We still don’t know exactly when the season 10 finale of The Walking Dead will air, but given that we are still heavily based in the source material, we can make some educated guesses.
The Whisperer War has diverged from the comic in many different ways, while keeping a few key moments intact (Negan’s final confrontation with Alpha, for one). Reading back through the comics again, I think that some aspects of the source material will be used, but other bits may be scrapped.
Here’s what essentially has to happen in the final showdown which should conclude this war and lead into the next Commonwealth storyline in season 11 (more on that later). Potential spoilers follow, but we do know that the show can deviate from the comic whenever it wants.
Father Gabriel – He was supposed to die already, killed by Beta right before the initial assault on the Hilltop. It’s a particularly graphic death, where he falls down the ladder of a watchtower and gets stuck, and Beta cuts him open. But given that we missed that moment, perhaps Gabriel is safe. Though I would argue he’s not the most relevant character these days and it’s frankly kind of amazing he’s survived this long. So I would not rule out him dying in the finale, though the bodycount of this war has already been very high, and claimed other characters that weren’t supposed to die, like Jesus.
Andrea – Probably the single most significant death in the entire Whisperer War is Andrea, who is bitten when she is trying to get rid of the massive herd unleashed by Beta that looks to overwhelm them all. However, given that this is the show, we know that Andrea died years ago, and Michonne instead took her place as Rick’s love interest and Carl’s surrogate mother. Well, guess what? Michonne, Rick and Carl are all gone, so that leaves me wondering just who exactly could take Andrea’s place in this episode, if anyone.
In terms of “significance,” the only character who would carry as much weight dying in this way as Andrea had in the comics would be Carol. I do not believe that the show will kill Carol, I just don’t. Not in the Angela Kang era. In terms of a budding relationship, that could put the (currently missing) Connie in danger if the show wants to recreate the “family tragedy” dynamic with Daryl, Connie and Lydia. But again, I have my doubts about that. If I was to pick anyone it might be Rosita, not because I want her to leave, but because she is a long, long running member of the cast and is starting to move into other projects (like starring in a Netflix Selena series) meaning that like Rick and Michonne before her, it could be time for her to move on from the show. Or, since this entire situation has been dismantled with none of the major cast members needed for it, maybe it doesn’t happen at all. I would expect the herd to be the moment Maggie returns to help save everyone, but there’s a zero percent chance she appears only to sacrifice herself and die.
Beta – I do not expect Beta to survive the night. In the comic, it’s Jesus and Aaron who come across Beta, manage to kill him and remove his mask to once and for all state out loud that he was a famous celebrity before all this (in the comic he was a basketball star and actor, in the show he was a country music star). Jesus is dead, so I wonder if we might see Daryl and Aaron instead, and I think the show should give the Beta kill to Aaron, as lord knows Ross Marquand has put the time in to be deserving of a big kill like this.
The Commonwealth – I do expect we will see our first real teaser of the Commonwealth, the new community that will be the focus of what I assume will be the next two seasons until the show runs out of comic source material. We might see Eugene meet Stephanie and see the place, at least from a distance, for himself.
All of that is probably more than enough for a single episode, and all of it might not even fit. But those are my guesses, based on the comics I’ve recently re-read.
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