Last Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead was a real punch to the gut for fans. The final scene of the penultimate installment of season 9 saw Daryl, Michonne, Carol and Yumiko discover that Alpha and her Whisperers had murdered not one, not two but 10 of their people, placing their decapitated, zombified heads on pikes in order to make a macabre border for their territory.
Though fans were primed to expect a massacre like this one at Ezekiel’s fair because it also happens in the comics, the TV show still surprised us as it featured a virtually all-new line-up of victims, which meant it still came as a devastating blow when we found out what had happened.
To mark the shocking development, AMC has now released a special tribute video to the fallen 10, which brings together clips from across these characters’ journeys on the show. Rest in peace, Tara, Enid, Henry, Tammy Rose, Ozzy, DJ, Alek, Rodney, Frankie and Addy.
In the source material, the numbers of victims stretches to 12 and the most notable among them are Ezekiel and a pregnant Rosita. Though the TV version of the event cut down the losses by two, it arguably increased the number of major deaths to three.
Showrunner Angela Kang has explained that this twist was originally set to fall in the finale, but as the season’s storyline developed the writers became more interested in devoting the last episode to exploring the aftermath of this and how it affects who’s left.
On top of that, the finale – aptly titled “The Storm” – will also see the survivors having to deal with fearsome winter blizzard for the first time. Norman Reedus has already raved about it and promises a very different episode in terms of tone and visuals.
Be sure to catch The Walking Dead season 9 as it concludes this Sunday, March 31st.