Who Died on 'Walking Dead': Which Head on a Pike Will Hurt the Most?

The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 15 finally delivers a moment from the comics that fans have been waiting for since the introduction of the Whisperers: heads on pikes at the fair. The communities lost 10 in Alpha’s most brutal move yet, but who died and which deaths will hurt them the most? Let’s find out.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 15, “The Calm Before,” are below.

“The Calm Before” begins with a happy event. The fair at the Kingdom has finally begun, and maybe, just maybe, the community can survive. But then tragedy strikes just as everyone has finally come together.

Outside the Kingdom, Daryl, Michonne, Carol, and Yumiko run into the Whisperers, and Alpha has a message for Daryl. He and his fellow survivors are to respect the Whisperers’ territory. If they cross into it, she and her people will direct a herd of walkers to their lands. She’s “marked the border to the north,” she informs him.

And mark it she did, with the heads of 10 members of the communities on pikes. Rosita and Ezekiel survived their comic book fates, but one character did not: Tammy Rose. The other nine victims in the show are: Henry, Tara, Enid, Highwaymen Ozzy and Alek, DJ, Frankie, Addy, and Rodney. But which death will hurt the survivors and the communities the most?

Henry

From an emotional standpoint, Henry is likely to be the hardest death. He was Carol and Ezekiel’s son, and they’re going to have to grieve while also remaining leaders for the people at the Kingdom. We begin to see that in the sneak peek (above) from the season finale, as Carol admits she only sees Henry when she looks at Lydia.

He also pretty much seemed to be taking over Carl’s story on the show. Like Carl, we’ve seen him grow, though most of that took place due to the six-year time jump.

His death is also going to affect Daryl (whom Carol had entrusted to take care of her son), Connie (who had been with him on the road since they left Hilltop), and Lydia (whose feelings for him swayed her to turn against her own mother and people).

Enid

Enid has been around for years, and she clearly has ties to people in all the communities, though she made Hilltop her home.

She also had one of the most important jobs in this world as the community’s doctor, so that’s going to be a major loss for everyone.

Furthermore, she and Alden decide in this episode to make their relationship official, so her death is going to hurt him.

The Highwaymen

From a purely strategic standpoint, the Highwaymen’s deaths may be the greatest, or at least among the greatest, losses. They were protecting the roads to and from the Kingdom. With two of their own dead, especially their leader, Ozzy, their future ties to that community may be up in the air.

Showrunner Angela Kang told Entertainment Weekly “there will be some more Highwaymen stuff in the future,” but the season finale promo shows the Kingdom falling. And as seen in the sneak peek, the people of that community are on the road. The Kingdom may lose the protection from the Highwaymen as a result of Alpha’s actions.

Tara

The Kingdom may have fallen, but things aren’t looking good for Hilltop, either. They’ve lost a doctor in Enid and yet another leader in Tara. Alpha specifically has a problem with Hilltop because that’s the community that took Lydia in initially.

Hilltop has gone through several leaders just this season (albeit with a six-year time jump). First, there was Maggie, who left with baby Hershel to join another group. Then there was Jesus, who was the Whisperers’ first victim. Now, they’ve lost Tara, who had really stepped up as the community’s leader. What her death means for her community — and all the communities, as we saw her talking with leaders from Alexandria and Oceanside about strengthening all the groups by helping each other — makes it one of the greatest losses of the episode.

The Walking Dead Season 9 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.*

Related video: Investigating a Whisperer Attack in The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 15 Sneak Peek