World Beyond: Hope and Iris fit into a long history of TWD siblings
World Beyond siblings Hope and Iris remind us of other siblings in the TWD Universe
Getting through life is hard enough, and getting through the zombie apocalypse is a whole new ballgame. It helps when you have someone with you, and there’s nothing like the bond between siblings to help make it through all of the challenges ahead. When it comes to World Beyond, Hope and Iris are a perfect team to face all of the challenges that the apocalypse throws their way.
When Dr. Bennett shares the story of how he and his wife planned to adopt one little girl but found that Hope and Iris were bonded in their cribs as babies, they changed their plans and adopted them both. The World Beyond writers have done a phenomenal job highlighting how different they are as siblings, but when push comes to shove they’re there for each other because that’s what siblings do.
We’ve seen siblings in The Walking Dead Universe before. From Andrea and her ill-fated sister in The Walking Dead season 1 to Nick and Alicia Clark on Fear the Walking Dead, and Mika and Lizzy and Sasha and Tyreese, Kelly and Connie, and so many others, siblings have been well represented across the TWD Universe even though they don’t tend to fare well. When a sibling dies, it’s tragic, and it often changes the course of the entire story, as we saw when Nick Clark died.
The only siblings left alive on The Walking Dead are RJ and Judith. When it comes to Fear TWD, we can assume the trio of kids discovered in season 5 are still alive in one of Virginia’s camps, and fans just met Virginia’s kid sister Dakota in episode 602. Hope and Iris are the only siblings we know of on World Beyond.
Seeing siblings trying to survive is something that evokes a sense of family and trying to maintain the family bond that existed before the world fell. When a sibling dies, it’s heart wrenching because the other sibling’s connection to the past is gone.
World Beyond cast the perfect actors to bring Hope and Iris to life. Alexa Mansour embraces Hope’s rebellious side while hiding her brilliance, while Aliyah Royale’s confidence and welcoming smile make Iris the overachieving sibling that Hope must compete with. Their bond is clear from the very first moments we see them; Iris knows that Hope sabotaged the CRM welcome banner and she quickly covers for her. Hope goes out of her way to protect her sister at the Blaze of Gory, and in the end they make it out because they work together.
Though they’re close now, there’s every reason to believe that something could come along that drives a wedge between them. It would take a lot, but it seems like everyone involved in World Beyond hints that the show will explore how people make decisions that take them from good to evil, which means the possibility for one of the sisters to turn against the other exists.
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Until that time comes, it’s fun to watch the sisters learn about life outside of the walls and how they have to work together to survive. That has always been a tentpole of The Walking Dead Universe and Hope and Iris are learning how to navigate the apocalypse together.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond airs Sunday nights after all-new episodes of Fear the Walking Dead.