The Walking Dead season 10 episode 2 review: The dark origin of the Whisperers

The Walking Dead gave fans a look at how Alpha and Beta met in the second episode of season 10 and it was even darker than expected.

The Walking Dead ‘s second episode of season 10 took a look back at how Alpha and a young Lydia were surviving early in the apocalypse and how they met Beta. Some of Alpha’s backstory was given last season, but through Lydia’s remembrance of the time immediately after the apocalypse started.

In “We Are The End Of The World” Lydia and Alpha are seen on their own trying to survive by covering themselves in blood and guts to blend in with the walkers. Lydia becomes afraid and cries, which turns the attention of the walkers to them. They find shelter in an old hospital, but Alpha sees a man at the other end of a dimly lit corridor. It’s Beta.

Beta and Alpha talk briefly and they discover they share a similar philosophy about the dead. Alpha says that the dead are free because the are free of everything except the drive to feed. No fear, no emotions. And Beta says that the music of the dead is the only music he never wants to end.

Towards the end of the flashback Alpha is forced to kill Beta’s best friend turned walker who attacks her as she searches for Lydia. Beta is distraught. He insists that he can’t leave his friend behind. Alpha is inspired and tells him he doesn’t have to leave him behind. Beta cuts his friends face off to fashion his mask, the mask he still wears. Beta also takes his friend’s shirt. Now we know where the inspiration for the human skin masks came from, and it is a much better idea than having to cover yourself constantly in fresh guts and blood because that gets very messy.

Alpha And Beta’s Relationship

“We Are The End Of The World” explains a lot about Alpha and Beta’s relationship and why he’s so devoted to her. Clearly he sees Alpha as a sort of apocalypse messiah figure who is going to lead them all in the next evolution of humanity. His faith in her and his support of her helps keep the rest of the pack in line.

But he does question her decisions, several times, and he’s upset with her when he finds out that she didn’t kill Lydia as she claimed. He agrees to keep her secret though because he does have a bond with her. The two of them, in their masks, chanting that they are the end of the world is really dark and creepy and gives this episode a true horror movie feel.

Gamma

Another important moment in this episode is when Alpha gives Gamma her name. Gamma, played by Thora Birch, is the sister of the mother who gave up her baby in the field outside Hilltop. The mother of the baby isn’t handling that loss very well. She puts the pack in danger by crying when they are in among the walkers and expects to be brutally punished for that by Alpha. But Alpha shows her compassion, possibly because she understands how difficult it is for a mother to give up her child.

But, later on the mother attacks Alpha and jumps on her back screaming, hoping to draw the attention of the walkers to Alpha and get her killed. Gamma throws her sister to the walkers and saves Alpha, choosing the leader over her own blood. Alpha rewards this by giving Gamma a name, which is something none of the others have. Alpha is impressed that Gamma has no fear of dying, and it looks like she may see Gamma as the daughter she wanted Lydia to be.

Alpha

Ultimately this very dark and gory episode gave fans a lot of insights about Alpha. Those insights didn’t really humanize her, but they did give some clues into her thought process and how she keeps control of such a huge group. Alpha is a master manipulator and she knows when to use violence and when to softness to get the results she wants. She appears to be completely without emotion most of the time, but she clearly still struggles without Lydia and misses her daughter. It’s those interesting facets of her personality that make Alpha such a complex villain.

Next week on The Walking Dead there’s going to be some sort of meeting between Alpha, Beta, and the community leaders which could be the beginning of the Whisperer War and the conflict that will change everything. Alpha has an undead army of more than ten thousand walkers plus her own people. The communities can’t stand against that. But they may have no choice but to fight for each other, and for humanity, against the undead future that Alpha brings with her.

What did you think of this week’s episode of The Walking Dead? Sound off in the comments.