‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’: The Meaning of “Doma Smo” Explained

Doma Smo is not just the title of the Season finale of The Walking Dead: Dead City’s first season. It is also the motto of the Burazi, the killer gang that rules Manhattan. Being Croatian, The Croat’s (the leader of the Burazi) choice of motto is not strange, but Doma Smo means a lot more to TWD universe than just The Burazi and their deranged leader. Many TWD fans, therefore, wonder what Doma Smo means in Dead City and why the Burazi use it as their motto.

Doma Smo is Croatian for “we are home” which is how The Burazi feel about Manhattan. However, it was also used in a wider context in Dead City to signify the importance of Manhattan. The island’s strategic location and vital resources make it a safe and essential piece of real estate for human survival in the post-apocalyptic world. Doma Smo is also a paradoxical statement to the title of the spinoff, Dead City, to mean the city is not dead after all.

The leader of the New Babylon Federation confirmed it when she said that the methane on the island was an invaluable resource. However, The Dama also understands how strategic the island is and won’t give it up without a fight, so she wants Negan to join her ranks. The finale’s title, Doma Smo (s01e06), is, therefore, the declaration of war between The Burazi and New Babylon for the control of Manhattan.

Who are the Burazi in The Walking Dead: Dead City?

The Burazi are a gang of apocalypse survivors based in Manhattan led by The Croat, a former member of Negan’s gang (The Saviors).

He is Croatian-American and speaks Croatian as well as English, but with an accent, which explains his nickname. His real name remains unknown in Dead City.

The Croat was considered too brutal and evil (even by Negan’s standards), especially after he killed a little girl against Negan’s orders. Negan tried to kill him with a shotgun for the disobedience but missed and only managed to shoot off his ear.

“let’s just say there were a lot of psychos in my crew back then, but he always stood out as being an exceptionally insane son of a b**h,” Negan said while explaining his relationship with The Croat to Maggie.

It is unclear whether he created the Burazi, but he is likely the mind behind their Croatian motto Doma Smo because of his Croatian roots.

He also turned them into a version of The Saviors, terrorizing settlements, stealing their food and supplies, and kidnapping their loved ones to force them into submission.

However, towards the end of Dead City’s first season, The Croat was revealed to be just a pawn working for an even bigger psycho known as the Dama.

The Dama knew about Negan through The Croat and hatched the plan to kidnap Hershel and force Maggie to bring Negan to Manhattan.

The Dama is just as twisted as The Croat because she tortured Hershel and even cut off his toe just to use it as a message for Negan.

What does The Dama want with Negan in Dead City

The Dama wanted Negan to help her unite the survivors in New York to create a strong enough army that could stop New Babylon from taking over the island.

She doesn’t consider The Croat a strong enough leader for the Burazi, so she wants Negan to take his place.

When Maggie traded Negan for Hershel in the first season’s final episode, Negan was taken to meet the Dama, who immediately showed him Perlie Armstrong’s badge.

She told Negan that while she wasn’t afraid of Armstrong, she knew that the forces behind him would come for the resource on the island.

The leader of New Babylon later confirmed her fears when she asked Armstrong to explain the methane deposits in Manhattan.

To defeat New Babylon, The Dama has to consolidate the population of Manhattan into a single administrative unit, and that requires a charismatic leader, which she believes Negan to be.

While she wants Negan to play the politics, The Dama retains all the power on the island, which means she wants to bring out the old monstrous version of Negan, but only to use him as her puppet.

What did The Dama do to Maggie’s son?

After torturing Hershel, The Dama hypnotizes him to fantasize and basically worship her, so Hershel shouts at Maggie after being rescued.

She broke the little boy by subjecting him to immense pain, keeping him in a dark room, and manipulating him into thinking his mother was just as evil as Negan.

The plan was to turn Hershel into her subject so that she could still use him, even after he returned to Hilltop with his mother.

After being broken, Hershel told her everything about his family, including Negan and how he killed Glenn.

Hershel started seeing The Dama as a god, just like The Croat does, so he drew pictures of her.

The Dama then realized that Negan was the twisted leader with charisma that she needed to unite all of New York and create a strong army.

She cut off Hershel’s toe as a trophy to remind Negan that she could get to the little boy and harm him if Negan didn’t bend to her wishes.

She hopes to hypnotize Negan and bring out his dark version so he can help her bring all the survivor groups in New York into her fold, just as he did when he was the leader of The Saviors.