The Walking Dead theory: Who set the trap?

Theory: It was all part of Alpha’s plan from the beginning.

As I established in one of my Walking Dead Theories a few months ago, Alpha is, frankly, an evil mastermind. All the awful things that have befallen Alexandria and Hilltop over this season have been by Alpha’s design, insidious machinations meant to wear down the communities’ both physically and psychologically, all in the course of trying to tear down what’s left of civilization.

• The incessant waves of walkers? Alpha.
• The convenient falling of a tree to wreck Hilltop’s perimeter? Alpha.
  
• The contaminating of Alexandria’s water supply? Alpha.
  
• The use of a spy to sow chaos (And disease, and death) amongst the Alexandrians? Alpha.

So, as you can see, setting up a trap is well within Alpha’s wheelhouse. In fact, earlier this season, we saw Alpha give Gamma an assignment to manipulate Aaron’s willingness to reach out to her and using him for, what amounts to, a disinformation campaign. Could this have been the ultimate goal? A calculated risk that would give Daryl and company the location of the horde, but do so in a way that nearly ensures they couldn’t do anything about it?

Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past her. I mean, she lured Carol (And by extension, everyone else) into the cave, so, it certainly seems like this was all just part of Alpha’s plan.

But, what about Gamma? I was pretty well convinced that she was legitimately wavering in her support of Alpha — That her sister’s death, learning that her nephew was still alive, and learning that Alpha had been lying to the Whisperers about Lydia — and, maybe, starting to resent the life Alpha had dragged her into.

Let’s assume for a minute that I still believe this, this would mean that Gamma did not let Alpha in on the fact that Daryl and Carol were coming to destroy the horde, and, yet…Alpha still knew.

How? Well, I think the answer is staring us right in the face: If Alpha could have people catch Aaron and Michonne’s little incursion onto her turf, if she can have a spy embedded in Alexandria, if she can sneak up Gamma after her meeting with Aaron (And questioning her adherence to the cause while doing so), it’s clear that Alpha has the ability and the motive to either have someone else keep an eye on Gamma, or simply do it herself, and either saw or overheard her betrayal, and then set the trap. When you think about it, when a person leads a group called “The Whisperers” it makes perfect sense that she’d become a master of the spy game.

Maybe Alpha’s become so good at it, that she can always be two steps ahead of everyone, even her own spies.