The Walking Dead: Did Aaron go too far? Or was Carol wrong?

The Walking Dead episode “Out of the Ashes” followed three different storylines. We once again saw Maggie and Negan hash over what their plan should or shouldn’t be. We finally entered the Commonwealth, and I am not sure this will turn out well for our group. Then we see Aaron, Carol, Jerry and Lydia as they revisit a burnt-out Hilltop and discover more than they expected.

It is heartbreaking to see Hilltop again as they sift through ashes and recognize some walkers as people they knew. Jerry, always the optimist, tries to keep spirits up, but Aaron is in a place where he is battling some serious inner demons.

We haven’t seen much of Lydia yet this season, and it is good they took her on this mission as she was the one to recognize the herding of the walkers as a Whisperer trait.

The Walking Dead, did Aaron go too far?

Just when we thought we had seen the last of the Whisperers, this episode shows us that is not the case. We only see a handful of them, but are there more? And did Aaron handle the situation well? Or was Carol right to step in?

Aaron was not happy at finding these Whisperers at Hilltop. These people are part of the group who burnt his beloved Alexandria and put his community in their current situation. He wanted revenge for all the lives lost.

He strings the guy up and threatens him with a walker unless he talks. Going so far as to let the walker bite him and making the promise to cut off his hand before the infection sets in if he talks. Hardcore Aaron. This is a new side to this character.

Carol steps in. Was she right to step in? Or should she have let Aaron do what he needed to do?

Carol knows what it’s like to make impulsive decisions that end up badly. To carry the weight of those decisions on your shoulders and live with the guilt it comes with. It was an amazingly emotional scene by Melissa McBride. Words that Aaron needed to hear.

Aaron has lost so much in the past. Now Alexandria in its current state and what he and Gabriel experienced when they met Mays, there must be so much running through his mind. This is evident in the opening for this episode and his dream. He worries about protecting Gracie and everyone else in the community.

Aaron is a character that I don’t want to see change for the worse. We have Gabriel losing his religion, Maggie and whatever demons she is fighting, Daryl captured by the Reapers, and Negan doing his damndest to redeem himself, which, if pushed too far, could send him back to his old ways. We need Aaron to continue to be himself, not a man who does impulsive things he will regret.

Carol’s intuition is usually spot on but will her intervention of Aaron’s actions come back to haunt them? Carol stops Aaron from doing something that we could all see her doing. But, she is warning him from her past experiences and doesn’t want him to go down that road.

Will this be the last we see of the Whisperers? I certainly hope so.

The Walking Dead returns to AMC on September 26 with the episode “On the Inside.” This episode is available to stream now on AMC+.