The Walking Dead: Who will The Whisperers kill?

Rosita Espinosa

As one of the first characters to discover The Whisperers, Rosita might be in danger. She had such a close call with them the first time around and was left bed-ridden, dehydrated, and unconscious. Rosita is very much a capable fighter…but so was Jesus, and look how that turned out. For the first time in quite a while, Rosita seems genuinely happy. She’s also in a romantic relationship with Father Gabriel. Those two factors usually mean something bad is going to happen for a character. Rosita has had an excellent run on the show, and has become one of our primary survivors. Her death at the hands of The Whisperers could further the idea that none of our characters are safe and that major players can be taken out. It would also serve as a push for Father Gabriel to move away from his kind natured persona and become far more ruthless and vengeful.

In the comics, Rosita is one of the major victims of The Whisperers. During the fair (which has been mentioned several times on the show), Rosita is captured and decapitated. Later, the other survivors find her reanimated head on a pike alongside countless other members of the communities to form a border. The show may choose to follow through on this and give television Rosita a similar fate, but it is worth noting that her role on the show is far larger and more important than it is in the comics. With that in mind, she may live to see another day.

Father Gabriel

On the flip side of that prediction, our favorite priest could also be a potential victim of The Whisperers. If Rosita doesn’t meet her end here, then perhaps Gabriel will. Throughout season 9, Gabriel has had a pretty significant role and has received a large amount of screentime. This could be a sign that the character is in his final arc. His romance with Rosita also does ring a bit of a warning bell, as his death could provide monumental development for her character. As with Tara and Eugene, this could be a devastating opportunity to show a character die via villains after completing a redemption arc; Gabriel is a prime example of a character evolving from an antagonist to someone to root for, and his death would be a heartbreaking conclusion.

Looking to the comics for possible clues shows that Father Gabriel is also a victim of The Whisperers in that medium. During “The Whisperer War” arc, Gabriel is positioned as a lookout on a water tower, but whilst climbing down, he falls and becomes dangled in a ladder. Beta, a high ranking member of The Whisperers, rips Gabriel’s abdomen open with a knife before leaving him to be eaten by walkers and die a cruel and painful death. It’s worth noting that a form of this was seen in episode 807 with an unnamed lookout meeting a similar fate sans The Whisperers; this could have been some foreshadowing or just a simple homage. There’s also the fact that episode 906 introduced us to the towers being used by our group to boost their radio signals. Could television Gabriel end up dangling and meet a similar fate?