I can understand why this was Rick's plan. I can understand why he was doing this.
But I just hate how this entire arc was handled. I hate all the bullshit cliffhangers that led to fuck all. Hell even going back to when Carl was at Sanctuary. One issue ended with Negan telling Rick "I can't wait for you to see what I did to your boy"
OH SHIT! WHAT'D HE DO?!
Not a goddamn thing.
Flash forward to 125/126
OH FUCK! RICK SLASHED NEGAN IN FRONT OF ALL HIS PEOPLE! IN A DESIGNATED SAFE ZONE! NO COVER IN SITE! THIS CAN'T END WELL
But it did. Ridiculously well. Bullshit well.
I hate that it was advertised as THE BIGGEST, MOST IMPORTANT THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO THE WALKING DEAD HOLY SHIT GUYS DON'T WANNA MISS THIS thisbeingmegivingyouallabigFUCKYOU.
I also hate the lack of casualties on the ASZ and Hilltop sides. The plot armor and redshirt body shields were strong with this arc.
Also mediocre dialog and lackluster/nonexistent character building, yay!
So if it weren't for those things, this issue wouldn't have bothered me as much as it has. But these things happened so boo-hiss to this issue/arc.
Ok this is (probably) the last shit I'll take on this issue/arc. I just had to get it out after re-reading some older, post-100 issues