How The Walking Dead’s Whisperer War Ends Differently In The Comics

Warning: SPOILERS for The Walking Dead season 10, episode 16.

The Whisperer War comes to an end in The Walking Dead season 10, episode 16, but how is it different from the comics? Originally meant to air earlier in the year, the episode formerly known as the season 10 finale, “A Certain Doom” is the conclusion to the Whisperer arc that began during the second half of season 9. It’s been a protracted conflict, but recent developments have signaled that the end was near.

The end of the Whisperer War on both The Walking Dead TV show and in the comics begins with the death of Alpha. In both tellings, she’s murdered and decapitated by Negan, and it’s her death that places Beta in charge of the Whisperers and spurs him to retaliate. He does this by deploying the Whisperers’ greatest weapon – the herd or horde, a massive gathering of walkers whom the Whisperers are capable of directing, sending them on the attack like an undead army.

While AMC’s Walking Dead has done very well with its presentation of the Whisperers, the conclusion to the Whisperer War is a truncated version when compared with The Walking Dead comics. This in part stems from the TV show and comics no longer being very similar in either characters or time frame, but also because of the nature of adaptation. Neither ending to the Whisperer War is necessarily better than the other, but they are very different.

How The Whisperer Wars Ends on The Walking Dead TV Show

Following Alpha’s death on The Walking Dead TV show, Beta spirals into grief, rage, and eventually madness. He begins hearing voices, believing the horde itself is speaking to him and urging him to use them for his revenge. Beta leads the horde first to Alexandria but finds it abandoned. The survivors have fled to a nearby hospital where they can shelter on its highest floors. The plan, it seems, is to simply hide from the horde until help arrives or they can manage an escape. While traveling towards Oceanside, though, the voices Beta is hearing urge him to alter course, and by sheer luck, he begins leading the horde towards the hospital.

The Whisperer horde soon surrounds the hospital, but the survivors have a plan: get a speaker system onto a truck that will then be drawn by horses while it plays music, luring the horde away from the hospital so the others can escape. Using the tried and true tactic of covering themselves in walker guts, they manage to get all the necessary speaker parts to the truck. They enact their plan and the horde does begin to move away, but before too long, the Whisperers emerge and attack the truck, killing the music.

The survivors switch to a new plan – kill all the remaining Whisperers and then lead away the horde. They begin picking off the Whisperers one by one, and Negan comes back to confront Beta. As the two fight, Beta nearly finishes Negan off, but Daryl comes to his rescue, stabbing Beta in the eyes and leaving him for the horde to consume. Which they do, but Beta doesn’t fight back and instead allows the walkers to eat him, appearing at peace with his fate. With Beta and the remaining Whisperers all dead, Lydia and Carol lead the horde off a cliff and into a deep canyon, bringing the Whisperer War to a close.

How The Whisperer Wars Ends in The Walking Dead Comics

Following Alpha’s death in The Walking Dead comics, Beta does seek revenge but there’s no indication he’s going mad like on the TV show. (At least, no more mad than usual.) He gathers the remaining Whisperers and they lead a massive herd towards Alexandria. The survivors at this point in the comics are in much better shape than the group hiding in a hospital, and there is a trained militia prepared to defend the community. The Whisperers, disguised within their herd, attack the waiting militia and do gain the upper hand thanks to the overwhelming number of walkers. It’s a huge and messy battle, during which Negan and Beta fight one another, with Beta being injured but rescued by other Whisperers. Thanks to reinforcements from the Kingdom, the survivors push the Whisperers back and both sides have a little time to regroup.

The Whisperers split up, with one group heading back towards Alexandria while the other goes to Hilltop. Part of the militia, though, never gave up the chase and hid within the herd. As it travels, they hunt down and kill the Whisperers before they can attack Alexandria. The herd on its way to Hilltop, however, does reach its destination and the Whisperers launch a devastating attack. Hilltop manages to repel the Whisperers despite the damage to the community, but they also decide to evacuate and fall back to Alexandria.

Still recuperating from his injuries, Beta and a diminished group of Whisperers round up an enormous herd of walkers and unleash it on Alexandria. They, however, do not go with it, instead believing that a herd this large will be plenty to destroy the whole community and everyone in it. They are nearly right, because it doesn’t take long for the herd to completely overrun the community. Still, the survivors are not so easily defeated and while some work on clearing the walkers out of Alexandria, others begin leading away the herd towards the ocean. They are ultimately successful, but they do also suffer heavy losses.

Following this attack, both Alexandria and Hilltop rebuild, while the Whisperers appear to vanish. It’s not until weeks later that the final act of the Whisperer War takes place. While on a patrol, Aaron and Jesus are attacked by Beta, who believes they’re out looking for the Whisperers’ new camp. He almost kills Jesus, but Aaron is able to shoot and kill Beta first. They then seek out the camp and kill the few remaining Whisperers there, bringing the Whisperer War to a close.

Why The Whisperer War Ends Differently On TV

The Walking Dead comics end their Whisperer War as if it were actually a war, with the two sides even having armies that meet in the field of battle. But AMC’s The Walking Dead never gave their Whisperer War that kind of scale. While in the comics, the survivors recruit and train a militia, employing tactics to route not just the Whisperers but any herd that comes too close, The Walking Dead TV show repeatedly put their survivors at a disadvantage, having them suffer repeated setbacks and barely escaping with their lives (the whole debacle in the cave, for example).

Meanwhile, Beta on the TV show goes completely insane in the wake of Alpha’s death, where in The Walking Dead comics, he is consumed by revenge but isn’t anywhere near as suicidal in his approach. This results in the Whisperer attack on TV being relentless, but also unable to adjust when the survivors change tactics. Not too mention, Beta’s mad determination to see this attack through meant there was no scenario where escaped to fight another day as in the comics. On AMC’s The Walking Dead, the Whisperer War needed a definitive end that left no chance of a return rather than having Beta pop up episodes later.

Even with the big differences in how the Whisperer War ends on the TV show when compared to the comics, there are also a few similarities. Hiding within the herd to attack the Whisperers, leading the herd away to destroy it, and Beta and Negan’s fight are all inspired by the comics. Even the Whisperers’ attack on Hilltop, which in the comics takes place during these final battles, was adapted much earlier in season 10. Again, neither ending is necessarily better than the other, and The Walking Dead TV show had to give an ending that made sense for its Whisperer War, but it’s very different from how it all goes down in the comics.

About The Author

Sarah Moran
(1214 Articles Published)

Sarah Moran is a news editor for Screen Rant and has been contributing to the site since 2014. She primarily writes features and covers the ongoing development of current movies and television shows. Sarah is a graduate of THE Ohio State University where she earned her B.A. in Film Studies in 2009.

Sarah’s favorite movies range from studio era classics to the latest sci-fi and superhero blockbusters. Her favorite TV shows are animated, and she’s always up to watch a documentary. Sarah spends her free time playing too many video games and proudly supporting the Columbus Crew, the greatest team the world has ever seen.

More From Sarah Moran