MovieChat Forums > The Walking Dead (2010) Discussion > So, going back a few episodes ... how do...

So, going back a few episodes ... how do the Whisperers control the hordes ?

posted 5 years ago by brux (14666)
14 replies | jump to latest

Remember when the horde of walkers is after Eugene, and then Daryl shows up with the firecrackers to draw the herd away ... but they redirect them back towards the trail of Eugene ... like they somehow knew?

How do you supposed the Whisperers would do that from inside the herd?

The Whisperers as the silliest most ridiculous villains even in this show, and they totally make no sense in any way.

What is the difference between a frozen human body and a frozen walker body, but somehow a walker body will shatter like glass when it is hit.

This show is insulting its fans with this kind of nonsense. It is just a comic book, in the worst sense of the term.

[–] RogueDemonHunter (2645) 5 years ago

Yup. That zombie head shattering as if it had been dunked in liquid nitrogen...How cold is it exactly out there? You certainly wouldn't be able to survive if it was that cold.

[–] winslow (1318) 5 years ago

They used dragon glass and Valyrian steel.

[–] Jennie_Portrait (804) 5 years ago

LOL- that was priceless!

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

They haven't actually shown them doing it. Maybe the herd is like a school of fish, where the ones on the perimeter change direction in response to a stimulus and the rest follow the motion. They've obviously figured out how coordinated direction changes among embedded Whisperers can "steer" the dumb walkers to go the way they want them to.

[–] brux (14666) 5 years ago

I am sure they would use it, but the herd mentality thing would be backwards
since the zombies should not and do not recognize anything around them but
living creatures. They walk right into fire, or water or off the edges of cliffs,
it seems a little crazy to think they are taking subtle cues from each other.

They seem to only go in the direction of noise or something living.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

If all they did was respond to noise or the sight of prey they wouldn't herd up in the first place. Walkers instinctively move toward, and with, one another. We see it over and over again on the show. Herd animals behave in simple and mathematically predictable ways. They take their cues from adjacent members of the herd, so if say, the one to their right suddenly changes direction and increases speed they'll follow, and the next one over follows them, etc.

The wavelike pattern of a school of fish evading a predator emerges from simple behavior. The fish on the side facing toward it, who see the approaching threat, initiate the group response. There's no conscious will at work. The fish in the middle of the group, or on the other side, don't know why they're changing direction. The ones next to them do it so they do it too.

[–] brux (14666) 5 years ago

> Herd animals behave in simple and mathematically predictable ways.

That may be true, but it does not apply to dead zombies ... they are dead.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

But they do exhibit herd behavior. If they weren't taking cues from each other individual walkers are all you'd have. Huge crowds of them crossing the countryside wouldn't exist. The social grouping instinct of humans is deep and primal, tied to the more primitive parts of the brain that are still functioning in the dead. It makes sense (if that term can be applied to reanimated corpses) that walkers would still have an instinct to cluster together.

[–] brux (14666) 5 years ago

i think they just move in reaction to food and each other. Herds have more intelligence than that. They do in the direction of noise and movement.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

Then why do huge herds stay together over great distances? Way back in season 2 we saw how a herd started out small, with a handful of them drawn to follow a helicopter, then more and more walkers joining the group as it passed until you had the big horde that overran Hershel's farm. Only the seed group was actually following anything - until Carl's gunshot. You're wrong, accept it. 😜

[–] diagoro (483) 5 years ago

I actually like the Whisperers. Love the costume design, and the way they work with their environment. Sure, there are things I don't agree with, or think are contrived, but that's usually due to poor writing or plot devices. Overall, they're a worthy foe, just not really given the proper plot and cues to become as good as they should be.

As for controlling he herds, As someone said, they make noises or move in directions to control how the dead move. Seems the dead only require very simple cues to change direction.

[–] Hans-Wilhelm (1320) 5 years ago

I think they just get in with the walkers and then the humans start walking in the direction they want and the zombies just sort of follow.

I kind of forget the whisperers were revealed (we didn't know what they were at the time) while they were tailing Eugene and Rosita. Looking back, why were the whisperers so damn intent on catching Eugene? Was there a reason I'm kind of forgetting?

[–] winslow (1318) 5 years ago

They didn't want to risk being discovered. Eugene and Rosita knew pretty quickly these weren't normal zombie herds, they would go back and warn the group. Generally what happened was our groups were going out farther than they were supposed to go when looking for useful stuff, and some of them crossed into whisperers territory.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

The Whisperers need better signage so people know to turn back. Something like this:

https://i.imgur.com/m1Rnwcp.jpg