Anyone else want them to tone down Ezekiel?

I never really particularly liked him. From the very beginning, I didn't like him, but liked when he at 7x09 did a little off his "majesty" and seemed more like Ezekiel than king. Scenes, where he said goodbye to Rick and offered shelter to Daryl - liked and at that moment i appreciated this character. Also in 7x13 there were moments when i liked him, but there were moments that i found strange and ridiculos.

I really liked Ezekiel in the comics. In the show, often see this character a bit of a caricature. I think it's to blame for this that Ezekiel is presented only as a pathetic dude.

In the comics, Ezekiel revealed himself best with Michonne. I want to see the real Zeke in the show, but afraid that Carol is used for this and this will again be her main plot task.

I would like Zeke to interact with new strangers, and not only leaders, but even with the secondary types like Gabriel, Rosita, Jesus, Mishonne, Daryl ... maybe in fight scenes, in peacefull scenes - any scenes when he will be just himself with low "majesty"

No, I don't  but I'd like to.  I want to know he's not on 24/7 and not have to guess at it.

No. I'd like to be reminded that there is another side, but for his actual King side to be toned down, no. I love it. I just want the better balance. I loved "Alexandria will not fall! Not on this day!". I loved "You are not stuck." I did not so love "Cease this folly. Accompany my regiment."

Three characters have come into this season who basically sound ridiculous: Negan, Ezekiel and Jadis. And they are all so very different and work or do not work as characters for different reasons. Ezekiel has worked because very quickly we were shown that it was an act, that what was being presented was not all there is, and why he did it. That it was good and it was fun. That compared obviously with Negan who didn't seem to have anything else to him at all. They both have a non-human 'she' weapon that gives them power. But Lucille is a twisted man's fantasy. Shiva IS a real, living tiger by Ezekiel's side. Ezekiel was layered, and likable, where Negan was simplistic and boring. Jadis, I don't think she gives a fuck about what people think of her. Her 'we take, we don't bother' I think shows as well that she's not that interested in people. She'll watch, and see what happens and react, but she's not going to aggressively engage and I don't think she really cares how much influence she has on people outside of her immediate group. So her ridiculousness has another aspect to it because it does just seem to be her and it's basic her, just not giving a fuck. This is contrast to both Negan and Ezekiel who like people, and seek people. They engage with people, it matters a lot to them. The interaction and what they contribute to that interaction, how they affect people, is very important for them.

I do think there is a risk of Ezekiel failing the way Negan has if they don't show the balance, if they don't remind us that there is more there. I would have liked another Ezekiel and Carol scene maybe before war, with Ezekiel seriously showing his worry or concern maybe. Something more than we got with the Henry scene. I think that would have helped. But I'm not that worried about the likelihood of seeing balance. I would think that other side of him is going to have to be shown. Whether Kingdom as a community questioning why war is happening now or their fears, or simply through all these new allies he's making and needs to connect with. He is going to have to talk to someone, to express how he actually feels about all of this, about pressure he feels or worries of failing and getting it right. And frankly, I think Rick will need to know. If all of Team Family fall for it and are totally clueless, it questions their intelligence and experience, I would think. 

However, there is the problem they have if they keep showing both sides is his King side coming across as just fake. He shouldn't just be switching it on and off, man behind the curtain style. It can't be presented as a lie. It can't be presented as something disingenuous. It works because you can see some of it really existing in him. He's hyping and dramatising, but it's not something that has no real relevance to who he actually is. It's not totally insincere. And it's not him taking advantage of people, but helping people and taking on that burden himself and making something good for everyone, himself included. He believes a lot of the ideas he presents, the approach on life. He is a deep man with a tiger that chooses to chill with him. That's not fake. The second that the opposite narrative is given real life, it's ruined. The show has had a lot of practice with this kind of thing, as Carol has taken on roles for all good reasons over and over. They have no excuse to not get it right.

I think Jerry totally knows. Cuz dude doesn't care. He loves it all, but he doesn't really indulge the whole thing. That's why "Jerry!" is needed so much. It's like Jerry, remember, we're doing something here, play along. 

I like Khary Peyton's King Ezekiel better than the comic counterpart. I owuld love to see watch less of the flowery language

I can't take Ezekiel seriously any more than I can Negan. Moments that should have been serious had me LOL-ing at how ridiculously bad Zeke sounds. Yes, I think the schtick needs to stop. As it currently stands, recognizing I'm in the minority, i would cheerfully watch Ezekiel die just to get his painful faux speech off my screen.

He's just the "nice" side of the Negan coin; while he might be portrayed as a better person, he's no less a caricature at this point. Negan drops the BS sometimes, too. Neither does so nearly enough. That's the problem when you have a joke villain and throw in his antithesis; the antithetical hero will be no less a joke.

I'll take him any way I can get him! Shakespearean gangsta is fine with me LOL!

(I just want TPTB to upgrade his wig next season.)

Going into S7, I thought I would hate the Kingdom. The King, the tiger, the knights, but I have been pleasantly surprised by all of it (ok, the tiger is taking a step over the line)
I do, however, think it can, and should, be toned down and they have the perfect chance to do it. I think leading his people into war gives him a great opportunity to be honest with them and lay it all on the line. They deserve honesty if he is asking them to risk all trying to defeat Negan, it also gives tptb a repeat chance to show the good guy underneath the act.

I liked that scene with Carol where he dropped the pretense. I hope we get more of that Ezekiel and less Farcezekiel, lol.

I think it's ultimately going to have to blend if Ezekiel is going to live longer than his comic counterpart (I really hope he does). And I think it can. Ezekiel is very animated. That's who he is. I don't think he's playing much if at all in his scene with Ben when he's been reading bedtime stories. I think that was Ezekiel much more than King Ezekiel. We saw the two versions. "Not today" and "Not on this day". That is the way he thinks, it's just dramatised. I don't think it is a situation where it's all fake. All leaders have a different aspect of their character that they play up to. Rick's is his speeches. I just imagine Ezekiel used to be part of exhibits at the zoo, talking to children and teaching them and being really animated and characterful with them. Or, he was chilling with the big cats, the Kings of that world, all day at the zoo and he talked to them (or at them) and it grew into something quite theatrical. For me, that's kind of how I see it having developed. I don't think it's the Wizard behind the curtain thing. I think Shiva is important in that: she is not a faked power; she is real.

And a perception of two different personalities, one real and one fake, can't remain. It will have a backlash when it's put against Team Family. He can't be viewed as lying to them.

If he's two different personalities, there's a big expiration date on that cuz it just can't last. But if it can blend - Ezekiel still being flamboyant and grand and engaged, but maybe some of the specific dialect and even just royal phrasing is something people just enjoy, an inside joke in a way. I think Jerry's a good example of that. He's called Ezekiel "boss" and he doesn't really adhere to committing to the full Royal moment. It's like he's constantly breaking the act, but he enjoys the whole damn thing and it gives him life. 

There's also the massive issue that Carol knows. So really, Team Family, at least some of them, will have to know. It's more of a fandom issue than a story issue (unless they wanna make a story out of it) but if Carol knows, and if Carol is around Team Family...I'm really not interested in the fandom bullshit that will bring. And she is being brought back to being a team player and not someone isolated, so I don't think it would work if others of Team Family aren't brought into it while she is in on it.

Exactly, tone down a little, be honest and let Rick plus TF see just Ezekiel at times without al the flowery language which plays better in a comic panel than on screen all the time IMO.


I like the character, adore the fact we got to see both people in him during his first appearance.  I have no problems with how Khary Peyton plays it on screen.  

I thought Ezekiel was ridiculous in the comics and I was dreading him on the show, but I love this guy now. I hope they don't tone it down. He (and Jerry) are some much needed comic relief. I think him revealing his facade to Carol once was enough, I'd rather him mostly keep it up from now on.

Y'all trying to tell me you wouldn't try to do some Game of Thrones shit and have your own "houses" and banners in the ZA?

I'm not a fan of Ezekiel and the kingdom, so I better say nothing :-/

Yeah, I've heard some negative comments about Shiva, too, Starlight, though fewer than I've heard about Ezekiel himself. Plus, the Shiva comments generally come out in the context of talking negatively about him. His having a magical tiger that can differentiate foe from never before met friend, mauling selectively, is causing eye rolling, not upping Zeke's cool factor.