How surprising was the reveal about Dante on The Walking Dead?

Season 10 episode 7 of The Walking Dead ended with a surprising twist involving Dante from Alexandria. How shocking was it for viewers to find out?

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Dante joined The Walking Dead in season 10 and immediately became a trusted medical professional in Alexandria. His awkward sense of humor and made him a bit polarizing, but he still seemed to have the best of intentions for the community.

A big reveal in episode 1007 showed that Dante should never have been trusted. The character not only is a member of the Whisperers, but he was the one holding Siddiq’s eyes open in the barn during the massacre and eventually killed the character Carl sacrificed himself for in season 9.

But just how surprising was this revelation on a scale of one to ten? That’s the question we asked the panel of The Walking Dead experts! Here are their responses.

Sara L. says

With 10 being the top probably an 8 or 9. I was really shocked but not totally. The small inkling that he might be up to no good, came with the Hemlock and that a fair amount of Siddiq’s flashbacks were around him. However, when Rosita was talking to Siddiq and he brought up that seeing Dante made him feel even worse about Enid I dismissed everything because PTSD can do so much to you. I am a huge fan of comic Dante and I loved the shows Dante and his snarky, cocky attitude. I found him to be funny and entertaining. I’m actually quite sad he won’t be a survivor with us now, but partly excited to see how he is as a full villain.

Joe says

Six. While the reveal that Dante was actually the Whisperer who forced Siddiq to watch Alpha behead Enid, Tara, Henry, and the rest of his friends in the barn was a complete shock to me, I always had a suspicion that something was up with the character. The fact that the show never explained exactly where Dante came from or really anything about his past made me question his place in Alexandria, especially considering Michonne’s harsh outlook on welcoming in newcomers. His sudden lack of medical knowledge when treating the sick patients made me feel even more like something was off, so to learn that he helped poison the community was not too surprising.

Jeffrey says

Seven. I had my doubts about him from that very first scene he had with Siddiq in the season 10 premiere. After that, he slowly started to win me over as he really seemed to care about the wellbeing of the community and of Siddiq. The scene with Siddiq in which he explains his own struggle with PTSD made me trust him more than I should have. I just thought he was trying to look out for Siddiq and be his friend. The Whisperers are master manipulators though, so I did have a feeling in the back of my head that something was up with him.

Rene says

Seven. I knew this dude was bad news. There was so much focus on him and his weird behavior there just had to be something evil about him. The fact that he was a Whisperer was a SHOCK but the fact he was THE Whisperer who forced Siddiq to watch his friends be brutally murdered, well, I was dumbfounded!! I still have many questions with regard to him….how was he brought into the community? Is he really a doctor? And, why isn’t everyone sick if they all drink the water?

Adam says

I didn’t like Dante aside from a few scenes where he was flirting with a few of his patients, but I never expected his character to sway so far from being a new and loyal member of Alexandria. This was a perfect twist because comic readers know a much different version of this character, so the remixed story likely caught a ton of people off guard. For that reason, I’ll give it an eight.

How shocked were you to find out about Dante’s true identity on The Walking Dead? And what do you think will happen with him going forward? Let us know what you think in the comments section!