What Happens to Connie in The Walking Dead Comics?

The Walking Dead‘s explosive midseason 10 premiere ended with audiences left to question the fates of Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Magna (Nadia Hilker), who failed to escape a mine shaft before it collapsed from a stick of dynamite dropped by Carol (Melissa McBride). Connie and Magna were among those trapped in a cave teeming with walkers and Whisperers put there by Alpha (Samantha Morton), but Carol, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Aaron (Ross Marquand), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), and Connie’s sister Kelly (Angel Theory) narrowly managed to escape. The episode, “Squeeze,” is more inspired by horror movie The Descent than any issue of the comic book, where Connie almost became another victim of the Whisperer War.

In the comic books, where Daryl does not exist and Carol’s counterpart is long dead, Connie is a member of the militia assembled to combat the Whisperers. When the Whisperers attack the Hilltop to reclaim Alpha’s daughter Lydia and avenge an act of war, Carl Grimes is nearly killed while evacuating the Barrington House set ablaze by the Whisperers’ flaming arrows. Lydia stands with the community, fully rejecting the Whisperers when defending Hilltop alongside its leader: Maggie Rhee.

Carl is rescued by Aaron, still recovering at the Hilltop infirmary following a near-fatal encounter with Beta of the Whisperers. The Hilltop’s Dante — who was never revealed to be a Whisperer spy, unlike his live-action counterpart — rallies the community in their stand against the Whisperers and their archers. The battle is ultimately won, leaving Maggie uttering a sarcastic “yay” as Hilltop burns.

Meanwhile, a situation faces Connie and other militia members Magna, Yumiko, and Kelly (a man and Connie’s boyfriend in the comic books), who engaged Beta and a faction of Whisperers in battle alongside ex-Saviors Dwight and Negan. Connie’s hand has been bitten by a walker, an injury requiring amputation to prevent infection from spreading. Kelly and Yumiko are unable to perform the act, so Magna removes Connie’s hand with a hatchet.

Both Connie and Magna ultimately survive through the final volume of the comic book, which underwent a time jump of more than 20 years in its final issue.

The Hilltop battle, so far glimpsed in trailers for the half-season, will begin to unfold in Episode 1011, “Morning Star,” as hinted by the episode’s synopsis. Showrunner Angela Kang previously warned the Whisperer War brings both “epic action” and massive consequences, possibly including major casualties.

New episodes of The Walking Dead Season 10 premiere Sundays on AMC. For more TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.