Alpha's Chant From 'Walking Dead' Is Creepier Than Wearing Zombie Skin

Spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead Season 10. Alpha and Beta's unconventional bond take center stage in the second episode of The Walking Dead Season 10. Besides their backstory, Alpha and Beta's Whisperers chant on The Walking Dead announces that they believe what the episode title says — that they are the end of the world. Alpha has already shared her belief that with the zombie apocalypse, humans should be acting less like people and more like the undead. She leads her group with a pack mentality and now, with her Beta backstory and their official mantra spoken, viewers have even more insight into her brutal beliefs.

The towering Beta (Ryan Hurst) has previously demonstrated unwavering devotion to Alpha (Samantha Morton). "We Are the End of the World" shows how this pair met and became a team. Alpha and Lydia discovered Beta in a hospital where he was fiercely protective of a reanimated man he knew pre-apocalypse, presumably his brother, though it could have been a close friend or even lover. How very Governor of him, right? When Alpha killed the zombie, she asked Beta to join her and her daughter. In his devastation, he responded, "I am the end of the world." To which Alpha replied, "We are the end of the world." This gave him the unity he was seeking and solidified his commitment to her.

While Alpha makes her followers shed all emotions, she reveals to Beta in this episode that she wasn't able to kill Lydia. So these leaders share this secret of still being emotionally attached to the humans in their lives. Yet, the words they speak in unison seem to act as a rallying cry to remind them of the pack-like Whisperer personas they have taken on. They say to one another:

"We walk in darkness, we are free. We bathe in blood, we are free. We love nothing, we are free. We fear nothing, we are free. We need no words, we are free. We embrace all death, we are free. This is the end of the world. Now is the end of the world. We are the end of the world."

AMC had shared a preview of this speech ahead of the Season 2 premiere on Twitter. A fan replied to the above video and asked, "Are these Alpha and Beta's wedding vows or something?" AMC Twitter's account cryptically responded with the eyes emoji. But that certainly doesn't mean Alpha and Beta are romantically linked. Instead, it seems this ritual is part of their bond and reinforces their twisted world view. Beta was lost before Alpha found him, fixated on keeping his zombie companion safe. She taught him he could not be attached to human emotions anymore, all while having the comfort of a pack. "Walk with me in the darkness, walk with me and you'll never be alone again," she told him in the flashback.

Another fan on Twitter accurately assessed that the "We are the end of the world" mantra seems to be more about Alpha's embrace of the zombie apocalypse. Rather than fight against it and ensure humanity thrives, she has decided her pack should live among the zombies. Alpha sees no point in keeping the structures of civilization intact and is insulted that the Hilltop, Alexandria, and Oceanside communities are still engaged in this fallacy.

The origins of this mantra also are the origins of wearing walker faces. Alpha encouraged Beta to not leave behind his beloved walker. So Beta cut off his face and it's the mask he still wears in the present. (He also wears his clothes.) Alpha embraced what Beta needed and gave him a life outside of that hospital, so they are in this zombie apocalypse together. This means, now that Alpha has set her eyes on attacking the other survivors, Beta will be right by her side — embracing all death and being the end of the world.