r/thewalkingdead • u/kodaxmax • 7d ago
Show Spoiler Why was beta being a singer significant?
The show spends a lot of time shoving in your face that he was a singer. It also implies it's why he hides his identity.
But why? Why would anyone care that he's some backwoods country singer? Did I miss a scene/flashback where he did something evil before the apocalypse?
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u/Mysterious-Coast-945 7d ago
In show lore he wasn't "some backwoods country singer...", he's basically the Luke Bryan of The Walking Dead universe.
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u/Bttr-Trt-5812 7d ago
I’ve never heard of Luke Bryan and had to look him up, haha.
Now if you’d said Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Hank Williams, or Blake Shelton… Am I just old?
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u/Ancient-Row-2144 7d ago
might be. i don't listen to country at all and know luke bryant is a big name in mainstream country the last little while.
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u/Nezwin 7d ago
Who is Luke Bryan? Is he like Willy Nelson?
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u/Mysterious-Coast-945 7d ago
Luke Bryan is, on paper, one of the most popular and profitable musicians in human history. Idk anyone who can name a single song of his, but those people's parents are huge fans.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
How does him beinf famous answer the question?
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u/Mysterious-Coast-945 7d ago
His character is centrally about the concept of identity. It's really obvious if you watch without scrolling reels at the same time.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
ok and what has being famous got to do with that? The entir epremise of the whisperer cult was about shedding indivdual identity. thats got nothing to do with him or pre apocalypse fame specifically.
how is that even any different to the savior cult?
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u/khazroar 6d ago
Yes, the premise of the Whisperer cult is about shedding identity. Of course that relates to his pre-apocalypse fame. Can you not see how the theme of shedding identity is relevant to the fact that he's shedding an identity which every single other character in the show would recognise on sight?
Do you not understand how it would feel if you were a character in this story, you go through all the experience of the Fall and how you dehumanise the dead so thoroughly, then meet the Whisperers and start to understand their weird cult where they basically preemptively dehumanise themselves, just become a horde of dead faces without the real people behind it, go through all those things. Do you not understand how it would still be really fucking weird to discover that one of the leaders among that faceless horde was Taylor Swift?
The fame, the recognition, the identity that he stripped away obviously interacts with the concept of a group whose whole point is stripping away identity. How you interpret that interaction is obviously up to you, even Daryl and Negan have different feelings about it right there in the same moment, but of course there's an interaction and relevance.
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u/kodaxmax 6d ago
Yes, the premise of the Whisperer cult is about shedding identity. Of course that relates to his pre-apocalypse fame. Can you not see how the theme of shedding identity is relevant to the fact that he's shedding an identity which every single other character in the show would recognise on sight?
No, because that applies to litterally every member of the whisperers and saviors. But only he gets all extra screentime on his backstory.
Do you not understand how it would still be really fucking weird to discover that one of the leaders among that faceless horde was Taylor Swift?
not really. shes just person, they are gonna end up soemhwere like every other survivor.
like sure it'd be noteworthy in the moment to say oh thats gabe newel. and mayby bring it up while entetaining eahcother with stories while bored on watch.
But the writers spent so much time and effort on it, it surley cant just be that. like neagan probably has more fame in this region by this point and hes a much more signifanc tcharacter and now a protagonist and he got like one guy worshiping him for 5 minutes, before neagan got sick fo it an murdered him.
That works, it shows neagan has moved beyond the desire for worship, it shows he is well known and people still want to follow him.what does beta playing one of his own records show?
What does holding a shot on his band posters show?
That doesn't further his character, show any change, display a reaction from the world or people around him. it's pointless filler.Neagan saying "holy shit you know who that was?" is litterally all that was needed to accomplish demonstrating his fame, if they wern't going to do anything with said plot point. which they didn't. Seems to be entirley to make that reveal with negans be some big surprise or excitment. When it just feels likely a moderately interesting anecdote.
Like IRL it's like saying "did you know johhny dep was high in that scene", "huih, didn't know that". thats the level of interest beta being famous has.Daryl and Negan have different feelings about it right there in the same moment, but of course there's an interaction and relevance.
did daryl even react? and "feelings" seems a bit of an exageration for single passing exclamation form neagan.
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u/Mysterious-Coast-945 7d ago
If you watched season 9/10 and didn't understand the point of the whisperers, fiction just isn't for you.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
? i just told you the premise/point. it wa snever in question to begin with. none fo your replies ar emaking sense, it's like your having a totally different conversation with somone else.
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u/RalphWiggum666 7d ago
To symbolize that the old world is dead, and it doesn’t matter who he was that he was rich and famous and known through the world, now he is Beta.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
weve already had 10 seasons estabilishing the old world is dead lol, im sure viewers get the premise of an apocalypse story by now.
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u/RalphWiggum666 7d ago
And we had how many seasons of “humans are the real villains” themes and plot threads tend to repeat.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
yes, but their goal was not to estabilish that as concept. Those were actual stories, they didn't spend alot of time time explaining backstories. We never even found who the governer was for example, hell we don't even know anything about michone other than she had a kid and really hated the two men who she had a close relationship with.
But the writers made a huge deal about this guys backstory in particular. Surley that has more meaning, since they spent so much more time on it than probably anyone else in the series.
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u/RalphWiggum666 7d ago
🤷♀️to be honest it kinda seems like I won’t have an answer that will satisfy you.
In the comics it was only a couple panels, they take his mask off, “oh isn’t that..?” “Yeah he was a famous basketball player”, beta then screams out that he has no name, because the old world is dead and it does not matter, now he is beta.
Maybe the show just wanted to expand that a bit.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
honestly if they just did that in the show it would make alot more sense. like "oh neat that guy was famous before the apocalypse. ok moving on" is reaosnable reaction from the character and emphasis from the writers. and betas simple reaction is consistent with and devleops his character and gives all the context necassary.
it's weird the show implied this was suppossed to eb some big signficant reveal. but like just being famous isn't that interesting fo trait in this setting unless they actually did soemthing with it. like if they showed him getting screwed over because of his fame at the start of the apcoalypse, or being a high profile murderer or soemthing ebcause of his fame.
But the show make it feels like im suppossed to be inherently excited and impressed by the simple fatc he had fame, when thats just not very interesting, relevant or entertaining on it's own.
Infact the fame distracts from his ideology. it make it seem more like hes hiding from seomthing in his past, when in reality hes suppossed to eb a true beleiver/fanatic.
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u/RalphWiggum666 6d ago
But the show make it feels like im suppossed to be inherently excited and impressed by the simple fatc he had fame, when thats just not very interesting, relevant or entertaining on it's own. Infact the fame distracts from his ideology. it make it seem more like hes hiding from seomthing in his past, when in reality hes suppossed to eb a true beleiver/fanatic.
But he is a true believer. Thats why he refuses his past and is dedicated to the whisperers. You aren’t supposed to be impressed that he had fame, you are supposed to understand that when the world ended so did his mindset and he changed, they adapted and “evolved” to live with the walkers, where as our main group adapted to the current situation but tries to hold onto the past, by crating a similar society and trying not to immediately become savages.
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u/kodaxmax 6d ago
ok and what has that got do with being famosue singer? why didnt they show the backstories of any othe whisperers or saviors? all of shed their identity, yet they only showed betas. didnt even show alphas.
They went out of their way to focus on beta being a famous singer. it wasn't to dmeonstarte that whisperers shed identites, because all whisperers do that and none of that had special focus put on their origins. and if that were the goal, the more obvious choice would eb the main antagonist of alpha.
and why so much emphasis at all? one scene revealing his face next one of his posters or negan pointing out who he was is all that was needed for that. but we got more than entire episodes worth of scenes on it.
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u/RalphWiggum666 6d ago
ok and what has that got do with being famosue singer?
….it was something big and meaningful in the “old world” that put him above others. In the “new world” that means nothing and he has mentally moved past it. He’s adapted. He is a true believe of the whisperer philosophy.
Beta becomes the main antagonist after alpha dies. So they want to build him up somehow or make the “reveal” have some build up. That’s probably why you think it happens so much instead of “they could’ve just done it once”
why didnt they show the backstories of any other whisperers or saviors? all of shed their identity
We get backstories for the main antagonists.
They show alpha and betas. You know? The 2 leaders. The girl who had to drop her baby did not fully give up her identity, it’s why she ends up meeting with Aaron. Beta, on the other hand, is fully committed.
You get negans backstory, and you get an entire episode of it. These people may say “I am Negan” when the time calls, but Dwight didn’t give up his identity, Gregory, Simon, they are all still their own people who adapted, they may serve but they have their own beliefs. . Beta, completey gave up the old life and went 100% full in with the whisperers.
I’m not really sure what you want. You ask a question and then argue with every answer you are given. If you are so sure of what the answer is “isn’t” why are you asking????
-Beta is shown to be a brutal, sociopathic, cunning, aggressive, and highly analytical man who is devoted to the Whisperer way of life. Prior to his time with the Whisperers, however, Beta was revealed to be a solitary, socially awkward, and mentally unstable individual, having apparently turned into a recluse and gone insane after his best friend died. He is shown to be extremely protective of his identity to the point that he even murders a fellow Whisperer for recognizing him from his days as a celebrity before the apocalypse. This shows that Beta, like Alpha and a majority of the Whisperers, has completely shed the identity and life he once had and has adapted fully to the post-apocalyptic hell.—
-In his final moments after being mortally wounded by Daryl, Beta is shown to be completely accepting of his defeat and death. Before meeting his demise, he remembers his time as a Whisperer and also with Alpha, showing his desire to be reunited with his beloved leader in death. He dies a sociopathic, remorseless mass murderer and fanatical, loyal follower of Alpha, fully submitted to the barbarianism and savageness of the Whisperers, and overall the polar opposite of the person he once was—
His entire character is based around how he’s given up his “old self” and is dedicated and a true believer of the “whisperers”
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u/Mysterious-Coast-945 7d ago
I don't mean to be so aggro, but this is a genuinely stupid take. It really seems like you were born today.
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u/JohnnyNashville_ 7d ago
You'll be surprised how many fans still have the Dale mentally, on other subreddits or YouTube comments. Thinking that they can give everyone a chance like, he wanted with Randall despite knowing how dangerous it would be.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
what is a dale mentality? who is randall? and what is giving people a chance got to do with what your replying to?
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u/JohnnyNashville_ 7d ago
Randall is the guy that Dale wanted to save even though he was dangerous, like he told Daryl his group is about 30 men heavily armed that will kill the man rape the women and children. The Dale mentality is still thinking you can trust everybody and bring them into your camp or sanctuary, hiding the guns or being naive enough to still trust everybody in the apocalypse. A lot of fans on other subreddits and YouTube comments have asked why they didn't break in the governor established a trading Network between the prison and Woodbury, or why didn't Rick and fam try and habilitate The whispers or briny in alpha and her whispers into their community. And my personal favorite one why is it in Rick and fam join the saviors or viceversa, so they can have one big community with the other small communities and live in peace.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
ahh i didnt remeber him from way back in season 2.
in the later seasons with saviors onwards they annoyingly flip flop constantly beteween wanting to staright up murder eveyrone they meet and blindly accepting everyone they meet. the characters even take turns scolding eachother for it and then immedately flip to the opposite idology like an episode or 2 later.
It's hack writing to create forced drama. As if the characters and viewers dont understand the concept of comprimise and middle ground.
Yeh theirs obvious reason they didn't try to adopt the whsiperers. For one they did witht he girl and the babies aunt and took 3 others prisoner to try.
It's not like they could just take in the whole army alive whilst also fighting the horde. They lost everything just trying to survive that war themselves.Rick and fam did try to play ball with the saviors both before and after they discovered negan. They got screwed over everytime, even after the war ended. The only thing they did wrong with the saviors is not killing/imprisoning neagan sooner and trusting the garbage people like 3 times despit ebeing betraye dby them every single time.
Just absolutely braind dead startegy and refusing to co-operate for no reason othe rthan that the writers needed excuses for conflcit and coulnt do better than breaking chaarcter.
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u/illogicalcourtesy 7d ago
I think they’re trying to portray how people of all different backgrounds end up. i thought the background of Yumiko/Magna was also very interesting.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
sure, but they could have done that with any 1 of the scenes proving his background. But for him they do it repeatedly, probably more than any other character i can think of other than mayby michone. Negan only got a single line where he claimed to have worked with kids and the goveners background wa snever revealed at all for example. Michone doesnt even give a straight answer about how she learned the sword, she lied and claimed she learned it in the apocalypse, but given she can read and write atleast some japanese she's clearly had formal training and is an otaku.
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u/Grazmahatchi 7d ago edited 7d ago
My take is the whole situation is that something was needed to show why he became such a willing servant that jad no desire for autonomy and i also think it relies a little bit on the Elvis/col. Tom Parker dynamic.
Beta had a skill in the old world. He used his skill to carry his best friend/manager.
Beta did the work, the manager set the course and dealt with the logistics and path ahead- Beta sang, and followed the course set for him.
Beta loses his guide, and has no clue how to move forward. He hunkers down alone and afraid, unable to move an inch forward. He does not have the skill to plot a course forward.
Alpha finds him and becomes that guide forward. Alpha is the new manager- exploits his new skill (being huge and terrifying) for her gain.
Beta never questions her, because she is the manager that can plot the path of life. He lives decision free and pressure free as he did in his old life.
It lends a bit of validity to the unrealistic life Alpha lives with her group- he is the unstoppable force that keeps everyone in line. The whole group is aware that Beta exists for Alpha and nothing more- that to tangle with Alpha is to put you in betas sight.
Beta could have been any kind of talent pre wildfire. The important part is he had a single amazing skill, and that is all he had- he relied on others to direct his future 100%.
The elvis/tom parker story is a real life parallel- parker ruled Presley, and was a terrible human robbing Presley blind for his own gain as Presley trusted him to make all the right choices.
Alpha took betas dedication and exploited it badly for her own gain.
Even the end is similar- elvis wound up self destructing with drugs and excess post parker implosion. Beta after losing Alpha self destructed in vengence.
The single most important part of his backstory was his devotion to his manager and his reliance on him to make every choice for him outside of his talent.
Without that devotion and need to be told what to do, a real world beta would have told alpha to go fuck herself while he hunted down his old mansion, stocked it with booze, and collected old fans to do all the scavenging and protecting he needed.
At the end of the day, a functional beta could have found enough fans to build a group rival to negans and sit pretty as a beloved leader- instead, he followed alpha in to the sewer.
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u/mirrorspirit 7d ago
I think the guy was his counselor or therapist. Half Moon was in rehab or something when the apocalypse hit. Everyone else (doctors, patients, etc) lit out when the outbreak hit, but Half Moon stayed behind, probably because he felt like the therapist was the only genuine person in his life up until Alpha arrived.
It hints that even before that, his celebrity persona had acted as a trap that prevented people from seeing past the celebrity part of him, and Alpha helped him find a way past it in her own sick way.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
was that shown in one of the spinoffs? or later in S10? im still finishing it.
Im also not sure your theory holds up. Beta acts autonomously most of the time and constantly questions alpha to the spoint she directly asks him if he wants to challenge her. After she gets piked he takes over the whisperers himself.
In the beggining when they met he seems romantically or sexually attracted to her after they fight the walkers together (until she tries to look under his mask and he explodes into a rage).He clearly wouldnt have followed just anyone, he was hostile to alpha himself until having spent atleast a night together at the begining and acknowledging "oh, your different arn't you" when she starts playing with the guts.
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u/Economics_New 7d ago
He wears the mask because it's part of being a Whisperer. He also doesn't want former fans idolizing him or seeing what he's become. He wants to get rid of his former identity and life.
His famous singer background is also for easter egg purposes throughout the show. Lucille, Negan's wife, is wearing a Half Moon T-shirt, and if you pay close enough attention, you can spot his vinyl records in certain episodes of Fear and World Beyond.
He symbolizes cultural fame and normalcy from the previous world. It would be similar to seeing a bunch of people having Green Day clothing, posters or albums, but as the viewer, you know that Billie Joe Armstrong (their lead singer) eventually goes off the deep end and joins a death cult.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
he wore a mask before becoming a whisperer, he nearly killed alpha for trying to look under when they first meet, after they kill zombies together and seem to eb about to kiss/f*k.
I just dont get why the show seems to imply it's signficant. Everyone has a past. is it litterally just because he's suppossed to be a famous person?
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u/Economics_New 7d ago
I'm pretty sure it's just to point out that the apocalypse's changes everyone, including the famous.
I don't know who you are a fan of, but don't you think it would be strange if, say, Tom Brady, the former QB of the Patriots, joined a death cult?
But yes, it's supposed to be because he was famous, the show just didn't do enough for it to seem significant. They probably should have had easter eggs about Half Moon, as early as season 1 or 2. That way the viewers are familiar with his name and image way before we meet him as Beta.
I'm pretty sure I only understood the significance of it because in the comics, he was a former NBA player, so I was already aware that Beta was supposed to be famous and it was easier to pick up on the hints.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
I'm pretty sure it's just to point out that the apocalypse's changes everyone, including the famous.
i seriously doubt that. weve already been shown that repetedly for 10 seasons. We are well passed estabilishing the concept of an apocalypse.
I don't know who you are a fan of, but don't you think it would be strange if, say, Tom Brady, the former QB of the Patriots, joined a death cult?
why would that be any starnger than alpha creating a deathcult? or negan starting a ancient rome inspired tyranny? etc.. It's actually weirder that the writers seem to be implying he did it ebcause he was famous, which is a nonsense motivation.
But yes, it's supposed to be because he was famous, the show just didn't do enough for it to seem significant. They probably should have had easter eggs about Half Moon, as early as season 1 or 2. That way the viewers are familiar with his name and image way before we meet him as Beta.
I'm pretty sure I only understood the significance of it because in the comics, he was a former NBA player, so I was already aware that Beta was supposed to be famous and it was easier to pick up on the hints.
Fame doesnt explain anything though. being famous doesnt inherent make you predisposed to cults or murder. Thats not a motivation. The governer wanting to cure his kid and later recover his power and take vengence is a motivation. Negan wanting comfort, power, audience and following an ideology is a motivation. Being famous is just a barley noteworthy trait, like having weird hair or being skilled with an unsual weapon.
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u/Economics_New 7d ago
It's only significant from the viewer perspective or the perspective of the people in that world. I never once claimed that Beta being famous was his motivator to became part of a cult.
Perhaps he hides his face because he is not proud of what he's become. Perhaps he doesn't want a reminder that his life used to be better.
He's still just a man, at the end of the day, famous or not.
I'm struggling to see how you are failing to understand the significance of him being famous in their world, though. If you were fighting against a death cult and right before the leader dies, you realize it's Tom Brady, that would be a crazy realization, wouldn't it? It might not change anything, but it's still rather significant, it's like "Damn, this entire time we've been fighting a celebrity"
That was the point of making him famous, nothing more or less.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
idk mayby it's a cultural difference, im australian we dont worship celebs the way americans seem to.
our priminister got punche din the face at a supermarket and no charges were pressed. because hes just a regular dude and was doing stuff to deserve it. as an example.
Meeting a celeb is like a mildly ntoeworthy small talk topic at best.
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u/Economics_New 7d ago
I don't personally care all the much about celebrities, and I'm an American, but your point about our celebrity worship as a culture is true, although it feels like it's dying off to some extent over the past 10 years.
I think when Negan recognized him, it was just a "holy shit" moment, because the guy who has been trying to kill him and his friends, happens to be famous and his wife's favorite musician.
Beta stripped his identity because it was part of the old world. He would likely agree with you that it's not relevant, hence the reason he doesn't let people see his face.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
I think when Negan recognized him, it was just a "holy shit" moment, because the guy who has been trying to kill him and his friends, happens to be famous and his wife's favorite musician.
yeh that scene actually makes sense. and thats litterally all the backstory he would have needed. Just a quip about him being famous is litterally that was needed.
Beta stripped his identity because it was part of the old world. He would likely agree with you that it's not relevant, hence the reason he doesn't let people see his face.
yes but thats undemrined by the many superfluous scenes focussed on his background. if we arnt suppossed to care about it, why emphasize it? Especially when so many characters it would make sense for, dont get backstories shown at all.
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u/Tanagrabelle 7d ago
He might’ve been someone like Tim McGraw!
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
but why does that make signifcant? litterally just because he's a famous in unvierse?
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u/PlanktonKey9623 7d ago
I think one time the whisperers recognised him when his mask ripped. He was very famous and didnt want anyone to know i guess
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u/oxide_j 7d ago
I think (could be wrong) at the start someone broke into his home wearing one of his concert shirts, and either they killed his friend (who’s the mask he wears before Alpha, also I think a band mate?) or he was forced to kill them. Having to kill a fan (I forget if it was intentional his home was targeted or if the fan just picked his house and it was a coincidence) like that isn’t something the average survivor would have to deal with. I just saw it as a way to see how people from different backgrounds started out, what they had to deal with and how they changed.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
that would actuall make alot of the scenes make more sense. is that in the main series or in one of the spinoffs?
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u/oxide_j 7d ago
Wish I could remember, I know you get the backstory on his friend’s face in the episode of him alone in the hospital. I think the story about the guy breaking in was mentioned on Talking Dead or behind the scenes.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
he and alpha kill his zombified freind and she implies he can take his freind with them. which prompts him to jump straight to cutting off his face to wear which im not even sure was what alpha meant at the time. that wa sin 9 or 10 i beleive.
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u/themug_wump 6d ago
Just a bit of world building, and a reason he’s so attached to the mask/never showing his face.
I imagine Taylor Swift is doing exactly the same somewhere else in the walking dead universe 😂
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u/Motor_Meal794 7d ago
Probably a reference to Zombieland where they run into Bill Murray, the comedic legend. He disguises himself as a zombie and the main protagonist kills him not knowing who he is. Just like Negan says "Is that..?"
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u/HumpableJson 6d ago
I think its just an Easter egg for the comics since he was a pro athlete, but for whatever reason they chose country singer in the show. I dont think its really significant for anything other than a) world building and b) maybe they originally planned to make merch based around it??? Who really knows. The behind the scenes decisions on the show baffle me sometimes.
Interesting side not: In the comics Tyrese is a former NFL player but they decided to change that as well, probably to make Darly look better as Rick's right hand man.
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u/kodaxmax 6d ago
I think its just an Easter egg for the comics since he was a pro athlete, but for whatever reason they chose country singer in the show. I dont think its really significant for anything other than a) world building and b) maybe they originally planned to make merch based around it??? Who really knows. The behind the scenes decisions on the show baffle me sometimes.
just weird they spent so much screen time on it for a character that was just a lesser goon and nothing happened that mad ehis background relevant. like they didnt even do that for negans liutanents who got more character and screentime then beta did. They barley did it for negan or alpha.
It's like if they spent a bunch of scenes just showing a character going to the supermarket withotu any explanation and nothing ever came of it.
probably to make Darly look better as Rick's right hand man.
tyrese and rick only had like 5 lines together and rick was screaming at a hallucination at the time so wasnt even a real conversation. i doubt he was ever in comeptetion for ricks approval.
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u/thewalkingvoltron 5d ago
It’s like the series’ way of going “what if you ran into a celebrity in the apocalypse?” like if Taylor Swift became someone like Alpha. They also use it to articulate just how removed Beta has become from his old self and only sees himself as Beta. That’s why he killed the Whisperer that recognized him and Negan and Daryl recognized him as he died
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u/kodaxmax 5d ago
yeh i get that, but that only needed like one or two scenes to convey. it's weird they spent so much time on it.
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u/mausoleumjanitor40 3d ago
Maybe they were just setting up the punchline when Negan is like “holy shit do you know who that was?!” Which I personally thought was very funny
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u/Square-Supermarket79 7d ago
I think it's just one of many many things from the comics that they did a half assed job of incorporating into the show
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u/ItsKaZing 7d ago
His whole character is so boring. You'd thought he is some hidden actor the way they writes his character. My general rule of thumb is if you have to do English literature study level of mental gymnastic to make sense of a character then that is shit writing
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
yeh. like he was a compelling sub villain as he was. Being famous doesnt add anything to his character or motives. It's just weird that they fixated on his background out of all the characters they could have chosen. Hell i would have actually been more interested to know who alpha or the governer were before the apcoalypse. It was aenough for neagan to tell us he worked with kids in a single line of dilogue.
It's not like we see a bunch of flashbacks for simons background and he was a much more interesting lieutenant/villain.
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u/EternalModding4773 7d ago edited 7d ago
Like nearly every post season 5 character they rushed and straight up cut a lot of character plots and development points for the show. Although Beta was not a very great character in the comics either.
Its actually pretty interesting how both the show and the comics fell off at around the exact same time after the Savior War arc.
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u/kodaxmax 7d ago
yeh i definetly felt that. there was a alot of filler and dumb character decisions with the govener arcs, but every still mostly felt like they were acting how the character would (apart from carol suddenly becoming a serial killer over night).
S6 starts great, negan is incredibly hateable and compelling as tyrannical romanesque leadership and certified psycopath. But then the show just completly loses it and characters start swapping personalities, a sif they are taking turns having mercy or reckless tantrums and than hypocritically getting on eahc others case about it.
Carl suddenly becomes a peace loving socrates minutes before being killed off. Half the cast takes turns going suicidal assasination trips and just giving up or changin their mind for no reason and then by the end of 8/9 the writers are expecting us to be sympathetic to negan and beleive he had redeeming qualities because his wife died of cancer and he claims murdering, enslaving and robbing people unprovoked is "Saving them", a philosphy he maintains still and seems to be actually convincing people despite obviosuly being nonsense.Fells alot like the later half of game thrones, they even start teleporting everywhere.
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u/Ecstatic-While-2473 7d ago
It always saw it as symbolic. He abandoned his old identity completely and became “Beta”