The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 8 Ending Explained

This Walking Dead article contains spoilers.

The final scene of the first half of The Walking Dead season 10 has set the stage for an all-out war between the combined forces of Alexandria and the Hilltop and the evil Whisperers. While the midseason finale spends a lot of time tying up loose ends, including Dante’s punishment for the murder of Siddiq, it ends on a cliffhanger that sees many of our heroes in serious trouble.

Lured into a cavern filled with Alpha’s massive walker horde — a postapocalyptic A-bomb — Daryl, Carol, Aaron, Jerry, Magna, Connie, Yumiko, and Kelly find themselves with no way out from the Whisperer trap. While it’s highly unlikely that they’ll remain trapped for long, Alpha’s latest scheme could claim at least one life as the group attempts to escape. 

The real danger will come from what happens next. Alpha, who’s witnessed the enemy crossing into her land, which completely breaks the fragile peace between the groups, will likely declare war on Alexandria and Hilltop, setting off a chain of events that could bring even more casualties. We broke down the events of “The Whisperer War,” the comic book storyline the show will likely adapt next, right here. 

There are a few things that might complicate Alpha’s plans, though. For one thing, Gamma has seemingly turned against her after discovering that Lydia is still alive, a fact that Alpha had covered up in order to show her unflinching resolve and belief in her animalistic cause. Of course, Alpha was incapable of sacrificing her daughter for the good of the rest of her people, allowing her instead to stay within Alexandria’s walls with Daryl. This betrayal is enough to convince Gamma to tell Aaron the location of the walker horde.

Whether Gamma fed Aaron false information in order to lure the group into a trap remains to be seen, but something tells us that the Whisperer’s intentions were sincere in this case. It’s more likely that Alpha has been manipulating both sides the whole time. Gamma, like Dante, is just another way for Alpha to get into the heads of her enemies. But if Gamma is really thinking about switching sides, this could mean trouble within the Whisperer ranks if she decides to reveal Alpha’s secrets to the rest of the group. 

The big wild card, of course, is Lydia, who ran away from Alexandria at the end of “Open Your Eyes” after Carol used her to convince Gamma that Alpha was a liar. Lydia strikes out on her own, heading across the border and into Whisperer territory. It’s unclear if she’s trying to find her mother or if she plans to find a new place to settle, but you can bet that Alpha and Lydia will have a run-in in the second half of the season. 

Who will Lydia choose to side with in the coming war? If she follows her comic book counterpart, she will ultimately stick with the good guys, but perhaps blood is thicker than what’s right and wrong in the TV series. 

While Alpha has an obvious weakness, she also has quite a major advantage over Alexandria and the Hilltop — and we’re not talking about her walker horde. Negan defected to her side late into the first half of the season, escaping Alexandria to avoid a trial that would likely end in his execution. His wish to become a Whisperer could make him a powerful ally with deep knowledge of Alexandria and its weak spots. But could there be more to Negan than meets the eye? At the very least, Beta suspects that Negan is playing both sides of this conflict.

Meanwhile, back in Alexandria, Alpha’s own inside man is dead. Dante’s cover is blown in the beginning of the episode, as Siddiq’s corpse rises from the dead for one last house call. Fortunately for the Whisperer spy, his time in Alexandria’s jail cell is short. Gabriel, confronted with the choice of executing Dante for his crimes or putting him on trial, decides to take matters into his own hands in order to get his house in order. Alexandria’s religious leader walks into Dante’s cell and stabs the prisoner to death. It’s a cold-blooded killing that shows a completely different side of Gabriel, who has often preached peace and forgiveness. But Siddiq’s death is one crime he just can’t forgive and forget. It certainly seems like he’s learned a few things from his many chats with Negan over the years. 

Dante isn’t the only character who said goodbye in the midseason finale, though. Michonne also parts ways with her group — at least for the time being. After she strikes a deal with newcomer Virgil to sail him back to a naval base off the coast of Virginia, Michonne leaves behind her daughter and the others at Oceanside in order to secure weapons her people will need to fight back against the Whisperers and their horde. It’s a noble mission, but there’s more to this boat journey. After all, we know that Danai Gurira is leaving The Walking Dead by the end of season 10. This trip seems to set up that exit. It’s possible that some unknown threat gets in the way of Michonne returning to Alexandria or that she’ll get back just in time to save her friends but be forced to sacrifice herself in the process. Whatever the case, Michonne’s farewell in the midseason finale is the beginning of a much more permanent bon voyage we’ll watch unfold when the show returns early next year. 

Read more about The Walking Dead season 10 here. 

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