The Walking Dead reached the twelfth episode of its tenth season last night, titled “Walk With Us,” and it turned out to be a surprisingly bloodthirsty outing. As the Whisperers went through with their attack on Hilltop, the show wrote out a bunch of main characters, including a survivor, a reformed villain and one person who we expected to last a while longer.
First of all, the episode saw the return of Magna after she and Connie were trapped in the caves back in the season opener. Connie wasn’t with her, however, with Magna explaining that the pair got separated as they escaped. Obviously, this calls Connie’s fate into question, with it unknown if she survived. Still, we suspect she’s ok, as actress Lauren Ridloff only had to leave the show temporarily to shoot Marvel’s The Eternals.
The same can’t be said for poor Earl, though, who definitely met his end this episode. Earl has been part of the show since the beginning of season 9, but his fate was sealed when he was bitten by a walker. He managed to escort the kids to the safety of the cabin while dying and attempted to kill himself to prevent coming back as a walker. Unfortunately, though, he failed and Judith was forced to put him down with her sword.
Another shocking death was Mary. As a character original to TV, fans never knew what to expect from the former Whisperer, who’s redeemed herself across the season, having turned against Alpha and allied with the survivors. Tragically, her past caught up with her in this episode, as she was killed by Beta. Showrunner Angela Kang has since revealed to ComicBook.com that Mary’s death was planned from the start.
Last but definitely not least, Alpha was the third and final victim of the episode. As per the comics, Negan was the one to do the deed, betraying the Whisperer queen by leading her out into the woods and slitting her throat. He then decapitated the big bad and delivered her head to Carol, as per their agreement when she – as is revealed – originally let him out of his jail cell.
We’ll get to see the fallout of these deaths when The Walking Dead season 10 continues this Sunday on AMC.