The Walking Dead comic strip , and in play the show , have always been defined by the generations of villains Rick Grimes and his fellow survivors have face , from the dead themselves , to the Governor , and then most famously , Negan . With The Walking Deadback on AMC this weekend , here ’s what you need to cognise about the next generation of foes that are about to bring mayhem .
After the showfinally enactedthe grand time decamp the Robert Kirkman - created Image Comics series had see with Andrew Lincoln’sdeparture from the series , Alexandria ’s conflict with the now - enwrapped Negan ( well , okay , slimly less captive , deliberate he escapedin the midseason finale ) and his saviors is really at an conclusion . While the show has started to give us an insight into how our survivors have moved on afterRick ’s “ death,”it ’s localise the stages for accommodate the post - Negan chapter of Kirkman ’s zombie saga , usher in us to the Whisperers … mainly by having them kill off short Jesus . no-count , Jesus . I ’d say he ’d be risen again , but before that could happen , Aaron made sure he was put down before re - vitality . No divine father to help out this metre !
Suits You, Sir
The Whisperers are , basically , a grosser evolution of a zombi spirit - evading tactic that ’s been part of The Walking Dead ’s universe , whether in the comics or in the show , pretty much since the get - go . subsister have long managed to pass through and sail massive herd of zombies by going through the cognitive process of slathering themselves with zombi spirit viscera as a sort of incredibly disgustful disguise — the Whisperers just take it to the next level by wearing stitched up consistence suits made out of zombie skin .
Not only does it give the wearer the same effect as the viscera - exfoliate , it lends the Whisperers another advantage against living opponents . By obscure themselves among herds of real zombi , any potential human opponents wo n’t comment they ’re dealing with armed , equally human foe until it ’s too later ( like pitiable Jesus ) .
The Whisperers issue forth along in the comics — and in the show — in a meter where the zombi irruption is years in the yesteryear . Survivors , at this peak , know how to deal with them , and while they ’re still a threat , they ’ve been overcome by the threat of roving work party of evil world . Turns out , we were the veridical monsters all along , who could ’ve get it on ? But the Whisperers specifically play off the self-complacency that both the survivors , and we as an audience , have grow over eld and class ( and years ) of zombies basically being background noise . Now the only background noise is the creepy-crawly ass whispering the Whisperers do to communicate — and scare the bejesus out of their foeman — as they mix among the hordes .
Meet the Whisperers
The Whisperers are also a much less - structured threat than , say , the militias commanded by the Governor or Negan . The society we ’re put in to in the funnies is a roving , animalistic mass that wanders among the zombie hordes from place to place , out of a belief that the apocalypse is a course - correction designed to revert humanity back to a more primaeval commonwealth . And really , there are only three fiber among that mass you ’ll need to be intimate , and they ’ve all been cast for the back half of season nine :
Alpha , the leader of the Whisperers , will be play by Samantha Morton ( Minority Report ) on the show . A battle - harden and brutal leader , Alpha enters the moving picture in the comics after she declares that the expanding upon of Alexandria , the Kingdom , and Hilltop settlement ’s soil following their development and coalition accord in the war against Negan are encroaching on Whisperer territory , straight off entering hostilities with Rick ’s group , direct to the irruption of an obviously - style “ Whisperer War . ” We ’ll get to that subsequently .
She ’s supported by genus Beta — duh — who’ll be played by Ryan Hurst . genus Beta is second in command to Alpha , and is basically known for being an absolute unit . Tall , muscularly built , and so visit that he literally can not fit his whisperer - skin - masque all the path over his head ( he bust it like a cowl , fundamentally ) , he ’s madly loyal to Alpha ’s dominion , acting as a confidant as much as he is a physically imposing wildcat .
Lastly , there ’s perhaps the most enchanting Whisperer of all : Lydia . Played by Cassady McClincy in the series , you ’ll see that she ’s different from the residue of the Whisperers from the get - go , down to the fact she ’s really beget a name instead of a appellation . Lydia is Alpha ’s girl and is n’t exactly all that supportive of her female parent ’s vicious band of zombie - peel - wearing weirdoes . Alpha is basically in the process of completely disowning her , even offering Lydia up to Rick to connect his softened banding of farmers and traders in their society . In the comics , she strike up a amatory relationship with Carl , even as their parent set about to clash . Just who ’ll replace thedead untested Grimesas the aim of her affections in the show stay to be get wind .
Now you ’ve meet the Whisperers and know their pot , here ’s the role they end up playing in the comics — and if the show stop up following it ( with tweaks to account for both Rick and Carl ’s absence ) , there could be some self-aggrandizing changes to The Walking Dead ’s dynamic on the way . If you do n’t need to be intimate , do n’t read on …
Not With a Bang, But With a Whisper
The arrival of the Whisperers in the comics prevent an electric discharge known as the Whisperer War ( not to be confused with “ All - Out War , ” which come to to the fight against Negan ) , which is both paradoxically not that much of a warfare and also one that could potentially lead to a bunch more major Walking Dead characters losing their heads . Literally !
As tensions between Rick and Alpha ascension , the latter infiltrate an yearly bazaar carry between Alexandria , Hilltop , and the Kingdom , shedding her zombi cutis to blend in among the humans ( they ’re the same , you see , we ’re the walking dead , and so on ) . In doing so , Alpha handle to subdue and mutilate 12 people , lopping their mind off and will them to re - enliven on poles that she disperse along what she sees as the line between Whisperer territory and Rick ’s dominion . Naturally , this pull up stakes Rick and his friends improbably micturate — and we actually lose some renowned characters who are still on the show , include Rosita and Ezekiel .
In reaction , Rick gets a new militia fortify and prepared for struggle … but it ends up not being with Alpha . The hightail it Negan finally finds his way over to the Whisperers , look to join them at first . He does , for a few Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . After parlay with Alpha and proving he was n’t sent by Rick to infiltrate her group , he joins the Whisperers on their wanderings , until he break up a sexual rape among some of the pack , only to find that Alpha does n’t worry , and that rape and assault are commonplace accept practices within her animalistic society . Negan responds by right away slice her throat , and taking her head off — devolve to Alexandria with it as a peacefulness offering for the whole “ so I suffer a state of war with you and then escaped the jail you ’d been keep me in ” affair .
This leads to the actual Whisperer War at long last breaking out , as Rick — now team up with Negan as part of the young reserves — and the colonisation see themselves give out up against not just Beta and the Whisperer force , but the monumental herd of zombies they ’ve corral . The settlements hold off the zombies and end up taking out most of the Whisperers , with Negan gravely offend Beta , causing him to retreat , but it ’s not without cost .
Gabriel dies betimes on in the battle , gutted by Beta and left to be eaten by John Walker . Hilltop nearly burns down , and Alexandria is forced to deal with a mammoth horde of zombie let loose by Beta to cover his retreat . It ’s in deal out with that horde that Andrea — who was not only still animated in the comics at this point , but in an established relationship with Rick — is bitten and succumbs to the contagion , leaving Rick and Carl heartbroken . view that she ’s long dead on the show , and both Rick and Carl are break down , it ’s intemperate to say if there ’s someone she could be supplant with should the show portion out with this zombie horde … but hey , throw that Michonne jolly much filled Andrea ’s smear as Rick ’s new love interestingness , there ’s a chance Judith could be pretty all-fired alone once the dust of this arc settles .
After the horde is driven off and the settlement start the route to rebuilding what they lost to the Whisperers , Jesus — who did n’t get a shank to the back in the comics — finally track down Beta and the remnants of the Whisperers that fled the struggle , killing them all . With Alpha and Beta both dead , Lydia joining Carl and the rest of the subsister , and their horde scattered , the Whisperers are pretty much no more .
While the Whisperers ’ function in The Walking Dead is passably short in comparability to the titanic villains of the past like the Governor and Negan , they do have a massive impact on the embodiment of The Walking Dead ’s world . For a time , it make zombies first and firstly a threat to our survivors again , and in the process a beneficial few members of the mold — ones that have been around for important period of time — terminate up pall . With the show having just suffer Rick and Carl , this arc could be a potentially devastating aftershock to the serial publication ’ roll as it heads into itsrecently - confirmed10th season .
Just what will stay and what will change in the taradiddle ’s transition into the telly show stay to be seen ; we ’ll slowly begin to find out set out this weekend . But as ever with The Walking Dead , the only good thing is the assumption that no one on the show is secure from this later threat .
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