Can The Walking Dead survivors beat Alpha and The Whisperers?

The Whisperers are a threat that the survivors are not prepared to face. What happens to the communities if they can’t defeat them?

The villains on The Walking Dead have followed a sort of pattern. Struggles would erupt between Rick’s group and the villain as the two clashed over limited resources or other means to the end of survival. But in season 9B the communities are going to meet a villain that is totally different from what they’ve faced in the past and they’re going to have to face that villain without Rick, and without Maggie.

After the events of the midseason finale they won’t have Jesus to help them either. The groups are estranged from each other and vulnerable against this new threat. Will they have what it takes to beat such a huge group that is led by such a cold-blooded killer? They might be up against a villain that they can’t beat.

Negan’s cruelty is legendary, but it wasn’t casual. It was always to make an impact and send the message that rebellion against him wouldn’t be tolerated in any form. Alpha’s a different sort of leader and once the community leaders meet her they will see what a truly compassionless killer looks like.

But Alpha isn’t really the problem. Leaders can be killed or deposed. Leaders can be rendered ineffective and they can be forgotten, like Negan was once he was captured and jailed. The biggest threat, the one that the survivors may not be able to overcome, is the sheer size of The Whisperer group and their ability to disguise themselves as walkers.

Defeating An Army

The Whisperers have the kind of numbers that make even the Heapsters huge community look puny. And because they can blend in perfectly with walkers they can expertly maneuver an army of the undead and shift them with precision onto the settlements. There’s just no way that the communities would be able to withstand an onslaught of walkers that large, especially if The Whisperers were hidden among the walkers and could redirect them every time the survivors tried to use fire or sound or another distraction to move them.

The survivors do have some assets. They still have Michonne, and Carol, and some very skilled fighters who have a decade of experience now killing walkers. But without Rick and Maggie the survivors are no longer one united group of survivors fighting for each other’s survival. And without that connection to each other and that emotional investment in each other they may be unable to defeat this dangerous threat.

The Whisperers want no part of society or anything resembling the old world. The survivors have been trying to rebuild the community and humanity of the old world. So the war that is coming isn’t just between The Whisperers and The Survivors, it’s also between humanity and inhumanity.

And right now it doesn’t look good for humanity. If the survivors can come back together and find that connection that they used to have again they might have a chance to defeat Alpha and The Whisperers, but without that connection they won’t stand a chance. It will be interesting to see what happens when The Walking Dead returns on February 10th.