The Walking Dead What If: What if Lizzie was a Whisperer?

The Whisperers are the strangest group in The Walking Dead, but, here’s something that might be stranger: What if Lizzie was a Whisperer?

I know it’s weird to be talking about Lizzie years after she was killed off of The Walking Dead, but, as I was recounting to my brother what’s been going on lately in the show, he asked me a question: Could you imagine if Lizzie got found by The Whisperers?

…It’s genius.

Think about it: Lizzie’s problem was that she didn’t understand that the walkers were dead, she simply saw them as “changed”; For her to see The Whisperers, a group of people who walk with the dead, who act like the dead, who wear the faces of the dead, would be like finding a group who understood her.

How would The Whisperers find Lizzie in this hypothetical situation? Well, let’s just imagine that Lizzie didn’t kill Mika until after Tyreese died, and, after losing Mika and Tyreese, Carol couldn’t bring herself to kill Lizzie, and so, chose instead to leave her behind, hoping to give her a chance at life, but knowing it couldn’t be with The Group.

Lizzie is left to roam around Virginia for a while before being stumbled upon by The Whisperers.

We all satisfied with the origin story? Good.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s stop for a moment and think about what Lizzie joining The Whisperers would actually look like, and how that would change things in The Walking Dead now.

Firstly, as I mentioned earlier, Lizzie would see The Whisperers as a perfect fit for her. As shown by the Whisperer who turned in last Sunday’s episode, they place a great deal of respect and importance to “the change”; To Lizzie, whose perception of the dead was already distorted, this would be like discovering a new religion that perfectly aligned with her own beliefs, it would be like finding a “true” family.

As Lizzie got older, she would likely retain her warped vision of the walkers, but, under the tutelage of Alpha, would likely come to adopt most aspects of The Whisperers’ philosophy, though colored with her own ideas. I imagine Lizzie would indeed come to see the world as survival of the fittest, but also, that those who couldn’t walk with the changed…would have to become them; Somehow, I don’t think Alpha would have much of a problem with Lizzie’s interpretation of things, in fact, I’m sure she would encourage it.

What’s more, the act of being given a “skin” would almost certainly take Lizzie’s view of the dead and dial it up to eleven. I can even picture a scene from a hypothetical episode where Lizzie puts on her first walker mask, opens her eyes, has her first look at the world through this new skin and says to herself: “I’m changed.”

It would be, frankly, eerie to see an otherwise innocent girl truly cross the threshold into madness.

And, “madness” is what it would be. I believe that, now with a new philosophy and a walker skin to boot, Lizzie would take her role of acting like a walker quite to heart.

Do any of you think it would really be a stretch to imagine Lizzie going so far as to bite people The Whisperers came across? I don’t. If she spent enough time absorbing Alpha twisted teachings, spending nearly all hours of the day emulating her “guardians”, the idea of her adopting their form of attacking seems well within the realm of possibility.

Which brings me to where we are now in The Walking Dead…

Let me ask you something: If Lizzie were like this, who do you think would benefit the least from this? Don’t worry about answering, because I’ve got it already: Lydia.

Think about it: With Lizzie likely being a die-hard devotee of Alpha’s belief system, and (As she grew older) a dangerous weapon at Alpha’s beck and call, she would probably be seen as the perfect daughter to Alpha, “The daughter I never had, but always wanted”.

This would put Lydia in an extremely dangerous position, where every failure would likely make Lizzie more appealing to Alpha as a replacement and Lizzie likely taking Alpha’s “survival of the fittest” ideology to heart, and trying to find ways to ensure that Lydia failed, so as to supplant her.

Lydia’s adolescence would likely be worse than it already was, with not only having to deal with her abusive mother, but always having to look over her shoulder, to ensure her “stepsister” wasn’t trying to put a knife in her back.

Of course, Lydia isn’t the only person who would be worse off if Lizzie was adopted by The Whisperers, I mean, what do you think Lizzie would do if she saw Carol again? I think, as much as it would pain her, Carol would be forced to correct her mistake from years earlier, and put Lizzie down, before her madness harmed more people That Carol cared about.

But, what do you guys think? Do you think Lizzie would make for a scary Whisperer? Do you think there’s any other people we’ve met in The Walking Dead who have been interesting to see in a different group? Let me know!

If you like this and want to read more of my writings, specifically about how to survive a zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can get it on Amazon here and on iTunes here!