Re-Adapting the Adapted (Volume 10 : What We Become)[The repetition of this arc's name + this arc's theme]
I want to go over Volume 10 : What We Become from TWD comic, spanning from issues 55-60. And how it relates to season 05's production, unseen filming and the larger narrative as a whole in the show.
Also, here is a good video if you want to familiarize yourself with this volume before diving deeper with me.
I will also be going over all the times we see this volume's name mentioned/referenced in TWDU as a whole. Most importantly TWD 10x13 - What We Become, FTWD 08x04 - King County and The Ones Who Live season 01. Specifically episodes 01x04 - What we and 01x05 - Become. When the titles dropped before the release of TOWL is when I started noticing Volume 10 : What We Become kept being referenced over and over again. I noticed this back in 2023. Also, there is the webisode Red Machete - What We Become episode. I will be going issue by issue to see any similarities to season 05, how it could possibly correlate to the unseen filming and how this arc is still in play to this day.
This volume had story beats adapted earlier many times in the TV show before season 05. This volume is where these story beats initially would have taken place, if they adapted it one to one with the comic from the start of the show. But previous showrunners didn't always stick to the book. Or the right order of events. So when Gimple took over and got to this point to adapt it for the show, a lot of it had already been used or he pushed some things around himself to make the story flow better. So I will be highlighting important moments from each issue that I think are interesting or just things important to note.
Not much to note this issue besides the fact that this scene was used in season 03 as opposed to season 05 where it would have taken place on the road to Washington D.C. if the show followed the comic one to one. This is when Rick hallucinates zombified Lori after her death and is shown in a deleted scene for the show. This shows they adapt comic material that they have footage that got cut/scrapped and used for deleted scenes. Just like what we think happened with the missing 17 days. That they filmed it and are withholding the unseen footage seen from that time. If it were a small scene, why not just release as a deleted scene like this one?
This whole sequence in the comics feels like, to me at least, like what realistically happened during the aftermath of Grady. This is where a Greene, in the comic it was Maggie, sister attempts to commit suicide. We had already seen this storyline play out in the show in season 02 where Beth took a suicide arc, but survives. In the comics they think Maggie is dead and have to put her down, but she miraculously wakes up just in time. So I believe they rehashed this story beat since it had been done before and wrote the Grady storyline in place of it. We have a near death experience and a resurrection in both cases, well at least we think in the case of Beth.
Again we have another moment adapted earlier in the show than when it appears in the comic from season 04. The Claimers/Marauders arc takes place on the road to Washington D.C. in the comic as well. But here we have Rick, Michonne and Carl in the show whereas in the comic it was Rick, Abraham and Carl. So here we see they remix which characters are apart of which scene like I think is the case in the last issue with Maggie, with Beth taking her place for the show. And this is where Rick wants to go back to his hometown near Atlanta and wants to take Interstate 75 to get there. Which is the iconic interstate we see many times throughout the show going into Atlanta. So this is most likely where they got the idea to go back to Atlanta in season 05 during the writing stage since they already went back to Rick's hometown next issue used for season 03. And since they never go back to Atlanta in the comic as well.
This issue we see Rick, Abraham and Carl heading back to their hometown. This is where they come back to encounter Morgan in the comic. Again we see a moment which would have taken place around the season 05 mark and instead it was used in Mazzara's run for episode 03x12 - Clear, written by Scott Gimple himself. So the writers keep pulling from the comic further down the line and adapted it earlier. So when it came time to adapt this arc, these big moments had been already used and leaving less material to adapt going into season 05.
This issue is the first time they see a herd in the comic. It's a big moment for this entire volume. While they are on their way back from their hometown they come across it and crash their car and then they have to run on foot back to the rest of the group. In season 05 there was never an emphasis on a big herd of walkers. We see a lot of them during the Terminus escape, in Atlanta and Gabriel's church. Since there is no focus on a herd this season this wasn't completely adapted. The only thing close to it is in 02x01 - What Lies Ahead when Andrea coins the term and the highway herd comes through. But the herd in the comic is much bigger, which makes me think they didn't adapt it for season 05 for some reason. But then we have Nicotero's quote about the mid season finale for 05x08 - Coda in this Huffingpost interview.
I feel like this may be the 800 walkers Nicotero was talking about. This is around the material they would have been adapting during season 05, but no herd was seen in 05x08 - Coda. Which is weird... Where did these walkers go? And why didn't we see them? And if it was cut, why? Also we have these comments from undeadwalking.com for the mid season finale of season 05, which assumed we would we seen them in the episode.
Here we have the group running to a house to lose the herd following them. This could be what those flashes of scenes are in 05x09 - WHAWGO where the group is running towards cars. And this could be where the white house from the unseen filming could factor in. With them in the show running from the herd which should have been in 05x08 - Coda, but wasn't. In the comic the group then goes into this house to create some distance from the walkers and grab things that make noise to distract them and sneak out the back of the house. This may also be where the "OPEN THE DOOR" Instagram post from Steven Yeun ties in too from inside said white house and where there were reportedly explosions at the door possibly a distraction as well.
There is also a similar scene where comic Morgan finds a dead family in their beds and Michonne in the show finds that in season 04 that is very similar. Here is a video going in depth about it in case you don't remember. Then the comic group makes it back to the rest of the group and get back on the road as quick as possible.
Also, this volume is the start of the Billy/Ben and Lizzie/Mika storylines respectively. Again showing that they adapted things earlier for season 04 in this issue leaving this issue sparse with things to adapt by the time season 05 rolled around. Making room for the Grady arc to fill up this space in the story.
TWD Episode 10x13 - What We Become
In this episode we see Michonne go through this hallucinogenic trip by drinking some tea from Virgil. Siddiq is the first person to show up as he was the most recent death she blames herself for as well as Rick and Carl's deaths. As Michonne screams she looks down at her hands covered in blood as a past version of herself hands over chains to Michonne. She then envisions events throughout the show what would happen if she did not become person she is today. It shows her not saving Andrea and letting her get devoured by walkers. She also envisions herself with the Saviors and joining them. And eventually killing Glenn and Heath in the satellite outpost ambush by the group since she wasn't saved by our group in this scenario. Then we have her be the one to be the wielder of Lucille at the lineup from season 07, where Negan gives her the chance to do it, as she is his right hand woman. We then see another past version of Michonne is also in the lineup, the good one who is ended up with the group, the person she became because of them and all she's been through. Then the Savior Michonne finally takes her swing and chooses the true Michonne as her victim. Then we see Michonne running through the woods from the group where Daryl shoots her in the chest with his crossbow and as she is dying Rick approaches to put her down and shoots her in the head.
This whole what if? scenario for Michonne is what the arc in the comic truly represents. It shows a version of Michonne how far she would be willing to go to survive at such extreme lengths and doing whatever she needed to survive, but if you go too far you may end up losing yourself as Michonne did when she joined the saviors and was the one wielding Lucille. Only for her to die and bleeding out then to be put down by Rick. Michonne needed to find balance between good and evil. Knowing when not to be so closed off and shunning people away and when you need to do the extreme things for the ones you love. Very much like this comic arc's theme. Michonne has found that balance and is highlighted when the people that Virgil trapped on the island want to kill him, even though Michonne really wanted to as well, she spares him. She chose mercy instead of wrath. I think this arc is a mirror to this theme from the show. Mercy vs. Wrath. Good vs. Evil. And finding the balance between the two to survive in this world.
We also have a shoe motif going on this episode where Virgil finds his wife's shoes to put of her hanging corpse and we have Michonne finding Rick's boots on the island. As we think Beth's boots have a big part in finding her too possibly.
Then at the end of the episode we have Michonne amputate two walkers arms and jaws like she did twice before, on a leash behind her. This is Michonne choosing her old self, like the one that went crazy in season 04 trying this trick again and slaughtering all the walkers nearby. Doing this is a bad mindset for her as it reminds her of when she was truly alone. Not caring about anybody that came her way. But then two survivors, one injured, need her help. And state their group won't wait for them. Michonne was reminded of when Rick first helped her out when she needed it. She then decapitates her pet walkers and she chooses to help the two survivors make their way back to their group on the move. Here Michonne chooses mercy and helps the survivors instead of pulling away with her two pet walkers. She is not the same person she was at the start of the apocalypse. She has now found the balance between killing and not killing, mercy and wrath. And these people led her to finding Rick and helped her in return.
In this episode we have Morgan going back to Rick's hometown King County. This is where Duane died and his zombified wife Jenny were. This is also where Morgan's mental health declined and goes into his "clear mode" where he becomes so enraged that he has lapses in his memory from what he did. I believe Morgan's clear mode is tied back to the What We Become theme. Where he goes too far and goes to the brink and has to bring himself back. Just as we see him the second time in the main show where he has gone crazy and tries to kill Rick and co. Then after they leave he finds Eastman and turns a new leaf, believing that all life is precious and adopts a no killing code. But that doesn't last long as people he loved died and had to go back to killing even though he doesn't want to. He then finds a balance between the two eventually between killing and not killing, just like Michonne, Rick and other characters throughout the series. By the end of FTWD Morgan has found this balance as he gets closure with past and present losses as he heads onward to Alexandria with Mo to find Rick Grimes. A replay of season 05 where Morgan was tracking the main group.
This episode adapts the scene in Volume 10 : What We Bocome where Morgan goes to put down Duane. In the comic he doesn't go through with it and just lets Duane free, but in the show we see the inverse; he does put Duane down. Morgan had to kill his zombified son to save his new family, Grace and Mo. This also shows that this arc was still in play and not finished yet, still adapting things from this volume years later after they should have been, in a spinoff no less.
The Ones Who Live 01x04 - What We
According to TWD Wiki, this episode is the first in the entire franchise since Still to only feature two living characters throughout the entire episode. So here we a parallel to Still and this episode is about finding the love Rick and Michonne once had. Both episodes involve the two pairings respectively talking out their frustrations, being introspective about the events that had happened to them and leave the places in a much better mentality and go on their way looking forward to the future, transformed and changed by the events that transpired. With the buildings being destroyed behind them symbolizing their old selves/mindset is being destroyed and not looking back. They have been changed for the better. Beth's whole "you gotta stay who you are, not who you were" mindset helped Daryl move past his trauma and plays into how Rick needs to stay who he is, a husband and father who cares about his family, and not be who he is right now as it's killing him inside that he can't be with his family and that the CRM/Jadis are keeping him this way while Michonne tries to snap him out of it. Which he eventually does.
The Ones Who Live - 01x05 - Become
According to TWD Wiki the title of the episode, "Become", refers to what Anne became as Jadis after joining the CRM as well as her becoming who she was again before she died. This cements the theme of this arc about changing and adapting for the world they live in and going too far will cost you your life. It was only after the fact that Jadis was bitten that she realized she just wanted to be an artist and seeing the error of her way. But it is too late for her as her devotion to the CRM led her to keep pursuing Rick and Michonne causing her own downfall. She also reveals where the dossier containing information about the communities whereabouts to the CRM. Rick and Michonne decide to go back to the CRM to destroy the dossier so the CRM won't come after their home and loved ones. Rick is also paralleled with Jadis as he also could have been too into the CRM and picked them over his real family. It could have led to his death if he had truly fully let them go and became more like Jadis in following the CRM's plans. Then there is Michonne who could have ended up killing Rick when she first found him with her blade to his throat, but she knew to pull back when she had seen his face. If she hadn't she would have killed Rick by mistake because of her wrath, but we've seen Michonne find that balance, especially when she decided to help those people back in season 10 episode 13. If Michonne had went too far she would have no husband to take back to her family, rendering the mission a failure. But they both have realized when to do what has to be done vs. to know when to hold back and wait for their moment.
Red Machete Webisode - What We Become
In this webisode we see the Claimers again but this time it is a time before they met Daryl and the rest of the group. They see a Terminus sign and walk away with Claimer Joe shaking his head ignoring the sign and continuing onward. We see them do their usual claim tactic with shouting out claimed to what item they want. They then see a man being attacked by walkers and fighting them off. Claimer Joe hesitates to help, possibly thinking the man can handle it himself and could possibly become one of them. But unfortunately the man gets overwhelmed and is bitten and the Claimers go on their way and take his backpack. Then we see them raiding a cabin and beating up a poor man who was inside, which they kick out violently. Then we have two people sneak up on the Claimers camp at night searching their tents searching for things to steal, but suddenly the Claimers come out their tent and apprehend the two thieves. Then Claimer Joe takes the red machete while the other claimer holds down the male thief and chopped off his hand, much like Rick does to himself in TOWL. Then we see Claimer Joe put the red machete in his bag as he walks off to I presume is the night he encountered Rick,Michonne and Carl. Then we see an animated sequence where Rick bites Joe's throat out. Then we see it panning to all different events the red machete had gone through up until the point of the show where this was airing around the season 8 mark. First we see Rick take the red machete to Gareth at Gabriel's church, then we see it travel up north to Alexandria where it stays a while until the saviors come along and take it back to the Sanctuary with them. Then we have a random Savior at the end of the webisode holding it and being intrigued by it, with his heart racing. We see that the red machete only brings disaster and brutality. It changes the wielder's mindset that they have to be more brutal and cold in this world and do whatever it takes to survive.
To sum up, Volume 10 : What We Become represents what lengths we are willing to go to keep ourselves and the ones we love safe even if it means growing cold and more brutal is this arc's message in a nutshell. But sometimes we get to come back from the brink. We keep seeing this arc referenced over and over again. There must be for a reason for that. And if Beth is "Legs" at the end of the Red Machete webisodes then it would make sense that she would go on this arc too. If she is the one wielding the red machete. And possibly someone has to bring her back from the brink just as Michonne did for Rick.
I hope this post made sense in the grand scheme of things and was easy to understand. Thank you for reading!
