User blog:DragonDude83/PE Proposal: Joan (The Walking Dead)



How disappointing that Joan was just added to the Pure Evil category by a troll. Let’s see if my proposal can make her legit.

What is The Walking Dead: A New Frontier?
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is the name for season 3 of the Telltale video game. I don’t think anything more can be said about this.

Who is Joan, and What Has She Done?
Joan is one of the four leaders of the New Frontier, along with David Garcia, Clint, and Dr. Lingard. Together, they run the city of Richmond. She may seem reasonable and wise, but she's really a shadow dictator who wants to run the New Frontier for her own gain. She is the mastermind behind the rogue raiders by the New Frontier. On her orders, they go about raiding communities/safe zones/settlements, killing or trying to kill those that stand in their way. The raids go from basic shooting and/or bombing the place up to letting gathered walkers loose in the communities, wiping them out, and leaving them to be pillaged.

In the first two episodes, Javier Garcia is has been taking his niece Mariana, nephew Gabe and his brothers ex-wife Kate across the country on the run from a massive hoard of walkers dubbed "The Herd". They’ve also had run ins with those rogue raiders before, with one of them, Badger, murdering Mariana, a pre teen girl. The raiders are seen again after Javi spent some time in a settlement called Prescott, shortly after meeting Clementine. The town save for Javi and his family and new friends are wiped out despite attempting to fight off the attack when the raiders set the gathered walkers loose.

Joan is properly introduced when Javi reunites with David in Richmond. One of the raiders, Max, recognizes Javi, and accuses him of stealing their supplies and killing their people. Joan has Javi and his group exiled, but David joins them to investigate a warehouse that the raiders are guarding. In there we see they have stockpiled supplies from the communities they have raided and wiped out. David says that he didn't know about the raids, and that the New Frontier was only supposed to take what they can to get by. A lot of those supplies, they didn’t need. The raiders have been talking about Joan’s orders and Mariana’s murder. A fight ensues, and Badger is killed (potentially in a Negan style) in retaliation for Mariana’s murder. If Max is killed; Javi and David return to the Council to confront and expose Joan, but things go awry as their witness is dead and Joan is able to turn the tables and accuse David of the "raids" and has both him and Javi locked up. If Max is spared; Javi and David make their accusation, and Max backs them up. Joan confesses to the deed but goes on to make a speech about what she's doing is necessary and giving David a sarcastic apology over Mariana's death when she learns of it. She then has David and Javi locked up for working against her.

The next episode, Joan sentences David to death for his "crimes," and prepares to make a public execution for everyone in Richmond to see. Javi manages to escape and gather who and what he can so that he and his allies can make their escape. Joan is finally confronted during the climax of this episode as she prepares to execute David by hanging. Joan calls out Javi accusing him of the problems the New Frontier are facing, including the deaths of their members (basically using those killed by the player as "murder charges"). She then reveals that she has taken Javi’s friend, Tripp, and David’s friend, Ava, hostage, and says that Javi can only spare one of them, then takes Gabe and Clementine hostage to make Javi decide quicker. Whoever Javi decides to spare, Joan will have executed instead. At this point, Clint, one of the Frontier leaders, has had enough of Joan, especially with her declaration she can do whatever she wants, and calls off the execution.

Clint makes a proposal that David, Javi, and the rest of the group get punished the way the Frontier usually did it, exile. Joan only entertains the idea, because the Herd is right outside the city walls. The player can either choose to accept the deal or shoot Joan in the face. Either way, things go awry as Javi rescue David after a fire fight ensues. Amongst the chaos, part of the wall breaks open, allowing the Herd to cause damage. If Clint’s deal is taken, then Joan is seen running away in the chaos with David chasing after her. Her ultimate fate is unknown. If Joan is shot in the face, then she is shot in her eye, killing her instantly.

Mitigating Factors
At first, Joan seemed like a wise, reasonable, and orderly leader who wanted what’s best for the New Frontier, but she says six words that show her true personality: "I can do whatever I want!"

If her crimes are exposed, it's clear she feels no remorse or empathy for the chaos she caused and the innocent people she got killed with her community raids. When Mariana's death is brought up to her, all she gives is a sarcastic apology. She claims that her reason for doing what she's doing is for Richmond's own good, in the name of justice, order and the benefit of Richmond, and that she's taking supplies due to a loss they went through during the winter.

The further she’s explored as a villain, it becomes obvious that she’s just saving face to get people to side with her. It also shows that the other Frontier leaders did not approve of her methods, and saw her as a power hungry megalomaniac. One of the leaders tried to commit suicide for what she’s doing or has done. Joan doesn't show any actual care for those under her, beyond manipulating others and exploiting the deaths the player caused as "murders" (mainly the mooks killed during her raids, and the aforementioned leader who asks Javi to help him commit suicide).

Adding to this, Joan’s raids are not part of the New Frontier’s plans, and her methods are definitely not part of their laws. It’s been established that the New Frontier just salvages what they need, and the usual punishment for breaking these rules is exile. Joan goes behind the other leaders’ backs to wipe out communities, steal and hoard things that the New Frontier doesn't even need so she can play shadow dictator (and goes full blown dictator when she's exposed). Not only is she power hungry, she’s also a sadist as she shows by forcing Javi to choose one friend and kill the other out of spite.

Heinousness
Everyone knows that The Walking Dead has a high bar when it comes to humanity being at its worst. Joan runs a larger operation and settlement than William Carver, and has a large army. What pushes her into the heinous section is she devotes these recourses to wiping out other communities for their supplies, even with the use of setting zombies loose in the safe zones. And as explained above is a spiteful murderer herself.

Final Verdict
I say yes, Joan is pure evil.