Alpha and her Whisperers are running roughshod over the Alexandria alliance. Desperate to prove he can be trusted, Negan takes it upon himself to infiltrate these new enemies and assassinate their leader. Under Beta's command, the Whisperers get revenge by sending a colossal horde tearing through Rick Grimes' community. AMC's The Walking Dead TV show followed the very same route in season 10, with Negan decapitating Alpha in "Walk With Us."
As a general rule of thumb for comic book adaptations, sticking to the source material is a good idea. Audiences are much more likely to get angry about changes than authenticity. Occasionally, however, a situation arises where a comic angle doesn't fare as well on screen as it did in print, and Alpha's death is a prime example of this rare phenomenon. Alpha's live-action arc was guillotined before the Whisperers had reached their prime, then Beta paled in comparison as her replacement in the main antagonist slot. Major storylines with Lydia and Carol were cut short, and while the shocking death worked as a comic twist, Alpha's The Walking Dead death lacked the same potency on TV.
Samantha Morton's Alpha returns in Tales of the Walking Dead episode 3, and immediately proves how much more she had to offer the main series. Although this tale falls before Dee's transformation into Alpha (and takes some pretty significant canon liberties along the way), the creepy, calm conviction that oozes through Morton's performance remains a totally unique force in The Walking Dead's universe, just as effective now as it was when Alpha debuted in season 9. Not many The Walking Dead characters can anchor an entire episode alone, but watching Morton's Alpha do precisely that in Tales of the Walking Dead proves the Whisperer leader had plenty of narrative gas left in the tank when she died. At the very least, "Dee" highlights how many corners of Alpha's soul The Walking Dead still hasn't explored compared to other main villains such as the Governor and Negan.
How Alpha SHOULD'VE Died In The Walking Dead
Negan leaves no room for error during his Alpha assassination mission in The Walking Dead season 10, cutting off the Whisperer's head. Instead, let's imagine Negan sliced his bald lover, but was somehow interrupted before he could swipe the head as a souvenir for Carol. Alpha (barely) survives Negan's assault, and the betrayal pushes her deeper into insanity than ever before. Rather than Beta unleashing the massive horde upon Alexandria, it's Alpha herself who triggers the attack, then leads her army into the tower siege sequence from "A Certain Doom." The Walking Dead season 10 then ends exactly the same as before, with the Whisperers routed and Beta killed, but Alpha escapes as the sole survivor.
When The Walking Dead season 11 begins, Alpha is plotting revenge and gathering zombies for another horde assault. Her plans are hindered by the arrival of Commonwealth soldiers allied to Alexander and Hilltop, so Alpha tries to recruit inside help from her Commonwealth-skeptic daughter, Lydia. Ultimately, Lydia chooses her new family over her mother, but begins to wonder whether she made the right choice when Lance Hornsby's aggressive takeover begins. Just like the finale of The Walking Dead season 10, part 2, Lydia and her people find themselves under attack from the Commonwealth. This time, however, Alpha leads her massive rebuilt horde against the Commonwealth soldiers at Hilltop, sacrificing herself to save Lydia.
Not only would keeping Alpha alive into season 11 give The Walking Dead more opportunities to plunder her character for intrigue, her final moments would become far more meaningful and far more shocking.
Tales of the Walking Dead continues Sunday on AMC.