Mary - also referred to as "Gamma" - is a supporting character in Season 10 of The Walking Dead. She is a member of the Whisperers, a violent group of apocalypse survivors that have abandoned all notions of human civility and have adopted an animalistic lifestyle in the wilderness. As is the custom for the Whisperers, Mary was encouraged to abandon her name. After saving Alpha's life, she was dubbed "Gamma", the third-in-command of the pack.
History[]
Before the apocalypse, Mary lived in Santa Monica, California with her sister Frances. Little else about her past is revealed as Mary herself doesn't even remember, having forgotten most of her pre-apocalypse life since joining the Whisperers. During the outbreak, she and Frances made a series of bad decisions as they tried to survive under the guidance of others. Eventually, they discovered the Whisperers after travelling to the state of Virginia and joined with them, adopting their primitive way of life.
About ten years into the apocalypse, Mary's sister would give birth to a baby boy. However, not long after the birth, Frances would be forced to abandon her child as his cries were drawing the attention of a herd of walkers. Fortunately, the child was rescued by members of the Hilltop Colony who would raise him as one of their own.
Four months after the fall of the Kingdom, Mary and Frances were accompanying Beta in gathering walkers for their amassed horde. At this time, Frances was behaving unusually and Mary warned her to keep focus and not jeopardize their place among the Whisperers. However, Frances started crying over the loss of her son, which riled up the nearby walkers, forcing Beta to kill them. When they returned to their camp, Alpha took Frances aside and spoke with her. Afterwards, Frances told Mary about the experience and Mary hoped that her behaviour would improve. The next day, however, while witnessing a satellite fall from the sky, Frances attacked Alpha and tried to kill her. Mary came to Alpha's rescue, grabbing Frances and throwing her to a herd of walkers to be devoured. Following Frances' death, Alpha asked if Mary regretted killing her sister, but Mary insisted that her only loyalty was to Alpha. Pleased, Alpha annointed Mary as "Gamma" of the pack.
Days later, Gamma is tasked with leading a walker to a river that provides Alexandria with water. There, she guts the walker and allows it to bleed into the river, contaminating the water. This is part of Alpha's long-term plan to wear down Alexandria and destroy it from within. Later in the day, she is walking with another zombie in tow when she experiences flashbacks of killing her sister. In her guilt-ridden state, she repeatedly stabs the zombie and accidentally cuts herself as well. It is then that she is noticed by Aaron, an Alexandria resident. He introduces himself and offers her gauze for her cut, but after taking the gauze she runs off without a word. When she returns to camp, Gamma tells Alpha what had happened and Alpha decides that they can turn this to their advantage.
Following their first meeting, Gamma starts meeting with Aaron regularly on a bridge where the Whisperers have established a border. Aaron knows that Gamma is only trying to gather information for Alpha, but he offers more casual conversation instead, asking questions about her past and talking about his own. Gamma later leaves, reciting the Whisperer motto to herself as she walks away. When she meets with Alpha and tells her about the meeting, Alpha assures her that Aaron was trying to tempt her with lies and then proceeds to whip Gamma's arm with a reed to strengthen her resolve.
At night, Gamma returns to the border to meet with Aaron again. This time, she grabs him and holds him at knifepoint as she presses him for information. However, Carol Peletier appears and aims an arrow at Gamma. Following after Carol is Lydia, Alpha's daughter, whom the Whisperers had been told was dead. Seeing Lydia alive causes Gamma to drop her knife in shock and run off into the forest where she later breaks into tears due to having believed in a lost cause based on a lie.
The next day, Gamma meets Aaron on the bridge once again, this time asking if her sister's baby is still alive. Aaron tells her that the baby is being cared for at Hilltop and has been named Adam. She offers him information in exchange for seeing Adam. Before accepting any type of deal, Aaron makes her take off her mask and to tell the truth. Gamma says her name used to be Mary and reveals to him the location of Alpha's horde.
Later, Gamma is informed by Alpha that their enemy has crossed the border and they were heading to the National Park where the horde was located. She remains nervous as her leader assumes the enemy has sent spies beyond the border and asks if she thinks they found the horde. Alpha then orders Gamma to carry a message to their spy in Alexandria to inform them they have failed their mission. However, Gamma heads to Alexandria with other intentions.
Mary arrives at Alexandria and immediately gets surrounded at spear-point by the guards. She removes her mask and explains that a Coalition group is in a cave surrounded by Alpha's horde and that they may be still alive and needing help. Gabriel questions her intentions, pointing out the horde wasn't where she told Aaron it would be. Mary argues that Alpha had moved it and insists that she wants to help. Rosita questions her motives and Mary explains that the baby left at Hilltop is her nephew and she is willing to show them the location of the cave to see him again. Before she can be allowed inside the community, Mary is knocked unconscious by Rosita and is placed in the cell.
A while later, Mary wakes up in the cell and is confronted by Gabriel and Rosita about Dante's actions, but Mary claims she wasn't involved in that. They say she has to prove she's different from the other Whisperers or she will die. When Gabriel insists she is hiding something and calls for a sincere confession, Mary tearfully reveals she killed her sister for Alpha, which makes Gabriel accept her help. She is then taken to the meeting hall and tells the group everything she knows about the cave and its entrances, explaining that most of Alpha's forces are situated around the cave, so the borders are defenseless. Gabriel looks at the map and orders her to be taken back to her cell.
Sometime later that day, Judith Grimes arrives outside the holding cell and asks Mary about her name and time before meeting the Whisperers. She recalls that she was born in Santa Monica and that her parents' names were John and Alice, but fails to recover more memories, blaming Alpha for brainwashing her. Judith thinks that had Mary stumbled across her parents first, she would have turned out better, and claims that she doesn't look like a monster to her. When Beta attacks the community that night, he enters the basement and opens the cell as Mary claims that Alpha lied about Alexandria. He ignores her and tells her to go with him without hesitation, so her death will be painless. She moves forward and states she's not afraid of him as Laura appears from behind and threatens Beta with an axe, telling Mary to get help.
Mary runs outside and yells for help when Judith invites her inside her house for safety. They hide inside a room and she watches as Judith shoots through it, managing to hit Beta in the chest. Mary tells her and R.J. to run to another room as she checks on Beta. When she tries to follow them, Beta grabs her foot and knocks her down. She then wakes up and stops Beta from killing Rosita by threatening to kill herself, saying she knows Alpha wants her alive.
Having allowed herself to be captured, Mary is then escorted by Beta back to the camp when they are ambushed by the Alexandrians, forcing him to flee into the woods. She falls to her knees and eventually convinces Gabriel she hasn't betrayed them. The next day, Mary reunites with Aaron and is introduced to Gracie. Afterwards, she hops in one of the wagons towards Hilltop to see her nephew, and she and Rosita introduce themselves and shake hands.
Alden and Earl Sutton are constructing defenses on the Hilltop's walls, when they spot a group of Alexandrians approaching, although neither recognize Mary. When Earl asks Aaron about this, the latter reveals Mary to be a former Whisperer that has defected, and that she wishes to see her nephew, Adam. Earl promptly shoots down this notion, not trusting Mary. Alden agrees with Earl, and assures him that they will only allow the Alexandrians to see Alex. Later, Mary spots Adam and attempts to talk to him, but is intercepted by Alden, who prevents her from doing so. Despite Mary's pleas and Aaron's attempts to reason with him, Alden remains adamant about keeping Adam separate from Mary.
With the Whisperers nearing with their horde, everyone is gathered on the front lines including Mary. Kelly puts her palms on the ground and confirms that the horde is close. Indeed, the horde soon emerges from the bushes and approaches the Hilltop. While they are momentarily halted by the electric fence, the walkers soon break through it and approach the second line of defense. Aaron orders the survivors to split ranks. The shield-wielding survivors reinforce the makeshift barbed wire fence, while the melee weapon-wielding survivors start taking out the walkers. The archers, meanwhile, stay in the back and rain arrows on the herd. Behind the herd, Beta commands the Whisperers to launch the sap they collected earlier using makeshift catapults into the front lines, drenching most of the defenders as well as the Hilltop's walls. This is followed by the Whisperers launching fire-arrows into the front lines, setting one unfortunate Hilltop resident ablaze. With no choice, the defenders begin to retreat towards the Hilltop, but are trapped when the Whisperers launch another volley of fire-arrows into the Hilltop's walls, setting the community ablaze.
Mary fights alongside the Coalition to defend the Hilltop, armed with a spear. Spotting Lydia fighting, Mary tries to get her to flee, knowing that Alpha wants Lydia. However, Lydia refuses to run and hide and continues on fighting. Mary ultimately escapes the Hilltop's destruction with Alden, Kelly, and Adam. Alden, who only reluctantly allowed Mary to join them, refuses Mary's advice or help with Adam, still angry at her for her role in the Whisperers. However, Alden ultimately allows Mary to take her nephew when he can't soothe the baby. Witnessing Mary's obvious affection for Adam, Alden softens his attitude towards her and asks after Frances while the group is resting. Mary explains how Adam had meant everything to Frances while Kelly realizes that Frances meant everything to Mary. Mary expresses remorse for killing her sister, stating that if she had to do it again she wouldn't have made the same choices.
Death and reanimation[]
In the episode "Walk With Us", a group of walkers attacks Mary, Alden, Kelly and Adam. As Alden, Kelly and a crying Adam hide in an abandoned car, Mary refuses to get in and instead draws the walkers towards her and away from the others with a scream. Mary is able to lead the walkers to a riverside where she kills them. However, while Mary is relaxing in the aftermath of her victory, Beta suddenly stabs her in the stomach. Mary coughs and pounds against Beta without success, refusing to join the Whisperers again as part of their horde. After Mary rips off half of his walker mask, Beta brutally drags his knife upwards, disemboweling Mary and killing her.
After Mary dies, Beta drags her corpse and lays her against a tree. Mary lays there dead with her eyes open while Beta waits for her to reanimate in order to lead her back to the Whisperers. After rising as a walker, Mary heads towards Beta, only to be put down by Alden with an arrow to the head. As Beta flees, Alden and Kelly are left mourning the loss of Mary.