For the first time since his introduction, Eugene succeeded in accomplishing several different tasks, got rewarded and championed for them, and also stood up for himself.
Spoilers for last night’s episode of The Walking Dead are coming, so be warned.
Of course, he’s doing this as a captive and not a hero, per se, and his subjugation was fully formed by the end, which will have interesting effects on how the story goes on from here, especially if he is indeed embracing the enemy.
It wasn’t what was on top of Eugene’s head that made him important to Negan and his minions, but rather the synapses firing around inside his brain.