While attending Monster-Mania Con, Scoop, talked to The Walking Dead’s Michael Traynor. He shared his thoughts on the good and bad sides of his character, Nicholas, how he viewed Nicholas’ final actions on the show, being a part of TWD fandom, and the convention. Note: spoilers ahead if you are not caught up on season six of the show.

Scoop: What was it like being on The Walking Dead?
Michael Traynor (MT): It was fantastic. It’s a really welcoming set and it’s a dynamic and exciting story to be a part of. It’s also the first I’ve ever had where there was a sense of responsibility to the fan base, because you don’t want to be the guy who walks onto that show and starts ruining the show. The writing is so fantastic and the dynamic aspects of being on the show are so appealing. It’s a great job.

Scoop: Your character had so many ups and downs. How did you get into the headspace to play Nicholas?
MT: Oh, it’s really easy. It’s a story about survival, and so you just realize that this guy, Nicholas, is doing whatever he can to survive and sometimes it’s at the cost of others’ lives. But, we are as a species, sometimes in our worst nature, self-serving and self-preserving. So, it was very easy to justify his actions.

Scoop: When Nicholas killed himself did you feel like he was being heroic in that moment or was he trying to get out of the situation or just made peace with it?
MT: I think peace is the key word there because it was one of the only moments that, we felt, Nicholas had had a moment of peace in the years since the apocalypse had started happening. And it was this idea of the “thank you,” to me, was “I’m going to remove myself from the equation because you’re going to survive, but I know that I’m going to make it harder for you to survive, and this way I get to go out on my own terms.” That was the “thank you,” “Thank you for bringing me to this place where I can go out on my own terms.”

Scoop: How’s the convention going for you this weekend?
MT: It’s lovely man, folks are great out here. One of the best parts of this show – I didn’t even realize it at the time when I got cast – is getting to be a part of this fan base and this cultural phenomenon. The folks are excited and they’re very cool and interesting and they have great stories. This show brings families together and you get to experience that at these conventions. Generations come up, saying, “I hope Daryl lives.” [Laughs]