The Walking Dead Answers What Happened to Oceanside
Warning: this story contains spoilers for Sunday's "Faith" episode of The Walking Dead. With the flip of a coin, Commonwealth Deputy Governor Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) decided Oceanside's fate in the final moments of April's "Acts of God" midseason finale. That episode ended with Alexandria and Hilltop under Commonwealth control, and Oceansider Rachel's (Avianna Mynhier) community rounded up in Commonwealth custody. On Sunday's "Faith," it was Aaron (Ross Marquand), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), Lydia (Cassady McClincy), and Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari) who learned the outcome of that fateful coin flip and the answer to the question: what happened to Luke?
Last we saw him, Luke (Dan Fogler) survived the final battle of the Whisperer War in the Season 10 episode "A Certain Doom." Aired in October 2020, the episode marked Luke's last appearance as Fogler took a hiatus from The Walking Dead. (Fogler returned to the Wizarding World as Jacob Kowalski in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and portrayed The Godfather filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in Paramount+ series The Offer.)
By Season 11, Luke relocated to Oceanside with his girlfriend Jules (Alex Sgambati), also not seen since "A Certain Doom." That changed in "Faith," where we learned what happened to Luke and Oceanside.
What Happened to Luke on The Walking Dead?
While en route to Oceanside, Aaron, Jerry, Lydia, and Elijah happen across Luke and Jules, who report that Oceanside is "gone."
"It ain't ours anymore," Luke explains. "These guys in white gear, they showed up and said they were from the Commonwealth." Adds Jules, "And they just took over."
On the run from the Commonwealth Army, Jules warns, "If they find us, we're dead."
What Happened to Oceanside?
Jules reveals she and Luke were out scavenging when Hornsby's soldiers took over Oceanside. Luke wanted to stay and fight, but Rachel insisted they find the others to warn them about Hornsby's takeover of the Virginia communities.
"We haven't seen Rachel or any of them since," says Jules. Left ambiguous is the fate of Cyndie (Sydney Park), not seen since her encounter with Michonne (Danai Gurira) at Oceanside in the Season 10 episode "The World Before."
Does Luke Die in The Walking Dead Comics?
Like the comics, Luke arrives with a group that includes his crew of Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Kelly (Angel Theory), Magna (Nadia Hilker), and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura). But unlike the comics — spoiler alert! — TV Luke survives the Whisperer War.
Luke dies in The Walking Dead issue #144, a victim of Whisperer leader Alpha. Luke's decapitated head is found zombified on a pike marking Whisperer territory — a fate that also befalls King Ezekiel and a pregnant Rosita Espinosa.
"[Showrunner] Angela Kang called me up one day and she said, 'Do you want to play Luke?' And I was like, 'Yes! Absolutely,' because I'm a fan of the comic book, and just the idea of playing a character that exists in the comic book, for me, just makes the child in me very happy," Fogler told the Talk Dead to Me podcast in 2020. "I knew he's supposed to be, in the comics, he's supposed to be one of the heads on those [Whisperer] spikes. So I thought, 'Okay, this is cool, I can come in and just do one season, and I'm out.'"
Fogler continued, "And I had a really great time. I really enjoyed bashing zombie heads [laughs]. I always wanted to be in a zombie movie, and so I get that."
Follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for TWD Universe coverage all season long. New episodes of The Walking Dead's final season premiere Sundays on AMC and AMC+.