I see where you and on differ on this. I really don't want to see the Governor find redemption. I think he's a despicable character that deserves to be at the wrong of end of a revenge stick.
When I call him a sociopath or a psychopath I don't mean it in the sense of everyday use as someone who goes crazy and kills people. I use it to describe him as a deceiving, aggressive person who feels no remorse for his actions or for the rights and lives of other people.
I hope he dies. I hope either Rick, Michonne, Darryl, Maggie or Glen do it. Preferably in some Sympathy for Lady Vengeance payback scene.
I don't necessarily want to see him redeemed. I just wanted something more than "he's evil, soooooo evil". This feels more like a real person. Doesn't change what he has done in the past. And yes, I would agree he becamecdeceiving, aggressive without remorse for his actions, but I would maintain based on what milton said and what was hinted about his past, that he wasn't born this way, but chose to become this way like shane did. Or at the very least, the ZA has revealed something like this about him that he might not even known existed.
Whether he is a genuine psychopath, i don't know, not very interested in diagnosing characters with ailments, and that seems to be a very broad label applied to a wide range of cases. But frankly, if the issue is mental illlness, that isn't a product of his own choices and free will, to me that reduces the potency of the evil he represents. Now that could still be interesting. Tony soprano was clearly a psychopath, they pretty much explicitly diagnosed him in the show, but he was also a fully realized character. Merle obviously had some kind of mental illness going on, that drove his behavior (which was how I read the "i am a mystery to me" line. So i still think it might be interesting for the governor to have something so powerful inside him like that, that he may desire to overcome, but in the end cannot. But such a character is a bit harder to lust for vengeance over, than someone like shane who deliberately chose a path like that of his own free will. It is very easy for writers to just make you hate someone like that, but they are still supposed to be human beings, and i'd rather explore who this guy is a bit, so it is a lot harder than simply hating him.
I think we witnessed a descent last year, when we met him he'd already reached a evel of abhorence, but still seemed to have some redeeming features. After penny was "killed" he just fuly embraced what he was becoming. But I think killing his own people shook him up and he is re-evaluating things. That doesnt mean he'll be a good guy. He's done so much evil, for him to climb back to some level of human decency would take tremendous work and he'd still carry those crimes with him. My suspicion is he will get close, but like merle will basically decide he cant or doesnt want tchange or blame others (likely that girl dies or he uses protecting her as an excuse for his actions). Still i would consider a redemption arch satisfying as well. I guess I do personally still believe in redemption, so that is also likely coloring my impressions. I don't think its as easy as saying "i am good now" but like i said, they appear to be taking John Locke aporoach to identity and free will, so i would expect any redemption to be a rough process of reflection and slow inner change.
In terms of wanting to see him killed by rick or michonne, i guess i just don't have any desire for that. If the kill him, they kill him, but i dont feel a personal need to see him suffer. He is a fictional character so i justrhave a hard time getting too worked up over him. What i do like are the questions about identity, evil and change that his character is provoking this year. To me, it is a little more like brittish programming thac american in that respect. It is a little more ambiguous than, evil and good. And what evil does exist is a bit more complex and capable of change. Like i said previously, i just find that more interesting. Obvioulsy lots of folks feel very differently about the governor than me here, and that is fine, but, i haven't been this intrigued by a show's take on morality and character development for a long time. So whatever they are doing now, works for me at least.