Alpha dies after the beginning of the Whisperer War, as opposed to the comics where Beta initiated the War as revenge for her assassination.
Beta’s unmasking took place after the end of the Whisperer War in the comics, whereas here, it happens during it.
And Then John Was a Zombie: Mary is killed and then reanimates thanks to Beta. Later, a bitten Earl reanimates before being put down by Judith. Finally, Alpha’s decapitated head reanimates.
Asshole Victim: Alpha’s only redeeming trait was her twisted love for her daughter, but ultimately, she was a murderous psychopath who abused her child her entire life and fully deserved Negan’s betrayal.
Bad Boss: Beta murders the Whisperer who recognizes him from before the apocalypse.
Bungled Suicide: Played with. While Earl does die, it's unclear if it was by his own hand or from the walker bite. Either way, he failed to do enough damage to his brain to prevent himself from resurrecting and has to be put down by Judith.
Magna disappeared at the end of “Squeeze” when she was inside the mine when it collapsed.
Aaron is particularly steamed about Negan’s defection to the Whisperers after their mission together back in “Ghosts”.
No one was able to deduce who freed Negan during the timespan of “Silence the Whisperers”. This episode confirms that Carol was the one who set him free to kill Alpha.
Character Death: Mary is killed by Beta, Earl dies after having been bitten and is put down by Judith, and Alpha is killed and decapitated by Negan.
The Comically Serious: As usual, Beta’s stone-faced reaction to Negan’s heckling at the beginning of the episode is pretty funny to watch.
Eugene sympathizes with Carol’s destructive desire to get what she wants. When he was introduced, he had been lying to Abraham’s group for some time claiming he was a scientist with a cure for the walker plague, and ultimately numerous people died on his wild goose chase before he came clean in Season 5’s “Self-Help”.
Earl says he’s going to be reunited with his wife and son when he dies. Tammy was among Alpha’s victims in the pike massacre in Season 9’s “The Calm Before”, and his son Ken died in the Season 9 premiere “A New Beginning”.
Negan slits Alpha’s throat when she has her guard down, much like how Rick got him back in the Season 8 finale “Wrath”.
Cruel and Unusual Death: A Hilltop defender lost his arm (and it almost looks like it got torn off), was heavily burned, chewed up by walkers, and was left to writhe in agony until the next morning when Negan finally put him down.
Death by Adaptation: In the comics, Earl survived all the way to the Distant Finale. Here, he perishes during the Whisperer War, which was the penultimate major story arc of the comic series.
Defiant to the End: Mary fights tooth and nail even after having been run through by Beta’s knife, and even rips some of his mask off before dying.
Disc-One Final Boss: Alpha. She is killed before the last quarter of episodes of Season 10, but Beta and the rest of the Whisperer horde are still out there.
Driven to Suicide: Earl is forced to kill himself since he was bitten while escaping from Hilltop. However, he was unfortunately unsuccessful in destroying his brain, forcing Judith to put him down when he reanimates.
Et Tu, Brute?: Lydia is initially happy to see Negan, but is horrified when she sees his Whisperer mask and when he attacks and restrains her. Thankfully, he’s not truly on Alpha’s side and she’s never in any actual danger.
Eye Scream: Earl kills himself by forcing his head into a dislodged spike, going through his eye socket, in an attempt to destroy his brain so he won’t reanimate.
Five-Second Foreshadowing: Adding onto the Foreshadowing examples below, when Alpha is reaching for the doorknob to the cabin, Negan can be seen drawing the knife he’s about to use to slit her throat.
In the opening, Earl is already grabbing his arm where he will later reveal he has been bitten.
There were a few hints towards Negan’s true nature leading up to the episode’s ending.
In “What It Always Is”, Negan never identified Brandon as the one who freed him from his cell and was disgusted by his excitement at his escape, implying he didn’t escape just to save his own ass.
In “Squeeze”, Negan wonders if Alpha seducing him is a "praying mantis" situation where she cuts off his head afterward.
In “Morning Star”, Negan advocated getting the survivors to submit to Alpha’s command, and seemed to not have the best aim when firing his flaming arrow.
In this episode, he puts down a dying Hilltop soldier, despite probably having already been instructed to not mercy kill the dying by the other Whisperers. He also tries to tell Aaron “I’m not...” before the walkers interrupt. Finally, he seems to be testing Alpha one last time to see if she’ll go through with killing Lydia, and when she fails, it seals her fate (though he was going to kill her anyway since he didn’t actually lead her to Lydia).
Friendship Moment: Eugene and Carol have their first real conversation together after spending roughly half of the series on the show at the same time, in which Eugene admits he sympathizes with Carol’s desires and she encourages him to go meet Stephanie.
Good All Along: After seemingly pulling a Redemption Rejection, Negan is revealed to have been plotting to kill Alpha on Carol’s orders.
Heroic BSoD: Judith is in one of these after killing her first human, a Whisperer, during the battle; and then being forced to kill the reanimated Earl. While he was far from the first walker she’s had to kill, he was likely the first reanimated friend she’s had to put down.
Hope Spot: The defenders of Hilltop appear to have held back the horde with a barricade of slain walker corpses, but the Whisperers manage to bring down one of the walls elsewhere, forcing the survivors to flee.
When Mary draws the group of walkers away from Adam, Kelly, and Alden, she actually manages to kill every single one of them...but when she stops to catch her breath, Beta comes out of the shadows and attacks her.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Beta kills Mary this way, stabbing her through the stomach and then bringing his knife up to her heart to finish her. Alpha mentions early on that the Whisperers aim to kill their victims this way, since destroying their brain prevents them from adding them to their horde.
Karmic Death: Alpha killed ten survivors by decapitating them after having gained their trust and slipping between their ranks. Ultimately, she meets her demise this way; Negan got into her group’s ranks, earned her trust, and got close enough to betray and kill her, and then decapitated her.
Mercy Kill: Negan gives one to a mangled, barely living Hilltop soldier. Alpha chastises him for it since it means the soldier doesn’t join her horde.
The Mole: Negan is revealed to have been tasked with infiltrating the Whisperers by Carol to kill Alpha.
Eugene’s concerned look as he watches Carol apathetically swatting away a walker may bring to mind her comics death, in which she allowed herself to be eaten by a walker.
Negan holds the dying Alpha in his arms as she looks up at him, recreating the cover of comic issue #156, the issue this episode adapts her death from.
Off with His Head!: Negan decapitates Alpha after killing her, and presents her head to Carol.
Papa Wolf: Both Ezekiel and Earl devote themselves to rescuing the children during the battle, but ultimately Earl is the one who ends up guarding them.
Party Scattering: The survivors are forced to flee in small groups separated from each other. Among the groups are:
Daryl and Rosita leading a large group that includes Jerry, Nabila, and Diane.
Aaron and a wounded Luke.
Carol, Eugene, Magna, and Yumiko.
Earl with Judith, RJ, Gracie, Jerry and Nabila’s children, and other survivors’ children.
Kelly, Alden, Mary, and Adam.
Lydia is on her own when Negan finds her, while Ezekiel was knocked out and covered by a piece of metal that hid him from the walkers and the Whisperers.
Pet the Dog: When Negan tells Alpha the story of how his wife died from cancer, Alpha tells him that death set her free and that he should be grateful...which sounds pretty bad out of context, but Alpha clearly believes what she's saying and is gentle in consoling him.
Promotion to Parent: Earl has faith that Alden will take good care of Adam after he dies.
The Reveal: Negan has been a mole within the Whisperers upon Carol’s orders to assassinate Alpha.
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Earl kills himself by driving his head into a spike so that he won’t reanimate and endanger the kids in the cabin with him. Unfortunately, he failed to destroy his brain, and he reanimates later when the kids are all asleep. Thankfully, the very competent Judith is there to put him down, but nonetheless, poor Earl failed at what he was trying to do.
Stepford Smiler: Earl tries to put on a brave face for the kids and assures them they’ll be fine, but as soon as he leaves their sight, he lets his fatigue and despair show as he is revealed to be dying of a walker bite.
Together in Death: Earl tells Judith that when he dies, he’ll be with his late wife Tammy, and his son Ken.
We Have Reserves: Defied by Alpha. She mentions that as many walkers were used and slain in the battle, the Whisperers need to gather and replenish their horde’s ranks; this is why she chews out Negan for smashing a Hilltop soldier’s head to kill him. It doesn’t stop Beta from later killing a random Whisperer who recognizes him from before the apocalypse, though.
A very much alive Magna appearing amongst the horde invading Hilltop.
Lydia breaking free of her restraints and running for the door just as Alpha is about to open the door to the shed she’s being held in... only for Lydia to open the door and see a VERY different location than her mother and Negan. And then Negan follows up by slitting Alpha’s throat.
Wham Episode: Hilltop Colony has fallen after being a base of operations for many of the survivors for the past four seasons. Much of the Whisperers’ horde was used up in the battle. Magna is alive, while Connie is still MIA. Supporting characters Earl and Mary die, and most critically, Negan beheads Alpha, having been ordered to assassinate her by Carol this whole time.
The Unreveal: We don’t learn his old name (nor would it be significant to us since he is a fictional celebrity), but Beta’s face is partially revealed when Mary tears off some of his mask, and a Whisperer recognizes him as a former celebrity.
You Can't Go Home Again: Hilltop is rendered uninhabitable due to the fall of its walls and the burning of Barrington House.
