The Walking Dead midseason finale followed tradition by featuring another shocking death. In last week’s penultimate installment of season 10a, Dante was revealed to be a Whisperer agent when he murdered poor Siddiq with his bare hands. In the latest episode, the Alexandrians discovered his deception and locked him up. But this wasn’t enough for one character who exacted their revenge.
In a surprise twist, Gabriel paid Dante a visit and brutally stabbed him to death to get justice for Siddiq’s murder. There was a good chance that Dante’s number was up, given his killing Siddiq last week, but we didn’t expect it to go down like this. Neither did actor Juan Javier Cardenas, who explained in an interview with ComicBook.com that he tried to be prepared for any eventuality when joining the TWDÂ universe.
With a series like The Walking Dead, you really should expect the unexpected. What it turned out to be is that it turned out to be a wonderful exercise of an actor because what I got to do was to be extremely open to how things would change from episode to episode and see how many layers were revealed as the story went on.”
Of course, a major part of what makes Dante’s demise so shocking is the identity of his killer, as this is a huge shift for Father Gabriel’s character. Cardenas went on to say how he was likewise fascinated by how this violent action contrasts with the religious man’s worldview.
“What was amazing for me is that I had worked a couple of days with Seth [Gilliam] before. Seeing him in his interpretation of Father Gabriel, seeing this person inhabit this character that is all about kind of controlling of our animalistic urges and trying to establish the possibility to have a world of civility and care for the other. And that, the barbarity of the world is outside the walls of Alexandria. Inside, we do things differently. You know, we’re not animals back there. We’re people and we can forget that.”
The revelation that Dante was a secret Whisperer sent fans into meltdown last Sunday as this was a big change from the comic book version of the character, who was a trustworthy good guy. Likewise, he lasted all the way until the second-to-last issue of the series, as did Siddiq. So, it’s doubly shocking that he’s been killed off within half a season. But his death, and his murder of Siddiq, should have major consequences in the second half of The Walking Dead season 10.
