The Walking Dead and FearTWD: Dealing with those who become walkers
By Jeffrey Kopp
For the most part, seeing the characters we’ve followed all these years suddenly be gnawing and lifeless shells of themselves is painful. It wasn’t easy to see Sophia walk out of that barn. It hurt to see Hershel’s decapitated head snapping on the ground. It was gut-wrenching to see the pale faces of Tara, Enid, Henry and the other victims of Alpha up on those pikes, letting out eerie groans of death. These were all living human beings with love, hopes, and dreams. Because of what unknown force of nature has brought the human race to the brink of extinction, they were left to be ghosts of their former selves.
Antagonists aren’t shielded from this fate either. Carl was forced to shoot walker Shane in the head after the tumultuous showdown in the field. Merle was found gnawing on a body by Daryl leading to a highly emotional moment of release for the surviving Dixon brother. After being disemboweled by Negan, Spencer briefly returned to look up at Rick with clouded eyes. Following his betrayal and defeat at the hands of Negan, Simon found himself chained to the Sanctuary fence as a walker. Even though these characters did terrible things in their past, seeing them as members of the undead makes you feel some sadness for them.
In the world of The Walking Dead, becoming a walker is something that awaits everyone after they die if they aren’t properly put down beforehand. The evilest of villains and the noblest of heroes are all linked by this potential next stage of existence. What this story teaches us is that there can be some beauty to be found in an eternity of being a walker. There’s also a recurring catharsis that comes with putting a loved one down, thus allowing those left behind to continue their mourning process. Only in this universe is death not permanent. In the words of Fear’s short-lived survivor Liza, “we all come back.”
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Of all the characters who have turned into walkers in The Walking Dead universe, who was the most emotionally impactful? Let us know in the comments!