‘The Walking Dead’: How the Whisperers Scene Compared to the Comics

The Whisperers have quietly reached The Walking Dead.

Episode 906, “Who Are You Now?,” found Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) on a mission to establish a remote radio amplifier at the behest of Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), allowing Alexandria to discover nearby survivors.

During a hurried descent off a water tower ladder after spotting an approaching herd of walkers, Eugene fell and injured his leg, leaving him nearly immobile. Rosita, refusing to abandon him, helped him along with a makeshift crutch as they were forced to flee.

Rosita and Eugene narrowly avoided the relentless, pursuing horde of walkers by sliding into a ditch and lathering themselves in mud, remaining deathly quiet and equally as still — even as the walkers whispered warnings against allowing their escape and hissing, “Where are they?”

A similar situation played out in the comic books, where it was Ken and Marco who were on foot and on the run from walkers following an accident with horses that left Ken nursing an injured leg. In issue #130, the walkers closing in, a felled Ken urged Marco to continue on alone.

Marco pulled Ken into a nearby muddy and rain-soaked ditch, intending to allow the walker herd to pass.

Hidden in the mud, a horrified Ken and Marco listened as the walkers spoke in basic terms: “where they go?” asked one, “don’t know, keep moving,” answered another. An exhausted and petrified Marco later showed up at the nearby Hilltop alone, pleading for Ken to be rescued.

Admitting he left Ken in a barn on a hill, Marco said only: “There were whispers and I was afraid. It was the dead. They were speaking.”

In the show, Ken (AJ Achinger) died in the Season Nine premiere — from combined fatal injuries after being bitten by a walker and kicked by a horse — while Marco (Gustavo Gomez) is a little-seen resident of the Hilltop colony.

Marco’s part in this story has been given to a shell-shocked Rosita, who in 907 admits she was forced to leave the injured and now-missing Eugene in a barn when she is discovered by Jesus (Tom Payne) and Aaron (Ross Marquand).

The herd chasing Rosita and Eugene may have secretly contained an upcoming major character and comes as The Walking Dead slowly unfolds the mystery surrounding the walkers now seemingly capable of speech.

“This is part of the mystery of the story of the Whisperers that we’re starting this season. What I’ll say is there are some twists and turns to this story, but there will be some answers by the time we get to the mid-season finale,” showrunner Angela Kang told THR.

The mid-season finale, “Evolution,” premieres Sunday, Nov. 25 at 9/8c on AMC.