Well into its 10th season, The Walking Dead still never fails to keep viewers excited about what adventure the group of survivors will come across next.
Now, however, they are facing one of their most formidable enemies ever, the Whisperers, a group that is cruel, cunning, and dons sewn walker skins on their faces to blend in with the undead and stealthily strike against their enemy.
If history tells us anything, not everyone is going to make it out alive by the end of this season. But who do we hope survives and who can be discarded at this point without really impacting the story? Here's a list.
Ezekiel: Discarded
We hate to say it, but Ezekiel has sort of run his course. He was once a confident leader and King with a tiger who people respected tremendously. But now he is totally defeated. He doesn't want to lead, he has lost his love Carol and has seemed to have lost himself as well.
Now likely plagued with cancer, chances are Ezekiel won't make it to the end of the season anyway. Nonetheless, whether he dies by an illness, walker kill, or living enemy, there really isn't much story left for him anyway.
Carol: Hope Survive
Carol is The Walking Dead at this point. Her character has had the most compelling arc of everyone and she remains one of the main reasons to watch the series. You never know what she will do next and she never fails to surprise.
Now at arguably the weakest she has ever been, having lost so much over the years, Carol could reach a breaking point and be taken out by letting her guard down or making rash decisions (as she has been doing). But we really, really hope this isn't the case. We need to see fierce, rational, and confident Carol once again.
Magna: Discarded
In the latest episode, Magna and Connie were stuck in a cave and dynamite blew it up before they were able to escape. It's pretty likely that they are both dead – how could someone possibly survive such an event?
Assuming this is the case (you never know with The Walking Dead), we're not all that mad about it. we're more interested to see Yumiko's reaction to Magna's death than to watch Magna continue to brood episode after episode like an angry teenager with a chip on her shoulder who isn’t getting her way.
Connie: Hope Survive
As noted, Connie and Magna were left in a cave when it exploded, rocks flying everywhere. And they are presumed dead. As Walking Dead fans know, there's always a chance so we can hold out hope that she somehow escaped. ( Glenn and the trash bin?)
Nonetheless, Connie was such a beautiful soul who risked her life on numerous occasions to save her friends and do what was right. Not to mention that there was a bit of a romance brewing between she and Daryl and we would love to see that actually go somewhere.
Alpha: Discarded
Every season has a main antagonist and, with the exception of Negan, that person has typically been killed off by the end. So we fully expect that Alpha will be eliminated as an enemy by the end of this season.
While her death might not spark the end of the Whisperers, at least it will give some comfort to Carol to know that she avenged the death of her son and friends. Alpha has to go, but she can't just be discarded in a simple manner. We need to see her suffer!
Daryl: Hope Survive
If Daryl dies, we riot. That has been the mantra of viewers since the beginning and nothing has changed. With Rick leaving the series last year (and presumed dead), Daryl is the last original man standing and arguably the lead of the series.
Chances are slim that the show will kill off Daryl. And we really hope they don't as his fierce loyalty to the group, amazing fighting skills, quick wit, and impressive tracking knowledge, make him a true asset to the team.
Lydia: Discarded
The last we saw of Lydia, she stormed off, angry that Carol had used her to try and get the Whisperers to turn against her mother Alpha. She was upset and felt she didn't fit in anywhere. While Lydia will probably be a bigger part of the story going forward, we wouldn't be upset if she was taken out.
On one condition, though. We need to see a reunion between Alpha and Lydia as well as the look on all of the Whisperers' faces when they see that Lydia is still alive and Alpha never killed her daughter as she promised she did. Some suspect that Lydia might be the one to kill Alpha in the end, not Negan.
Negan: Hope Survive
Negan has gone from villain to annoying prisoner in the basement to presumed villain once again. And while it might seem like his time has run its course, we're not so sure. Negan always has tricks up his sleeve, and it's kind of fun to watch and wonder what his motivations really are from one moment to the next.
We can see him going one of two ways: turning against the Whisperers to prove his loyalty to Alexandria or taking over as leader of the Whisperers once Alpha is taken out, rebuilding his own community once again. Either way, we hope he survives whatever is coming for season 10 so we can see what he has planned.
Rosita: Discarded
Rosita is a great character, but she always just seems to be in the background. While she has a baby now, we saw many step up when Lori died giving birth to Judith. So we have no doubt in our minds that if Rosita were to perish, her child would be well taken care of by Gabriel, Eugene, and others within the community.
She has lost so much and has become so defeated and hardened that we feel like there's just no coming back for her. And there aren't really any more compelling storylines to tell about her character anyway.
Beta: Hope Survive
This is an interesting one because while, on the one hand, we want to see the Whisperers totally eliminated, on the other, we would love to see an unhinged Beta deal with the death of Alpha. What would happen to him? Would he go ballistic?
Even if he isn’t a Whisperer, Beta as a terrifying lone villain chasing down the group would be totally worth watching. After all, it seems no matter what you do to this guy, he just won't die! He's like a superhuman being and we need to see another head-to-head between he and Daryl, and maybe even a struggle for power with Negan. It. Would. Be. Epic.