The Walking Dead aired a hugely important episode this past Sunday. As the Whisperers stormed Hilltop, at least three major characters were killed off. First came the deaths of survivor Earl, reformed Whisperer Mary and, last but not least, Alpha herself. In a development that was plucked straight from the comics, Negan led the Whisperer queen into the woods on false pretences and then slit her throat, going on to chop off her head as a trophy.
Fans had been expecting this moment to play out all season, but there was one additional element to it we weren’t expecting. Following the murder, Negan then met with Carol and presented her with Alpha’s head. “What took you so long?” said Carol, revealing that the pair were in on it together all along and that she was the one who let him out of jail in the first place.
While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Angela Kang revealed that she was adamant that this famous comic book scene had to be replicated on screen, but was also keen to give it a twist unique to the TV series to keep the fans on their toes.
“We often remix moments from the comics, but I came into the room to break the season feeling very steadfast that we needed to do the Negan [kills] Alpha storyline. It’s such an iconic storyline. But we needed to have our own twist on it, which is why we have Carol.”
Negan had managed to win Alpha’s trust over the past few episodes, having ratted out Mary to her as the mole in their camp. They even had an unexpected physical encounter in the midseason premiere. However, putting her faith in the former Savior leader proved to be the Whisperer’s undoing. She believed him when he told her he had her turncoat daughter Lydia trapped in a shed. Only when she opened the door and found it empty did she realize she’d been betrayed.
Though Alpha is dead and Carol has got justice for the death of her son, the threat’s not over. Expect Beta to exact his terrible vengeance on the communities in the coming episodes when The Walking Dead continues Sundays on AMC.
