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This Inconsistently Heinous was Headlined on July 2022. | ||
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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Who are you talking to right now? Who is it, you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in: I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No... I am the one who KNOCKS! | „ |
| ~ Walter White's famous speech to his wife, Skyler. |
| “ | Walter White: Now... say my name. Declan: You're Heisenberg. Walter White: You're goddamn right. |
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| ~ Walter White's famous quote as he declares himself "Heisenberg". |
| “ | I watched Jane die. I was there, and I watched her die. I watched her overdose and choke to death. I could have saved her, but I didn't. | „ |
| ~ Walt spitefully revealing his role in Jane's death to Jesse before allowing the Neo-Nazis to capture him. |
Walter Hartwell White, Sr., also known by his alias Heisenberg, is the main protagonist of the crime drama series Breaking Bad, one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Don Eladio) of its prequel/sequel series Better Call Saul, and one of the two overarching protagonists (alongside Mike Ehrmantraut) of its 2019 spin off El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.
He was originally a brilliant yet underachieving chemist working as a high school science teacher who becomes diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, which spurs him on to use his chemistry knowledge to cook and sell crystal meth, ostensibly to provide for his family after his imminent death.
As the series progresses and Walt gets more involved in the drug world, the formerly mild-mannered and unassuming teacher slowly transforms into a sinister and dangerous criminal mastermind. It soon becomes evident that he is more driven by ego and greed than his previously stated altruistic motives - thus, becoming the central villain of the series.
He was portrayed by Bryan Cranston.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
In General[]
- He had a few occasions to retire from the criminal life, which he refused for various reasons, which is mostly because of his ego in the case of not accepting the Gray Matter offer and refusing the methylamine deal. He only decides to retire when his wife Skyler pressures him into doing it by showing how much money he made, and even after that, he made a deal for the Neo-Nazis to teach them to cook pure meth, though this wasn't done out of greed.
- He constantly lied to and put his family in danger, even if he cared about them. At the end of the series, he pretty much ruined his entire family by refusing to leave the drug business earlier on. This mainly happened after he gave his location to Jack and the Neo-Nazis, which indirectly caused the death of his brother-in-law Hank and led Walt's family that supported him to betray him. His own son told him on the phone he "killed Hank," which Walt wasn't immediately able to deny, continuing his delusion that this was all done for the family.
- Just like with his family, he was very manipulative towards Jesse Pinkman, and in his case even abusive, both psychologically and physically (although the latter was much rarer as they only fought two times). Additionally, the relationship between the two is full of hypocrisy as Walt is angry with him for things he himself does to him (e.g. breaking into his house or trying to hurt his precious children).
- He was responsible for many deaths that occurred in the franchise. While he did not expect some of them, and there are a few incidents he genuinely feels remorse for, he simply brushes off most of them. Additionally, while a majority of the deaths he was responsible for earlier on were out of self-defense, Walt eventually starts killing simply to benefit his own situation, even when it's not necessary.
- While he started out as an anti-villain, only getting into the drug business to support his family, that quality gets more complicated in Episode 5 when he refuses Elliot's offer to give him money despite the fact it would allow Walt to provide for his family and get treatment without getting into the meth business - a decision Walt makes through a distorted view point that Elliot's offer was out of pity.
- Although he starts as a generally affable character, even having a conversation with Krazy-8 when he's locked up in the basement, his demeanor gradually becomes more ingenuine and manipulative to the point of being faux affable. Outside of only when he speaks to his loved ones, Walt tends to talk passive aggressively to his criminal associates, such as goading Declan into "saying his name" and frequently when he talks to Mike throughout Season 5.
- Although he does have a partial redemption in the series finale "Felina" by admitting his selfishness to Skyler and saving Jesse from the neo-Nazis, he is not portrayed as a redeemed character by the narrative which continues to put more emphasis on the harm he caused, along with the fact that he doesn't express remorse for the majority of his actions and admires Jack's meth lab in the end, symbolizing how much he enjoyed being a drug lord.
- Peter Gould has made note of how Walt did not, and could not, redeem himself.[1]
- While he has provided a few comedic and humorous moments throughout the series, like him and Jesse arguing about the toilet and his 'talk' with Ted, none of these moments ever detract him from his rise to villainy and he is always taken seriously by the characters, as well as the narrative altogether.
- Whilst at first he did have moral standards (being genuinely horrified and shocked when Tuco beat No-Doze for a thoughtless and snarky comment and when Gus brutally killed Victor by slitting his throat), it is ultimately subverted, since as the series progressed, Walter had no problems committing atrocities that were nearly as barbaric to achieve his goals.
- It is a recurring theme within the series that Walter gradually borrowed some traits of his antagonists (i.e. kills Mike simply out of insulting his arrogance, similarly to how Tuco murdered No-Doze for bruising his ego, though unlike Tuco, Walter actually felt remorse for this, or how Walt hired Jack to kill the ten inmates in prison, similarly to how Gus brutally killed Victor for being a liability, though with Gus, he also killed Victor to strike fear into Walter and Jesse.)
Breaking Bad[]
Season 1[]
- He uses his knowledge of Jesse's criminal activities to blackmail him into a partnership.
- He starts off by selling methamphetamine in order to earn money through illicit means.
- To avoid getting caught, he takes a gun and almost shoots a passing police car (although it turns out it was an ambulance).
- He poisoned Emilio Koyama and Krazy-8 with phosphine gas, causing Emilio to die after things went wrong with them. Although to be fair, Walt did this in self-defense.
- He imprisons Krazy-8 in Jesse's basement before finally killing him. However, he was originally planning to let Krazy-8 go before he figured out he was going to kill him.
- He smoked illegal marijuana from Jesse's stash. He then confessed this to Skyler and accidentally caused suspicion to fall on his son.
- Blew up the car of a guy named Ken. While Ken was a huge jerk, this was a bit unnecessary.
- Steals tools and materials from his school to make meth. To prevent being suspected of, he remained silent when the janitor was kicked out of the school.
- He teamed up with Tuco Salamanca in order to do business with him, and he blew up his safehouse as a way to intimidate him into working with him (although it had aspects of self-defense and revenge for Jesse who had been beaten).
- He and Jesse steal a methylamine barrel from a chemical plant and locked the guard in a toilet cubicle.
Season 2[]
- He tried to rape his pregnant wife, Skyler, to relieve himself of stress and trauma after witnessing Tuco beating No-Doze to death. While he may have relented when she told him to stop, he didn't do so right away, and it took her having her head slammed against the refrigerator door to make him stop and realize his wrongdoings.
- He and Jesse tried to poison Tuco and were partially responsible for his death once Walt's brother-in-law Hank shot him. That said, Tuco killed himself by refusing to surrender to Hank, and the attempted poisoning was self-defense.
- His criminal activity with Jesse caused his parents to evict him from his house after they discovered meth in the basement. When Jesse calls him and begs for help, Walt coldly refuses, saying it's not his problem and tells Jesse not to call him again.
- After Spooge steals from Skinny Pete, Walt gives Jesse a gun and instructs him to "handle it." As a result, Jesse was held hostage by Spooge and his wife, and was then mistaken as the murderer of Spooge after he was killed by his wife with an ATM. However, Walt did call Jesse back to not do it, though he was too late.
- He tried to embolden Jesse's reputation as a murderer solely so that he could gain power and prestige when dealing meth. This directly led to Combo's death, and while Walt didn't know this would happen, he expresses zero remorse. At one point he even asks "which one?", showing he had no care for Jesse's friends.
- Kidnapped Saul Goodman and threatened him with death if he wouldn't make sure that Badger wouldn't end up in jail. He is also responsible for diverting the investigation against him by James Kilkelly, as well as for interfering with the investigation of Hank Schrader.
- Coerced his son Walter Jr. into drinking so much tequila that he vomited in the pool out of nothing but the need to be in control. He even gets into an argument with Hank when the latter tried to return the bottle. However, he later apologized to Hank and his son.
- Threatens two shoppers, likely drug dealers, in the supermarket to stay out of his territory.
- He teamed up with Gus Fring so he could work with him on his drug empire.
- He let Jane Margolis, Jesse's girlfriend, die choking on her own vomit after she overdosed on heroin, even though he could have saved her, just to keep Jesse by his side and get rid of someone who could be a danger in the future due to her blackmailing him.
- However to be fair, even the creator of both the show and the characters of Walter and Jesse, says that he was looking out for Jesse.
Season 3[]
- Tried to break into Ted Beneke's office and assault him when realizing his wife Skyler cheated on him with Ted.
- Tried to initiate an affair with Carmen Molina as petty payback over Skyler's affair with Ted, an act that led him to get placed on indefinite leave from being a chemistry teacher.
- Attacks Saul once he makes a joke about his wife cheating on him.
- He accepted Gus' offer to work at the drug lab for a large amount of money, due to falling back into his pride being tied to his warped sense of masculinity, which Gus exploited. However, if Walt refused, it is quite likely Gus would have let the Salamanca Twins kill him.
- He hired Old Joe to demolish the RV in which he and Jesse cooked to get rid of evidence against them.
- With Saul's help, he tricked his brother-in-law Hank into thinking his wife Marie was in the hospital after a car crash, which directly led to Jesse almost getting beaten to death by Hank.
- He lied to Gale about messing up the drug degrees being 85, so that he could make Jesse his partner instead, however this was understandable as Walt needed to placate Jesse and prevent him from suing Hank, as well as stop him from cooking on his own, which could draw the police.
- Helps his wife, Skyler, meet Saul Goodman and attend their criminal meetings. Her downfall is somewhat caused by his behavior, however, Skyler did force herself into the meth business when Walt did explicitly tell her to stay out of it.
- He runs over two of Gus' dealers in his car. However, this is a much more reasonable action, as he only did it to save Jesse from getting himself killed, and the dealers were scumbags who killed a child.
- When he was about to be killed by Gus, Mike and Victor, he ordered Jesse to kill Gale Boetticher, one of the friendliest characters (though still a meth cook), in order to save his and Jesse's skin. However, this is more understandable, as it was self-preservation in a way, and Walt only ordered Jesse to kill Gale when he was unable to himself.
Season 4[]
- When choosing a place to launder money, he chose his former boss' car wash simply because Skyler told him he insulted him.
- He bribes three laundromat employees to help him clean the lab in order to stick it to Gus, which leads to them being deported and possibly even murdered. While he did feel remorse for it, it wouldn't have happened had he been more careful on who he let into the lab.
- When his wife forces him to return a car he bought for his son, he causes it to explode.
- He puts a surveillance bug/tracker under Jesse's car, which leads to Jesse losing trust in him and thus getting closer to Gus.
- He attacked Jesse at his own house upon realizing he would go with Gus to a reunion with the Cartel in Mexico. While Jesse threw the tracker at his face and hit him harder near the end of the fight, Walt scolded him before and told him to "wind up in a barrel somewhere".
- Constantly tried to kill Gus throughout the season because he thought Gus was trying to kill him. Walter was aware of the fact that Gus needed both him and Jesse alive to keep cooking his signature blue meth. However, to be fair, Gus would most likely have killed them at a certain point once he found a more reliable chemist, making this more understandable. He also needed to protect his brother-in-law, himself and his family, due to Hank's constant investigations against Gus.
- Caused a car crash with Hank inside the car to stop him from finding out Gus' true nature as a drug lord.
- Poisoned Brock Cantillo (a 6-year-old boy), the son of Jesse's girlfriend, to make him believe that it was Gus who did such an action and thus put Jesse on his side. Although he gave a non-lethal dose, he still spiked it up so that the initial symptoms seemed deadly and life-threatening, and the boy still needed urgent medical care from the poison.
- Risked the life of his elderly neighbor to check whether Gus' men were hiding inside his home or not.
- He devised a plan to kill Gus by using Hector Salamanca as a suicide bomb, which was successful. Although the bombing killed only Gus, Hector, and Tyrus Kitt, Walt risked the lives of caregivers as well as other elderly people who could have been caught in the blast radius. While the bombing had the goal of protecting his family, Walt felt proud of it, and became even more ruthless after outmaneuvering Gus.
- He killed the two men that were holding Jesse hostage in the meth lab. However, this is more justifiable, as they were a threat to both him and Jesse.
- He and Jesse blew up the meth lab that belonged to Gus just to tie up loose ends.
Season 5[]
- After Gus' death, Walt forms a gigantic drug empire, making more money than he really needed just to feed his own ego, even confessing to Jesse his final goal was to be "in the empire business".
- He becomes increasingly manipulative with both Jesse and his family, especially Skyler.
- Using a magnet attached to a truck, he destroyed a laptop that belonged to Gus and a bunch of other evidence that was kept in the evidence room, out of fear it could have had something against them.
- Alongside Mike and Jesse, he continues to produce drugs with the help of the pest control workers.
- Intimidated Saul into continuing working with him when he wanted out.
- He manipulates Jesse into ending his relationship with Andrea, partly to avoid suspicion of poisoning Brock, but also mainly to cut another one of Jesse's ties so that he'd remain only loyal to him.
- After Skyler tells him that the children moved to live with Hank, Walt mocks her plan and threatens to get her hospitalized if she continues.
- When Marie tries to find out why Skyler is angry, Walt tries to cover his tracks while revealing the connection between her and Ted, causing her to get angry with her sister and hug him.
- He agreed to kidnap Lydia and force her to help their drug deals.
- Manipulated Hank twice so that he could put a bug in his office, to see what the DEA is up to.
- Robbed a train that had methylamine in it, which risked the life of his men and was obsessed with getting more, even when Mike ordered it to stop and the train started moving.
- He is complicit in the death of a child called Drew Sharp, as Todd Alquist (one of his men) shot him. Even if he didn't mean for it to happen, he still has Todd work for him, despite Jesse's request, and then, alongside Mike and Todd, disposed of Drew's body by using acid.
- While he did look a little disheartened by the deed afterwards, it wasn't enough for him to fire Todd.
- He taught Todd how to cook meth.
- When Jesse tries to leave the business because of his guilt over what happened to Drew, Walt tries to manipulate him into staying and threatens to not give Jesse the money he's earned unless he remains in the game. He even goes as far as to tell him he has nothing going on in his life and nobody, even though Walt was arguably responsible for that happening since he let Jane die and manipulated him into ending his relationship with Andrea.
- In a moment of immediate anger, he shot and killed Mike after he refused to give him the names of ten prisoners that Walt wanted killed, and also because he damaged his overinflated ego. He also dissolves his body in acid and puts the evidence in his car and then has the car destroyed by Old Joe.
- Although Walt regrets killing Mike, it was partially because he realized he could have asked Lydia for the names instead.
- By Lydia's advice, he expanded his drug empire into the Czech Republic.
- He allied himself with Todd's uncle Jack Welker and his group of Neo-Nazis and ordered them to kill 9 inmates and Mike's lawyer who were going to testify against Walt about his drug trade in three different prisons within two minutes, this would lead to all of them having highly brutal deaths, with one of the inmates even being burnt alive.
- When Jesse planned to transfer $2.5 million in cash to Mike's granddaughter, Kaylee, Walter intervened and prevented the transfer from happening, thus preventing Mike from posthumously passing a large sum of money to his granddaughter.
- He created a fake confession video against Hank, after he found out the truth about him, stating that Hank was the true leader of the Heisenberg Empire while using Walter as his chemist and abusing Walter and his family. He did this to blackmail Hank so that he could stop investigating him.
- Although he promised to leave the meth business, he told Jack he would show Todd how to cook one more time, even worse: as a condition for killing Jesse.
- He attempted to lure Jesse out of hiding by using Brock and Andrea, he made Andrea send a voice mail to Jesse where she stated that she and Walt are worried for his safety. Walt, then, planned on using this voice mail to lure a panicked Jesse to Andrea's house where Jack's men would be able to ambush and kill him. Luckily though, Hank saw this voicemail before Jesse did.
- He is indirectly responsible for Hank and Steven's deaths, as he called the Nazis to kill Jesse along with whatever guys he had with him, not knowing Hank was there. While he ordered them not to come to spare Hank's life, it's heavily implied he would not have done this for Steven or almost any other agent, showing he is not even above killing federal agents.
- He let Jesse be kidnapped and tortured by Jack and his Neo-Nazi group while revealing to him that he watched Jane die and that he could have saved her but didn't, confessing it in a rather cold yet sadistic tone. Even the series' creator Vince Gilligan admitted he viewed this as Walt at his most evil, as it's by far the only thing Walt did largely out of unwarranted sadism, as the confession was unnecessary, although this can be partially traced back to Walt's grief over Hank's death.
- He kidnapped Holly, his infant daughter, after Skyler and Walt Jr. turned against him, though he did give her back after realizing she wanted to be with Skyler.
- He refused to peacefully part ways with Saul and attempted to force him to help him in his revenge against Jack and his gang.
- He threatened his once-friends Gretchen and Elliot into giving his son his drug money by claiming that, if any point in the future they decided not to, two assassins would track them down and kill them.
- Although the "assassins" didn't exist and were just Badger and Skinny Pete with laser pointers, it doesn't erase the psychological effect it had.
- Even in his dying moments, he only felt remorse for the way he treated his family and letting Jesse be tortured, but not for the other consequences of his crimes, that had ruined many other lives. These atrocities are also why he doesn't qualify as a scapegoat despite his death being played for sympathy.
Better Call Saul and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie[]
- Him allowing Jane to die and later letting the Neo-Nazis take Jesse, leading to him being tortured as their prisoner and slave for six months (although Walt was not aware the Neo-Nazis kept Jesse as a slave and expected him to be dead), led to Jesse suffering from PTSD from both instances and having hallucinations of Jane at the end of the movie.
- In a flashback scene taking place somewhat during Breaking Bad season 5, he has a conversation with Saul. However, Walter acts like a complete jerk towards the man, when Saul simply asks about what would he do if he had a time machine. Walter condescendingly explains why the concept of a time machine is utter nonsense, and then begins to rant about Gray Matter. When Saul sympathetically told Walt that he would've gladly helped, Walt insults him, though it is possible he knew his former associate was only doing it out of greed rather than actual compassion.
- As seen in the Gene scenes, which take place after Breaking Bad, Gene (who is actually Saul Goodman) seems to be depressed and he misses his old life as a lawyer. His career was partially ruined by Walter. This also earned Saul quite a reputation as Heisenberg's lawyer in prison, with all the inmates almost worshipping Saul as a legend.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is genuinely tragic: he had a heavily rough childhood, with his father dying when he was six years old and it being the only real memory he ever had of him, had a very turbulent relationship with his mother, and was mistreated and looked down upon by several people in his life, which made him feel very insecure about being an underachiever.
- He also had to live with the fact that he is an overqualified chemistry teacher who could have been a billionaire had he not sold his stocks at Grey Matter, which at the time was a lot of money, something he regrets very much.
- He was eventually diagnosed with lung cancer, so he felt he had no choice other than manufacturing methamphetamine, so his family would have money left after his death.
- Furthermore, he also had an understandable reason for rejecting an offer to become an employee of Gray Matter, since he was one of the founders of the company and they became billionaires due to his research, not even bothering to give him any real public credit for contributing towards their success.
- He also suffers from a lack of success in life outside of crime as he has financial problems and is forced to work 2 jobs, his former students mock him, his first boss treated him poorly and forced him to work until he passed out, his wife interferes in his affairs and is quite unsatisfied, his son suffers from cerebral palsy, and his own brother in law mocked him for not having any excitement in his life and even remarked himself on how he was a underachiever, and more.
- However, this is ultimately a minor prevention since he turned down multiple chances to retire from his criminal life and by the last season, his massive ego and genuinely enjoying being a drug lord, as well as how some characters have suffered worse than him (namely Jesse and Hank), nearly outweighs his own tragedy.
- He also shows very sympathetic insecurities, as he is shown to be afraid of being unable to afford for his family and be a proper man, and was shown to be afraid about not being displayed as a good dad.
- He wanted for his son to have good memories with him since he had none with his own father.
- He is shown to be emasculated by Hank's DEA job, and he feels unable to be a proper father or husband.
- He is also frequently played for sympathy in the show numerous times, such as when he is devastated by Hank's death and falls to the ground in despair, is in heavy tears when telling Skyler over the phone that Hank is dead, is shown to be living in absolute loneliness and misery when he is in New Hampshire to the point where he asks Ed if he can stay with him for a little longer, is deeply saddened when his son tells him that he wants him to die for what he did over the phone, and he feels heavy remorse for ruining his family, visiting Skyler and seeing his kids one last time before he kills Jack and his gang to avenge the deaths of Hank and Gomez. He is also played for pity when isolated in his log cabin after escaping Albuquerque, even paying Ed $10,000 just to stay with him for an hour.
- While he does remain in the crime business because of his ego, he does eventually get money for his family in the end, showing that his nature as a tragic and insecure character still holds up since it clearly defines his personality and everything he does.
- He shows extensive care about both his family and Jesse.
- With his family, his initial goal was to get as much money as possible in order to make sure they had enough money to live off for when he is dead, and even though he started to get more and more self-centered as the series progressed, he never stopped caring about them. He also returned Holly to Skyler once Walt began to let go of his pride, eventually ending up confessing to Skyler, admitting that he did what he did for himself and not for them, and he gives her the coordinates of Hank and Gomez's bodies so she can make a deal with the prosecutor to get herself out of legal troubles. He also tries to make sure the DEA and police won't be after Skyler by making her look like an innocent victim who was forced into it. He cares about them so much that he put out a hit on Jesse because he thought he would threaten them.
- He loved Hank, his brother-in-law. Despite Gus threatening and telling him he and his family would be spared if Walt doesn't interfere in Hank's assassination, Walt didn't hesitate to warn the DEA about the hit. When Hank found out that he is Heisenberg, Walt tried to dissuade him from investigating him and rejected Saul's suggestion to get him killed. When Jack is about to kill Hank, his brother-in-law who tried to put him behind bars, Walt does everything possible to try to reason with Jack not to kill Hank, even attempting to give all his money to Jack to save Hank, and he collapsed in a fit of despair once he was killed.
- As for Jesse, when he was a petty criminal at the beginning of the series, Walt gave him the opportunity to work with him in the meth business, and despite the two arguing very frequently, and Walt being emotionally abusive towards him, he saved Jesse from being killed by other villains (such as Tuco and the rival dealers), and even at the end of the series, Walt takes out Jack and his group just to set Jesse free. While it is true he eventually put a hit out on Jesse, it was only after Skyler and Saul continued pressuring him into it, and originally he wanted to talk down Jesse and changed his mind only when he thought he was threatening his family. Even then, he wanted him to die painlessly and, as mentioned before, he saved Jesse's life regardless and both of them gave one final look at each other in respect. Walt also gave Jesse the chance to get his revenge on him by letting Jesse aim a gun at him, which potentially implies a desire for punishment from his biggest victim.
- He is On & Off, since there are times where he performs heroic actions in the series (to the point where it even makes him pass the admirable standards), such as wiping out Jack's Neo Nazi Gang to avenge the deaths of Hank and Steven, saving Jesse from being killed by the Rival Dealers, defeating Gus (and by extension, Hector and Tyrus) to ensure the safety of his family, and sacrificing himself (even if it was accidental) to free Jesse from slavery and enable him to get his freedom back.
- He has some "Pet the Dog" moments, like when he gave a waitress at Denny's a $100 tip for being nice to him, advised a fellow meth dealer at the store on how to be less conspicuous while shopping, made sandwiches for an imprisoned Krazy-8, and warned Mike about his lawyer's betrayal just in time (although this is minor since he killed Mike soon after).
- Some of his most heinous actions had understandable intentions. For example, he let Jane die of an overdose partially to save Jesse from the same fate, and as for poisoning Brock, it was done to convince Jesse that Gus had to be killed for their safety and had the ultimate goal of protecting his family, even though it is Walt's fault for getting involved with Gus in the first place. He also showed relief when learning that Brock had survived and was going to be okay.
- However, his misguided paternalistic concern for Jesse in letting Jane die is a minor prevention, because this implicitly had ulterior motives as well, such as Walt wanting ensure that his secret of being a drug lord does not get exposed due to Jane's knowledge and blackmail.
- He sometimes shows remorse about some of the villainous actions he had done, including shooting Mike, his actions leading to Hank's death, three janitors working for Gus that led to them losing their jobs, and the school janitor losing his job because the police caught him with drugs. When Saul asks him what his biggest regret is, he briefly looks at Jesse's watch, implying he felt remorseful about how he ruined their friendship.
- At the end of the series, he obtains partial redemption by securing his family's financial future, admitting to Skyler that he built his empire to serve himself, killing Jesse's torturers and enslavers, and sacrificing himself to save Jesse from the gunfire. While he did not completely redeem himself, as he never completely regretted all the things he did just to caress his ego, he still showed a sign of remorse for how he treated his family and letting Jesse be tortured by the Nazis.
- His death is portrayed in a sympathetic light. After being proud he was able to keep his family safe and save Jesse, he accepts his death quietly in the very place he felt alive in: a meth lab. Even after everything they went through, Jesse was upset over hearing about Walt's death, demonstrating that he forgave him to some degree.
Trivia[]
- A Song of Ice and Fire author, George R.R. Martin, opined back in 2013 that Walter White is a "bigger monster" than any of the villains of Game of Thrones. The exact meaning of Martin's comment, though, is unclear.
- However, Martins' novels have featured far more evil, and despicable and crueler characters who are much worse than White, like Joffrey Baratheon, Gregor Clegane, Ramsay Bolton, Euron Greyjoy, and Rorge, all five Pure Evils, for example. The reason for his opinion might be because he was a more engaging, intimate and personal character with the cast in comparison to the GOT Pure Evils.
References[]
External Links[]
- Walter White on the Villains Wiki
- Walter White on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Walter White on the Moral Ranking Wiki
- Walter White on the Breaking Bad Wiki
- Walter White on the Wikipedia
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