Judging from the shot-by-shot trailer breakdown for season seven of The Walking Dead, we can expect a lot to happen next season. The premiere episode will address who Negan ultimately kills, and we know it’s disturbing because the people who have seen the Negan kill scene have said it is disturbing. Beyond Negan’s victim, however, The Walking Dead will also return to the Hilltop Colony, it will explore The Kingdom with Ezekiel and Shiva, and Negan will spend some time in Alexandria while Alexandrians will be forced to spend some time in the Saviors’ camp.
Is there room enough in season seven for yet another villainous faction? There is speculation, based on the season seven trailer, that The Whisperers could make an appearance this year. Who are the Whisperers?
(Minor Comic Spoilers to follow)
The Whisperers are a mysterious group of survivors who disguise themselves as walkers by wearing their skin. It gives them the advantage of being able to move around among the walkers without being eaten. It also makes them a particularly creepy set of villains because they look like zombies, but they walk, talk, and behave like people. There’s not much more terrifying than being approached by a zombie who tries to spark up a conversation. The Whisperers, however, are also lethal. They’re responsible for a number of deaths, including the demise of at least two major characters from the comics.
Speculation that the Whisperers would make an appearance this season was predicated on a couple of quick cuts from the season seven trailer, which show walkers that look like they might be humans wearing zombie skin.
There’s a certain uniformity to the group that might also suggest to viewers that they are part of a community, one that Heath and Tara seem to stumble upon during their supply run.
However, Robert Kirkman quickly put rumors of the Whisperers arrival in season seven to rest in a tweet under his production company’s Twitter account.
"The whisperers are far off, we still have All Out War and Ezekiel to get to" – @RobertKirkman on if we'll see the whisperers in Season 7
— Skybound Entertainment (@Skybound) July 23, 2016
So, no: The Whisperers — who don’t appear until issue 132 of the comics (the TV show is currently on issue 100) — won’t be arriving anytime soon. However, we can look forward to an all-out war, one I suspect that will bring The Kingdom, the Hilltop Community, and Alexandria into an alliance to fend off the barbarian advances of Negan. That should be plenty to keep us occupied for the next 15 episodes.
