As the first part of The Walking Dead‘s final season comes to a close, viewers have one question: Where’s Alden? What happened to the intrepid hero? Did he show up in an episode and we just missed him? Is he hiding out somewhere with Heath?
Warning: This article is relevant through The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 8: For Blood. However, it only has Alden-related spoilers.
Alden Has Been Missing for Far Too Long
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen Alden. In fact, we haven’t seen him since Season 11 Episode 3, “Hunted.” Alden had been severely wounded in a battle with the Reapers and he was slowing Maggie and Negan down in their pursuit of food. They find a church where they can rest, and Alden insists on staying there while Maggie and Negan continue their mission. Maggie doesn’t want to leave him at first, but Alden tells her that supplies are all that matters right now and they can’t let the community starve. He can’t let his child, Adam, starve, he adds. Maggie blames the situation, ultimately, on Negan, but decides that Alden is right. So they leave Alden with food and a knife to defend himself.
That was Episode 3 and now Episode 8 has aired. We still don’t know what happened to Alden. In fact, we haven’t even heard Maggie or Negan talk about Alden. He was left at a church that was fairly close to a cross that had “JUDAS” written on it, with a walker impaled to the cross. That was a little sketchy. But no one is even talking about Alden or wondering how he’s doing.
In Reddit discussions about Episode 8, fans couldn’t help but joke a little about the long-suffering Alden. One person wrote: “Shout out to Alden still chilling alone in the church rn.”
Some mentioned that Alden might be hanging out with Heath somewhere, since he’s been missing even longer.
It’s not clear just how long Alden has actually been alone. Some viewers are guessing it might be just a few days, even though it feels longer for those of us watching the episodes.
But even a few days is a long time for someone as close to death as Alden. Are they just going to find him anticlimactically dead of his wounds in the church? Hopefully he’s still alive, but wow it’s been a long time. As for the actor, Callan McAuliffe’s IMDb doesn’t show any scheduling conflicts right now, so it’s not likely from that.
Maybe Adopting Adam Is a Curse
There’s a whole Reddit thread suggesting that adopting Adam might actually curse people, and Alden is now a victim of that curse.
If Alden dies…adopting Adam might be a death curse. from thewalkingdead
On Twitter, people have shared all the times they thought Alden was coming back but didn’t. This one really hits close to home.
https://twitter.com/TWalkingDWorld/status/1444839078336385027
And people seem to be evenly divided on whether he’s alive or dead.
We have still yet to find out Alden’s fate. What are your predictions? #TheWalkingDead
— Abraham Ford (Parody) (@TheAbeFord) October 2, 2021
It is frustrating.
https://twitter.com/GouetLaetitia/status/1442197590477524997
For that matter, where’s Dog? Maybe he and Alden are hanging out together.
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