The Walking Dead star Ryan Hurst sheds light on the meaning behind the note discovered by Whisperer Beta in Season 10 episode 14, “Look at the Flowers,” where Beta’s secret identity was exposed as country music singer Half Moon. When Beta travels to the western-themed Grand Hotel, he finds remnants of a life long gone, including a blood-stained poster advertising “legendary” performer Half Moon live in concert. Among the dusty possessions is an odd note pocketed by Beta, reading: “These 2 Eyes See 1 Truth.” Appearing on Talking Dead after Sunday’s “Look at the Flowers,” Hurst explained the mysterious note plays into Beta’s decision to make himself a new mask made from flesh taken off of murdered leader Alpha’s (Samantha Morton) zombified head.
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“It was one of the things that the writers and I were trying to get to this emotional catharsis of him ripping off his mask and sort of revisiting the life, silently, that he had before the apocalypse,” Hurst said. “And so the writer [Channing Powell] wanted to hit it from a lot of different angles, and so they decided to just write this little note that was an ambiguous, nuanced sort of suicide note that this person who was holed up in this hotel decided to write, right before they shot themselves.”
In the end, it culminates with Beta stabbing Alpha in the head before stepping into his walker horde with a new mask. Half the flesh was taken from his dead best friend, the other half belonging to Alpha.
“It was all of these kind of little bits that were leading up to this idea that he has to kill Alpha and became the Beta-Alpha, or the Alpha-Beta,” Hurst said. “This sort of Half Moon idea, [the note], are all sort of hints that bring us to him deciding, ‘I have to become the Alpha also.’”
“The Half Moon Alpha,” quipped Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Beta’s rival Negan.
Hurst also unmasked Beta’s tragic origin story not revealed in the show, explaining why a traumatized Beta keeps his face hidden at all times. On Talking Dead, pre-apocalypse Beta was described in-universe as “the most prolific recording artist of our lifetime” and a “true American genius.”
The Walking Dead Season 10 next airs episode 15, “The Tower,” Sunday, April 5 at 9/8c on AMC. For all things The Walking Dead, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.
