t got that [easily to hand],” he says. “[Axes] are quick. You can have them on your belt, have them down by your side. If you want your weapon in the offhand and then a zombie comes at you from this side, grab an axe you can use it to swing as a melee and then get that final kill, that final headshot with the throw.”
So who would win if Rick, with his axe, and Negan, with Lucille, went head to head?
Jack says, “Rick, of course. No question. Baseball bat? What are you going to do with it? Swing it about? Whereas Rick’s got that range, he can swing it and he can throw it. Absolutely no question.”
The Walking Dead Season 7 is available on Blu-Ray and DVD from September 25. Season 8 premieres on October 22 in the US and airs a day later in the UK.