The Walking Dead: Siddiq Death Explained

We break down The Walking Dead season 10's major death thus far. RIP Siddiq...

This Walking Dead article contains spoilers.

The Walking Dead season 10 suffered its first major casualty of the season in “Open Your Eyes,” last Sunday’s surprising episode that revealed that one of the Alexandrians was not who they seemed. As Siddiq discovers right before his tragic death, Dante is actually a Whisperer informant planted inside Alexandria to spy on the community and spark paranoia within its walls. (This differs greatly from his comic book counterpart, who is one of the good guys.)

The truth is revealed to Siddiq almost by accident when Dante clicks his tongue, a sound Alexandria’s doctor remembers well from the traumatic day when the Whisperers decapitated Henry, Enid, and Tara in front of him. The sight of a line of heads on pikes would be enough to upset anyone, but Siddiq’s trauma is all his own — after all, Alpha forced him to watch as his friends were murdered one by one. For most of season 10, Siddiq has been trying to cope with the PTSD left in the wake of the brutal executions. 

Interestingly enough, it’s Dante who’s been in Siddiq’s corner as the doctor struggles to keep his condition from affecting his work. But Dante’s intentions are anything but noble. It’s unclear at the moment if Dante was using Siddiq to quickly gain Alexandria’s trust, or if he had some sort of sick obsession with the man he tortured at the behest of his Alpha (it’s Dante who held Siddiq’s head in place as the Whisperers cut off heads), but we know that their “friendship” could only end one way. When Siddiq realizes the truth, Dante strangles his “friend” until he lay lifeless in the sick Whisperer’s arms. 

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Read More: The Walking Dead’s Most Shocking Deaths

Siddiq’s death will come as a shocker to anyone who’s read the comics since he’s one of the characters who survives to the very end of the series. While we don’t discover his ultimate fate in issue #192, which largely focuses on the later lives of Carl, Sophia, Michonne, and Maggie, it’s assumed that Siddiq lived beyond the climactic events at the Commonwealth that claimed Rick’s life. Siddiq is last seen in Oceanside before the finale’s 20-year time jump. 

The show’s version of the character isn’t so lucky. As actor Avi Nash revealed to EW after his character’s death, Siddiq’s fate wasn’t up to him. Nash got the dreaded call from showrunner Angela Kang before the season started filming. But the actor’s reaction wasn’t sadness; he was elated to be able to be part of “such a powerful arc.”

“We ended up being on the phone for hours as we delved into his PTSD, his fragility, new fatherhood — the writers gifted me with a journey that had all the complexities I could dream of,” the actor said. 

The rest of us are left heartbroken and in shock at the latest character death. It’s likely that at least part of the midseason finale will see Dante pay for his crimes. The question is, will it be at the end of a sword or before a judge and jury? We’ll find out when The Walking Dead season 10 midseason finale airs Sunday.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.

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