The Walking Dead 1002 opinion: Alpha’s powerful reign of terror

The season 10 episode of The Walking Dead titled “We Are the End of the World” saw Alpha before she became the leader of the Whisperers. The episode also taught us there is a lot more to fear when it comes to Alpha.

Alpha and a young Lydia were highlighted in the flashback while also showing Alpha and the Whisperers and how they function. The enigmatic leader has shown herself to be superior and possessing unique qualities that solidified herself and the Whisperers as the most dangerous group in the history of The Walking Dead.

Season 10 episode 2 presented Alpha in a higher way than ever before. Her influence over other survivors makes Negan and the Saviors look like a glorified club. Alpha has a unique almost God-like aura to her with the respect that the Whisperers have for her and the way of life of the group.

Originally alone with her daughter, it was confirmed in this episode that Alpha was the originator of the Whisperers’ way of life. She helped Beta become so much more than he previously was. As opposed to trying to kill him, Alpha saw a chance to reason with him, even with the risk of death.

Beta was not always a leader and seemed lost initially. He had his own rules and seemed to be stuck in a cycle of hearing the walker growls and staying between the walls listening to it. Alpha took him in and groomed him into so much more.

The large survivor is second in command and a brilliant strategist who helps orchestrate their plans and keeps the flow of operation going smoothly. This includes keeping everyone in the pack in line and no slip-ups that could jeopardize their survival.

This led to the rise of Gamma, who has fully embraced the way of life of the Whisperers and has helped keep her sister in line. She is a product of the Whisperer indoctrination and is fully comfortable with the lifestyle. When it came down to Alpha or her sister, she picked the benefactor over her sister.

Alpha also showed that despite the Whisperer’s strength, there is a fine line between being a leader and a mother. The unique part of the Whisperers is that everyone has a tight bond and will remind each other why they do what they do. Beta was able to remind her and pull her back in as she was still conflicted with Lydia not being there.

The survivors have faced dangerous foes in the past from Woodbury to Negan and the Saviors, but they have never faced a group with such a doctrine that leaves a lasting psychological effect on them as well as members of the pack.

The Whisperer’s way of life has influenced the survivors. Even as they trained and were doing their basic activities in the season premiere of The Walking Dead, it was still disrupted by the Whisperers, even though they didn’t see Alpha up close with no sign of ambush.

Even when the Whisperers are not in front of them, they still carry that fear in their mind the same way members of the pack carry the lifestyle in their mind every day. The survivors have been on edge and paranoid with high alert ringing in their communities even before gaining a hint of an actual Whisperer.

Alpha already has an agenda to send yet another firm message. The survivors were already on edge, but now they must come face to face with Alpha again and face their fears. Stay tuned next Sunday for a new episode of The Walking Dead for the tense stand-off next Sunday on AMC.