The Whisperers Walk Again in The Walking Dead Trailer

09/13/2021 01:50 pm EDT

The survivors will turn whispers into screams once more when what's left of The Whisperers return on The Walking Dead. In Season 10, the heroes silenced the Whisperers when Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) killed pack leader Alpha (Samantha Morton) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) bested Beta (Ryan Hurst) to end the Whisperer War. With casualties on both sides, including the deaths of Siddiq (Avi Nash) and Whisperer Mary (Thora Birch), another loss was the burning of the Hilltop Colony. Once home to Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and her young son, the Whisperers scorched the Hilltop to ashes in the Season 10 episodes "Morning Star" and "Walk With Us." 

In the trailer for Season 11 Episode 5, "Out of the Ashes," a fleshy Whisperer mask is discovered when Carol (Melissa McBride), Aaron (Ross Marquand), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), and ex-Whisperer Lydia (Cassady McClincy) return to Hilltop. According to the official episode synopsis, "Alexandrians encounter Hilltop squatters; Eugene's group undergoes orientation at the Commonwealth."

Despite the Season 10 deaths of Alpha and Beta, the survivors are still suffering the aftermath of the Whisperer War in Season 11. Beta unleashed a walker horde that has left Alexandria starving and on the verge of collapse, spurring Maggie's mission to Meridian and an unavoidable confrontation with the Reapers. 

"I think it's an exploration of a different human darkness," Callan McAuliffe, who plays ex-Hilltopper Alden, told Distractify about the differences between the Whisperers and the similarly scary-masked Reapers. "I think that's always been one of the themes of the show. In The Whisperers, we saw something like a return to Animalia, and now we're seeing more consciousness in the darkness, which to me is more scary."

"Out of the Ashes" is now streaming early on AMC+ and premieres Sunday, September 19, at 9/8c on the AMC channel. 

READ: Season 11 Episode 5 Images: A Maggie/Negan Team Up and a Return to Hilltop

READ: The Walking Dead Recap With Spoilers: Season 11 Episode 4 "Rendition"

READ: TWD's Whisperer War Makes Major Comic Book Changes

Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD. The Walking Dead Season 11 airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.

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