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‘The Walking Dead’ promises new survivors — The Whisperers, anyone?
The official synopsis for the second half of “The Walking Dead” Season 7 has been released and it includes some very interesting information.
“The first half of Season 7 saw Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the group broken by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), forced to fall under his will and brutally convinced to live under his rules. The second half of the season will focus on preparing for war and gathering the supplies and numbers to take Negan down once and for all.
Rick’s group will find out yet again that the world isn’t what they thought it was. It’s much bigger than anything they’ve seen so far. While they have a singular purpose — to defeat Negan — it won’t come easy. More importantly, victory will require more than Alexandria. They need the numbers of the Kingdom and the Hilltop, but, similar to how Rick felt, Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Gregory (Xander Berkeley) do not want bloodshed. To convince them otherwise will take more than speeches. The lengths Rick and the group will have to go to in order to find weapons, food and new fighters is nothing short of remarkable.
We’ll meet new survivors in incredible places. We’ll see Rick and the group tested in ways we’ve never seen before. We’ll see treachery from people we trust. Rick is confident as he will see his group and many others band together with the common goal of taking down Negan. But no amount of planning will prepare the group for all-out war with Negan and his army.”
The part you should be really paying attention to is “We’ll meet new survivors in incredible places.” It’s no surprise that “The Walking Dead” likes to introduce new characters and communities — sometimes too many to handle at any given moment — but this point in the story presents an interesting possibility.
What if “TWD” introduced The Whisperers this season? Those who read the comics know the group well — but for the uninitiated, let’s dig into this mysterious group.
The Whisperers are a community of antagonists that bring quite a bit of misery to Rick and the survivors you love. Eventually, the two sides end up in a full-on war that leads to the deaths of many, including one fan-favorite character.
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However, in the graphic novels the Whisperers don’t arrive until after the war with Negan, which “TWD” is gearing up for. It’s not as if the show hasn’t altered the events of the comics before, though.
If the Whisperers are introduced as allies in toppling Negan and the Saviors, only to become the next antagonist — going on the attack against Rick and the survivors as soon as the war is over — sets up a pretty interesting dynamic, given Negan’s POW fate in the comics.
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It’s a peculiar shift for the character, but one to which “The Walking Dead” comic has already committed. Perhaps having the Whisperers start as allies only to become the enemy would help reinforce Negan’s change of heart. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?
There’s no telling is “The Walking Dead” is truly ready to introduce the Whisperers on the AMC series now — but given the importance of the group, it has to happen eventually. Still, if they were looking for a way to really surprise fans, this would certainly accomplish that.
“The Walking Dead” returns Sunday, Feb. 12, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.