'The Walking Dead': What Happened To Beta?

As fans develop a love-to-hate relationship with The Walking Dead's new villains, many are left [...]

TWD_Beta_913
(Photo: Gene Page/AMC)

As fans develop a love-to-hate relationship with The Walking Dead's new villains, many are left wondering, "What just happened to Beta?"

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 9x13 follow. Major spoilers!

In Sunday night's episode of AMC's zombie drama, Daryl Dixon went head to head with Beta. Beta was recently introduced as the second in command among the Whisperers. His daunting figure made it a hard time for Daryl to fight him in hand to hand combat but some advanced planning left Beta taking a dive down an elevator shaft.

Beta's fate in the episode is somewhat ambiguous but fans can bet Ryan Hurst's powerful new character is very much still alive. Beta will seek revenge upon Daryl and his group for besting him in this combat and taking his leader Alpha's daughter Lydia from the Whisperers.

In The Walking Dead comics, Beta is one of the last remaining members of the Whisperers to survive the Whisperer War story, meaning he probably won't be dying any time soon on the TV series.

"Beta goes out with a whisper when he comes across Aaron and Jesus while journeying towards Hilltop, moving to attack a sleeping Aaron before he's discovered by Jesus," ComicBook.com's Cam Bonomolo reports of The Walking Dead comic's issue #173 "During a vicious scuffle, Aaron fends off walkers while Jesus battles Beta, who overpowers the quicker but smaller Jesus."

Of course, Jesus is no longer a part of The Walking Dead TV series as Tom Payne exited the role earlier in Season Nine. This means if the TV series is going to pay homage to Beta's comic book death, there will have to be some slight deviations in its execution.

"Aaron then shoots Beta and reveals his true face, which Beta always kept hidden, never removing his fleshy mask," Bonomolo reports. "Aaron and Jesus recognize Beta as a basketball player who headlined a series of car commercials, prompting Beta to spring alive and sputter he has no name before falling over dead."

Beta's death seems to indicate the true end to the Whisperer War as Alpha had been killed issues prior and the group all but disintegrated in the time and battles which followed.

For now, though, Beta is alive and hungry for revenge on the TV series.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com's After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.

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