Magna (The Walking Dead)

Magna is a fictional character in the comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and the television series of the same name, where she is portrayed by Nadia Hilker. In both universes, Magna is the feisty leader of a small group of roaming survivors and, as in the comic books, she is an LGBT character like Yumiko.

Appearances

Comic book series

Magna is the leader of the survivors from Richmond who joins the Alexandria Safe-Zone two years after the fall of Negan and the Saviors. At the beginning of the apocalypse, Magna is one of many survivors who arrive at a nursing home near Washington D.C. As they moved through the east side of Washington, a massive herd of walkers that was being routed by Jesus and other residents of Alexandria took Magna's group by surprise, causing them to lose their trailer and other belongings, as well as one of its members.

After being rescued and taken to Alexandria, Magna and her group were interviewed by Rick and Andrea in order to allow them to stay, and although at first they felt comfortable with the community they soon began to distrust the idyllic life they led. When Rick is absent in Alexandria, Magna and her group discover a prison. They find Negan, who tells them that Rick and his people are animals that torture him and begs them to release him, but she refused as she knew that Negan was lying.

During the war against the Whisperers, Magna was a very important member of the militia, helping them win the war against the Whisperers and, after the death of Rick, Magna and her girlfriend Yumiko live together in Alexandria after it joins the Commonwealth.

Television series

Season 9

Magna appears for the first time in " What Comes After" while escaping from a herd of walkers. Magna, like the rest of her group, defended themselves from the walkers while trying to escape, although they ended up being surrounded by them and subsequently rescued by an unknown person. Making their way through the wood, Magna and her group went into the forest and discovered a little girl who had rescued them; she later introduced herself as Judith Grimes.

In " Who Are You Now?", after meeting the rest of Judith's group and being taken to her community, the arrival of Magna and her group was not well received by Michonne, who reminded Aaron that he did not have the right to allow other groups to enter Alexandria, but eventually he reluctantly agreed that the fate of the newcomers in the community would be decided by the council. Inside father Gabriel's church, Magna and his group were questioned about their profession before the outbreak began and the things they did to survive; and despite making good impressions to the council members, the story told by Magna questioned the trust of Michonne, who showed that the woman had spent a long time in prison for the tattoos she had on her hand and if it weren't enough, she forced her to deliver the knife she had hidden in her belt. Magna's suspicions of the community forced the council to allow them to spend the night in Alexandria and leave the next day. Her suspicious attitude was greatly criticized by the members of her group, who also forced her to hand over the other knife she had in store and strongly opposed her plan to steal Alexandria's supplies before leaving. Without giving up on her plan, Magna decided to break into Michonne's house to attack her while she was off guard but after seeing how she hugged her son, she stopped at the last moment and as an act of good faith she handed her the other knife that she had kept, confessing that she would have taken the same precautions that Michonne took with her group if she were the community leader. Magna's words eventually convinced Michonne not to send them back in the open, and decided to escort them to another community they knew.

In "Stradivarius", on their way to the Hilltop, Magna protested Michonne's decision not to hand over their weapons after having repeatedly shown her that they were no danger to anyone, but her claims were ignored by her group. After arriving at the site where they were attacked by the herd of walkers while traveling and being informed by Michonne that they would also seize the weapons they found, Magna confronted her for her decision, although she ended up reluctantly accepting and she set off to find a safe place for the night. The next day, after realizing that several walkers were approaching their location, Magna demanded that Michonne give them their weapons to be able to defend themselves from the walkers, and while they made their way to the cart connected to the horses to escape the undead, Magna came face to face with the zombified Bernie and unable to end the misery of her friend, Michonne decided to put him out of mercy. Back on the road, Magna was completely shattered after witnessing her friend turned into a walker, and was comforted by Michonne, who confessed that she understood the pain of losing someone she considered part of the family.

In "Evolution", after arriving to the Hilltop and reluctantly surrendering their weapons to enter, the fate of Magna and her group within the walls was put on hold by Tara, who informed the new arrivals that they could stay in the community while waiting for Jesus' arrival to make a final decision regarding if they could stay in the community. Despite the hospitality of her new home, Magna maintained her suspicions regarding the leader of the community, but accepted her partner's proposal to work hard on what the community would need to gain her place. With the news that Eugene had been hidden from a herd of walkers by Rosita, Magna along with Yumiko decided to go to search for the man and arrived just in time to help Michonne to rescue Jesus, Aaron and Eugene from walkers in an abandoned cemetery. When Jesus confronted the rest of the remaining walkers and prepared to return to the group to escape the walkers, Magna and the others watched in horror as he was stabbed in the heart by a walker and without time to lose she helped to retaliate against the armed walkers that were attacking them. After discovering that they were people disguised with walker skin, Magna and her group ended up being surrounded by group of "walkers", who whispers that they were going to die.

In "Adaptation", Magna along with her group defended themselves from the group that was attacking them and before leaving, she helped take Jesus' body with them. As they set off to return to the Hilltop, Magna comforted Aaron over the loss, ensuring that he looked like a good person, and later they spotted a small herd of walkers on the bridge where some members of the group that had attacked them in the cemetery. After they killed most of the "walkers", the group was forced to take with them the only survivor of the skirmish in order to interrogate her about her group. After arriving to the Hilltop carrying the bad news of what happened in their mission, Magna helped lower the body of Jesus from one of the horses that transported him to be buried. Later, after being informed that Luke and Alden had gone out to look for them, Magna decided to accompany Enid in one of the guard posts waiting for the arrival of both of them and assured her that her boyfriend is in good hands.

In "Omega", after discovering in the wood the horses that belonged to Luke and Alden who were missing, Magna, like the rest of her team, did not lose hope and decided to keep looking, but they were interrupted by Tara, who decided that it will be better to return to the Hilltop for their own safety. Later, when Yumiko proposed to look for Luke on her own despite Tara's orders, Magna was reluctant to think that they could lose the life they had within the community, but nevertheless ended up accepting their demands and subsequently, they left the place in the middle of the night. The large number of walkers forced Magna and her group reluctantly to leave the search behind and return to the Hilltop, only to witness the arrival of Alpha and her group at the gates of the community who demanded that they have to give her her daughter.

In "Bounty", from the walls, Magna along with other residents of the community were deciding if they should take the fair offer by Alpha that involved two prisoners who had previously been captured by her group in exchange for her daughter who was in captivity within the community. Fortunately, when the exchange was successful, Magna along with her group received Luke at the entrance and subsequently decided to celebrate their reunion by drinking during the night.

In "Chokepoint", Magna was part of a team who escorted the residents of the community to the fair and after noticing Kelly's concern about her sister's whereabouts, she assured her that she will be alright in the company of Daryl. When a small herd of walkers approached the survivors, Magna defended herself from the undead with the use of her bow until she was aided by a group of people called as the Highwaymen, who revealed themselves to be allies of the Kingdom and escorted the delegation directly to the fair. Once arrived at the community, Magna was in charge of lowering of the vehicle carrying the supplies that they had to offer as an exchange at the fair.

In "The Calm Before", while enjoying the fair, Magna and her group watched the arrival of Daryl and his group to the community. Fearing that the Whisperers will retaliate against the Hilltop for having taken Lydia from them, Magna offered to travel to her home to defend the community from any attack and during the road she ran into one of the carts belonging to Hilltop completely destroyed after an unfortunate encounter with the Whisperers. With Yumiko's decision to accompany Daryl and others to find the missing people, Magna chose to follow the initial plan and said goodbye to her girlfriend. After being informed about the tragic fate of some people at the hands of Alpha, Magna was among the people who were listening to Siddiq's story about the courage the victims.

In " The Storm", a few months after the massacre at the fair that marked the Whisperers' territory, a strong blizzard alerted the inhabitants of the Kingdom to leave their community due to the condition of the Kingdom was unable to live. With the help from Alexandria and the Hilltop, they escorted the Kingdommers safely to the Hilltop. Along the way, when the storm began to affect the survivors more, Magna and her group were forced to spend the night inside the abandoned Sanctuary and heard Michonne's plan to cross the frozen lake that belonged to Alpha's territory. Despite of the fear to cross the border, the group succeeded in carrying out the plan successfully and arrived safely to the Hilltop.

Season 10

In "Lines We Cross", Magna has become a member of the militia that would face the Whisperers. But after the harsh winter, the Whisperers had mysteriously disappeared from the area. She attended the training carried out on the coast in case they would face them in the future. When a walker mask was found, Magna accompanied Michonne and others to investigate the surroundings in search of any sign that Alpha and the Whisperers had returned and eventually their fears came true when they found a walker's skin a few meters from a camp that was totally destroyed. When a satellite crashed to the Whisperers' territory causing a forest fire, Magna and her group had no choice but to cross the border that divided them from the Whisperers.

In " Silence the Whisperers", after being alerted to the mysterious fall of a tree against the walls of the Hilltop, Magna helped transport the injured from the fallen tree to the rooms of the mansion due to the lack of capacity of the infirmary. When the noise caught the attention of several herds of walkers, Magna and few residents of community were repelling the walkers and reluctantly was forced by Yumiko to fall back after the situation became critical; the Hilltop eventually received the help of Michonne and her group and together they stopped the invasion. Angry at the new role of her girlfriend occupied within the community, Magna confronted her about the fact that she was making decisions for others and reminded her that she is no longer her lawyer.

In "What It Always Is", assuming that more attacks could come to the Hilltop, Magna along with Kelly decided to steal the supplies that the community had and hide them in a remote area of the forest in order to have reservations for her group in case the community will fall. When Kelly did not return to the Hilltop with the hunting team, Magna joined Daryl and Connie in search of her and after finding her lying under the tree, she was forced by Kelly to confess the place where they had hidden the supplies that they had stolen of Hilltop's pantry and thus confirm their guilt. Her actions were greatly criticized by Daryl and Connie, who instead of condemning them decided to hide the truth by changing it to a version that would protect their stay inside the walls and after returning to the Hilltop, Magna was confronted by Yumiko for what she had done. During the conversation, she confessed to her girlfriend that she was guilty of the crime she thought was innocent and left the room to avoid more tension between them.

In " The World Before", when Gamma revealed the location of the herd of walkers that Alpha had, Magna was part of a small team that will destroy the herd but ended up being greatly disappointed to find the place completely empty. Assuming an act of treason by their informant, Magna and the rest of her team decided to change the plans and undertake the search for Lydia after having disappeared without any trace; but she was forced to chase after Carol after she glimpsed Alpha in the distance. The group ended up falling into her trap and were trapped inside a dark cave full of walkers.

In " Squeeze," the group desperately tries to find a way out. However, due to Carol's reckless actions to destroy the horde with unstable dynamite, the cave partially collapses, trapping Magna and Connie who are feared to be dead and creating a rift between Daryl and Carol.

In "Walk with Us," Magna reappears as part of the herd during the destruction of the Hilltop. At first, Yumiko believes that her girlfriend has died and turned, before realizing that Magna has covered herself in walker guts, allowing Magna to walk undetected with the herd. A traumatized Magna reveals that, after the cave collapse, she and Connie had managed to escape in the herd using walker guts, but she got separated from Connie and doesn't know if her friend survived or not. Magna makes amends with Yumiko from their previous fight, but decides to end their romantic relationship for good.

In " Look at the Flowers," Magna encourages Yumiko to join Eugene's mission to meet Stephanie and to find a new adventure.

In "A Certain Doom," Magna joins the group that covers themselves in walker guts to pass through the Whisperers' horde and lead it away from the Tower, acting as an archer protecting the wagon carrying the makeshift sound system. After the sound system is destroyed, Magna and the others infiltrate the herd once again and assassinate the Whisperers one by one, allowing Carol and Lydia to lead the herd to its destruction.

Season 11

Now residing in a badly damaged Alexandria, Magna takes part in the efforts to rebuild the community and deal with the food issues. Magna also discourages Carol's searches for the still-missing Connie with Kelly, but joins her friends after they get a lead from a surviving Whisperer. The group finally finds Connie and saves her from cannibalistic survivors. When Alexandria faces simultaneous danger from a storm and a herd, Magna helps to close the breaches in the walls and put out the fire that is drawing the walkers.

After contact is made with the Commonwealth, Magna is one of the people that moves there and gets a job as a waiter unlike Yumiko who gets a rather lofty position as a lawyer. Magna clashes with Yumiko somewhat, pointing out the unfair class system that exists in the Commonwealth. While the two don't resume their romantic relationship, they remain close friends and Yumiko promises to help get Magna out if things go bad, although Yumiko plans to stay herself as Yumiko's long-lost brother Tomi resides in the Commonwealth and she needs to protect him. Magna is abducted along with the rest of the Coalition survivors and sent to a forced labor camp, but she is freed. Upon returning to the Commonwealth to fight Governor Pamela Milton, Magna is reunited with Yumiko who was spared everyone else's fate. However, shortly after being reunited with Luke for the first time in months, the Commonwealth is overrun by a massive horde and Luke is bitten. Despite the efforts of his closest friends to save him, Luke dies, devastating them and forcing Magna to stab him in the head to keep him from turning.

After the horde is destroyed and Pamela overthrown, Magna and Yumiko resume their romantic relationship and are still living together in the Commonwealth a year later.

Development and reception

Magna is portrayed by Nadia Hilker. The character entered the recurring cast beginning with the episode " What Comes After" of the ninth season. However, Nadia Hilker was promoted to a series regular starting the tenth season.

Alex McLevy writing for ''The A.V. Club'' in the episode " Silence the Whisperers" praised the development of Magna's character: "Magna remains the most memorable, simply because Nadia Hilker is a magnetic actor, but even she is stuck doing little but sniping at Yumiko for making decisions Magna doesn't agree with, as though that's a huge problem when it involves saving their asses."

During an interview with Jon Maus writing for ''Fanfest News'' Nadia Hilker revealed that it feels great to work for Robert Kirkman and said: "Um, I still haven't realized how big it is yet. But, when I do, it's great. I'm so grateful. It's a family. We're all having each other's backs, and it's super brutal to shoot. Like, shooting the show itself is brutal, but it's so much fun. It feels like summer camp, and everybody is too good to be true."

Ryan DeVault of ''Monsters and Critics'' praised the work of Nadia Hilker and wrote: "Nadia Hilker is best-known for her recurring character of Luna on The 100. She is a German-born actress who has also appeared in the films Allegiant and Collide. Soon, Hilker is going to be best-known for her portrayal of Magna."

John Saavedra writing for ''Den of Geek!'' expressed praise to Hilker for the character of Magna and said: "Magna is one of the new characters who was brought in to freshen up the show in season 9. With Danai Gurira set to exit this season, Nadia Hilker might be ready to shine as ''The Walking Deads new badass with a blade."

References

{{The Walking Dead

Comics characters introduced in 2014
Female characters in television
Fictional feminists and women's rights activists
Fictional lesbians
Fictional LGBT characters in television
Fictional murderers
Fictional sole survivors
Fictional women soldiers and warriors
Image Comics female characters
LGBT characters in comics
The Walking Dead (franchise) characters