Martyrs and Pawns - His Motives

edited May 2014 in The Walking Dead
In Season 2, Episode 3, Kenny puts a huge deal of faith in Clementine and looks to her for many solutions, famously taking a beating from Carver for her. A lot of people say this is a huge act of kindness and mercy on his part.

But I have another theory. What if Kenny only did this to create an image of a martyr for himself in order to drive the group into action? He relies on Clementine for numerous tasks, saying she's "strong enough" and "trusts her enough" to do their tasks. Through Season 1, however, Kenny very rarely took any care for Clementine. A few times he told Lee to care for her, but Kenny didn't do much for Clementine overall. Killing Larry in front of her, advocating killing Ben, and ignoring Clementine's objections to stealing or abandoning Ben; Kenny didn't care much about Clementine, but his own motives and interests.

Kenny getting beaten down by Carver, knowing Clementine wouldn't be able to take such a pummeling like that, instead let himself take the beating in order to martyr himself and drive the group to realize Carver's intentions. He constantly praises Clementine and builds her up because he sees her as his new child. hence the 'Duck' slip in Episode 2. Thinking she'll do what he says, she pawns her in order to further his goals, acting as if he cares for her with the martyring, when in reality he simply wants to use her for his own gains.

Thoughts?

Comments

  • I don't think Kenny is capable of putting that much thought into anything.
  • You never know.

    I don't think Kenny is capable of putting that much thought into anything.

  • Maybe Kenny is Carver in disguise?

    I don't think Kenny is capable of putting that much thought into anything.

  • I don't think Kenny would do anything like that.
  • I agree that Kenny could have done that just to get the group to action (seems like something he would do) but I still think his intentions were good. Clem may have gotten a few slaps, and I think Kenny knew that. A few slaps isn't enough to convince a group to risk their lives, so he risks his, knowing Carver would have gone overboard.
  • "This guys been drinkin' to much of the kool aid"
  • I think you're over analyzing this a bit.
  • I agree, he's strong, determined and hard to get down, but he's certainly not the smarter than your average highschool dropout.

    I don't think Kenny is capable of putting that much thought into anything.

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