5 questions The Walking Dead Season 9B needs to answer

Will Jesus rise from the dead? What’s the deal with those X’s? Where on earth does Negan think he’s going? The Walking Dead Season 9B owes us answers.

The Walking Dead Season 9A left us on a whopper of a cliffhanger with more loose ends than an unraveled skin mask. (Ew.)

After a few episodes of lead up, the infamous Whisperers finally showed their faces… and then showed their real faces. The showdown between our heroes (Aaron, Jesus, Eugene, Daryl, Michonne, Magna and Yumiko) and the new Walking Dead Big Bad was thrilling, suspenseful, and left one of our very favorites dead.

While the mid-season finale was action-packed, it definitely left us with a whole host of head-scratching questions that Season 9 has yet to answer. We know we’ll be turning each of these questions over in our noggins all throughout the long break. Won’t you join us?

Warning: Below are spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 8 titled “Evolution”. If you haven’t seen the episode, here’s your warning: Don’t Open, Spoilers Inside. 

Will Jesus rise from the dead?

If he’s alive, yes. And, if he’s dead… well, also yes. That’s the whole premise of the show, right? So the answer is ultimately yes. But the true question here is whether or not Jesus (Tom Payne) is still breathing. From the looks of his prone and catatonic body at the conclusion of this episode, he’s dead. But why would the Whisperers whisper a warning in a man’s ear only to immediately kill him? Maybe they’re not the sharpest tools in the shed.

The Walking Dead has taught us never to assume that someone is dead until they’re buried in the ground. We all remember Dumpstergate all too well. So unless someone close to the show reveals a definitive answer on Jesus’s fate in the interim between seasons, his life will be in limbo in our hearts.

UPDATE: Talking Dead confirmed that Jesus is, in fact, dead. I’m going to remain in denial about it for the next three months though. Don’t judge me. 

What’s the deal with those ‘X’ scars?

Bonus Question – do they have anything to do with Maggie’s disappearance?

Looks like we’re going to get some answers to this one sooner rather than later. TWD showrunner Angela Kang has promised that the mystery will be solved in the back half of Season 9, but some of the crew on the show already knows about the twist. And they are disturbed.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Michael Cudlitz (hai Abe!) recently shared that the divide between Hilltop and Alexandria is definitely related to those X scars on both Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Michonne (Danai Gurira). He says, “It’s a big, really f***ed up thing that happened during the break. You will find out eventually what that is. It was bad.”

Wow. If Abraham himself is rattled by the story, it must be insane. But our guess is as good as yours. Cinemablend has come up with a few intriguing theories, including organ donation (probably not), self inflicted tattoo-like scars (seems too tragic for that) and one involving the recent disappearance of reformed Savior Dwight. Could Dwight have gone rogue and tried to take on our heroes? Only time will tell.

Where on earth does Negan think he’s going?

Due to Gabriel’s thoughtless error, Negan’s cell was left open and the guy is bustin’ out of there. Where he’s headed, no one knows. Ok, ok, book readers, I hear you. We all know where comic Negan is going. But the show has creative license, and they can literally do anything here.

Will our baddie pull a Grinch and stumble upon little Judith Lou Who as he attempts to flee, prompting a change of heart? Or will he make a break for it and run smack dab into a whole mess of trouble? Given the comic arc – which I won’t spoil here – it seems likely that Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is unknowingly headed into a storyline that will eventually buy him the redemption he needs to join the gang for real, just like in Carl’s death dream.

Can lil Henry carry a plot line all by himself?

In the comics, Carl carries a hefty portion of the upcoming Whisperers storyline. In his absence, the show seems to be shifting Henry (Matt Lintz) into position to take on Carl’s role. But, excepting his incredibly stupid role in the Savior war plot line, and the fact that he’s Carol and Ezekiel’s beloved son now, we don’t know too much about him.

The good news is that Lintz is a captivating actor on screen, eliciting sympathy for his angsty teen storyline. Away from home and making his own choices for the first time in this brutal and uncertain world, Henry makes a point of showcasing a penchant for humanity and mercy by killing a walker that his new friends have gleefully trapped and tortured. It’s an emotional moment that bonds us to him as a child of the apocalypse. While these other kids have been relatively sheltered at Hilltop their entire lives, Henry has seen things. He knows what’s out there, and, thanks to his awesomesauce adoptive parents, he knows how to handle himself in a tough situation too. Lets hope those qualities translate when the Whisperer storyline meets up with our young prince.

WARNING. SPOILERS FROM THE COMICS AHEAD….

Who will get the spikes?

Every single time someone mentions that damn fair on The Walking Dead, I get chills down my spine. I want to scream words of warning at my TV. DON’T DO IT, PEOPLE! GET EXTRA SECURITY! DO SOMETHING!!! But they wouldn’t listen. They’re in my TV, after all. And the fair is likely to be the lynchpin that ties Season 9 together in a horrific, blood soaked bow.

Last warning for SPOILERS.

In the comics, the fair is a long-awaited event meant to encourage trade and mingling between the communities. The show has used it to frame some of the conflicts that have arisen following the mysterious ‘X’ incident that fractured the bonds between Alexandria, Hilltop, Oceanside, and the Kingdom. Ezekiel aims to bring everyone back together with the fair: a time of art, music, crafting, and creation.

But things take a sinister turn when the Whisperers show up, uninvited. As a punishment for being on their land, the Whisperers systematically lure people out of the fairgrounds, kill them, and then behead them, placing their noggins on a treacherous line of spikes meant to denote the boundary of Whisperer territory. It’s one of the most shocking moments in the books, with Ezekiel and (a pregnant!) Rosita among the heads rolling.

Both Ezekiel and Rosita are obviously alive on the show, but that’s no guarantee they’ll get the spike treatment. Which leaves comic fans wondering which of our beloved characters will be the next to go? We’ll be sure to have extra tissues on hand for the Season 9 finale, just in case.

‘The Walking Dead’ will return in 2019.