Warning: spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 4.A confrontation between Negan and the Croat doesn't play out as expected in The Walking Dead: Dead City episode 4, raising questions over why Manhattan's evil overlord lets his former boss walk away with both ears intact. As revealed previously in The Walking Dead: Dead City, the Croat was once Negan's resident torture expert, ultimately ejected from the sanctuary for extending his extracurricular nastiness to minors. Given that Negan both kicked the Croat out of the Saviors, and shot off his unhinged lackey's ear in a botched assassination attempt, one would assume the Croat would be wanting vengeance in The Walking Dead: Dead City.

https://screenrant.com/why-croat-not-kill-negan-walking-dead-city-episode-4/