The Walking Dead: 10 Things To Expect When Season 9 Returns
There's much to expect when season 9 returns.
While AMC's The Walking Dead takes a lot from the Image Comics the series is based on, season nine's first half strayed about as far from the source material as it possible could.
Not only did the show "kill" Rick and somehow lose Maggie, it jumped forward in time six years, which is far beyond where the comics currently are sitting.
Deviating from the comics isn't a bad thing, but it does help to establish the show as an entirely separate property. Even with these changes (and several more), the series still takes its cues from the comics, which is why it's still possible to look to those books for answers.
What may come to pass when season nine returns on February 10, 2019 can be put together after looking through the books. Some of the events would have to be changed to accommodate the time-skip, the still-living characters who should be dead and vice-versa, but the comics give some hint as to what to expect when The Walking Dead returns to close out its ninth season.
SPOILER ALERT for anyone who isn't caught up on the comics, this article will SPOIL many events that take place beyond The Walking Dead #127
10. There Will Be A Period Of Deadly Confusion
It finally happened: the people of Alexandria met the Whisperers at the end of season nine's mid-season finale, "Evolution."
Jesus was performing some sick slow-mo walker slayings when an unexpected thing happened: one of the walkers ducked his blow, pulled a knife, and stabbed him in the back. Just as Jesus begins to succumb to his wound, the Whisperer softly tells him, "You are where you do not belong."
As in the comics, this revelation brings with it a great deal of confusion. The walkers, at this point, are entirely predictable. The threat of the dead lies in their numbers, not in their movement or behavior. The Whisperers are going to change all of that, as the survivors will never know if a Whisperer is among a horde of the dead until they get up close and personal.
Taking an old threat like the walkers and making them into a more dynamic enemy will throw a great deal of dread and confusion into the mix for the survivors of Alexandria, the Kingdom, and Hilltop. May deaths can be expected as a result and things are going to get from bad to worse.