At first glance, Episode 19 of The Walking Dead Season 10C appeared to fall pretty heavily into character development. However, one detail may actually have hinted at The Reapers having been in the area.
Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) were tasked with searching all the potential caches of supplies on a map given to them by Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan). During this long excursion, the pair met up with a man called Mays (Robert Patrick) who involved them in a fairly stressful game of Russian Roulette.
However, prior to meeting him, Aaron and Gabriel had come across a badly burned trio of people and the remains of the house they had likely been sheltering in. While, initially, this seemed like a throwaway moment in order to add extra depth to the levels of despair in the episode, a theory is circulating that sees this as being a clue relating to The Reapers.
Who are The Reapers?
Very little is known about The Reapers and it seems likely that little more will be learned during the six-episode arc of Season 10C.
Maggie mentioned them initially, saying they were a dangerous group that destroyed her community.
A single member of this group followed Maggie when she returned to the original communities she left behind. Hoping to find a new community for the few remaining members of her group, instead, she found the destruction caused by the Whisperer War.
Because of this, viewers know that they are likely to be in the area currently.
This didn’t stop The Reapers from causing further devastation, though. When Maggie returned to the safe house where her friends were holed up, she found it ruined by fire.
The Reapers appear to like burning things
This leads very nicely into the latest Walking Dead theory. After all, the trio that Aaron and Gabriel encountered were also definitely burned and their house destroyed by fire as well.
Because of this, it seems unlikely that the duo would come across such an incident without it being relevant to any ongoing story arcs.
“What happened here?” Aaron asked when he first saw the bodies of what appears to be two adults and a child.
“We’ll never know,” Father Gabriel says grimly.
Gabriel’s words almost seem to taunt the viewer and tease that perhaps this story isn’t quite over yet, that what happened to this household could be explored at a later date.
And, knowing that The Reapers storyline will certainly continue moving forward, it seems more likely that a return to this grim discovery just might be on the cards.
This may not be the first covert mention of the Reapers either. There is another Walking Dead theory out there that sees Leah (Lynn Collins) as being taken by the Reapers.
However, there is very little evidence to back this claim up. This means that viewers will just have to tune into further episodes in order to find out more.
The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC.