The Walking Dead: How many Saviors became Whisperers?

The Walking Dead has shown us how Alpha keeps a tight rein on her people, but we have yet to learn how the Whisperers came about. Could they be Saviors?

Over the course of ten seasons on The Walking Dead, fans have met several groups of villains ranging from cannibals to claimers, and now the Whisperers are the latest group to terrorize the survivors. We don’t know a lot about the Whisperers, but there is a real possibility that many of the Whisperers are former Saviors.

At the end of The Walking Dead 903 the former Saviors are ushered from the construction camp after their attempt at insurrection. To be fair, they were being killed off by the Oceanside women and they were powerless against it because they had no weapons. The Sanctuary was a husk of what it once was when Negan ruled over the Saviors, and without the ability to grow food there the people who lived there were instantly at a disadvantage.

After the bridge incident, and after the Oceanside women got their revenge, the Saviors who didn’t integrate into the other communities struck out on their own. Some were killed off when Carol got her revenge against the group that accosted her on the road, but what happened to the other ones?

We don’t know a lot about the Whisperers. Judging by Lydia’s current age and her age when Alpha met Beta, several years passed between when Alpha got started and where she is now. Somehow, though, she found people who believed in her mission enough to cast off their earthly possessions and wear the skin of the dead. Her followers believe in her mission, as evidenced by Gamma’s willingness to sacrifice her sister, the Keeper’s devotion and Dante’s dedication.

There are some plot holes when it comes to the Whisperers. With so many walkers in the horde, it’s highly improbable that no one knew who they were. Negan had outposts all over the place, and Alexandria and the other communities were long established, but no one knew who the Whisperers were. That suggests that the Whisperers arrived from somewhere else, moving like locusts to decimate everything in their path.

Alpha has also shown a readiness to deliver swift punishment to people who don’t agree with her, but the number of followers doesn’t seem to be in a steep decline, suggesting that people joining her group as she moves around.

Could some of the new Whisperers be Saviors?

It’s possible.

There were two categories of people who lived at the Sanctuary: Workers, and Saviors. The workers relied upon the supplies that the Saviors brought in from the community. They kept things functional in the community while the Saviors went out at strong-armed the other communities in Negan’s name.

After losing everything, and knowing that there was nowhere else to go, it’s quite possible that the prospect of security and a stable environment was something the now homeless Saviors needed, even if that means joining with Alpha and her Whisperers.

This means that we might see some interactions between Negan and the Whisperers that hint of a shared past. Having some allies could help Negan in the long run, but it could also hurt him given that the devotion to Alpha is unlike anything we have seen.

With so little information about the Whisperers, it’s hard to understand Alpha’s recruitment process, but it stands to reason that her followers would grow as they move from place to place. The remaining Saviors and Sanctuary residents who didn’t assimilate had the entirety of the 6-year time jump to fall into a new company, so maybe they joined up with Alpha.

Where do you think Alpha’s followers came from? Do you think we have seen any of her followers before? Let us know in the comments!