The Reapers

The Reapers
Pope and a group of Reapers
The Reapers masked
General
Type	Pre-Apocalypse Military Unit/Mercenaries Post Apocalypse Raiders/Hunters/Bandits/Cult
Status	Inactive
Leader(s)	Leah Shaw (Formerly) Brandon Carver (Second-in-Command, Formerly) Pope (Formerly)
Location	Meridian Unknown camp (Formerly)
Relationships
Allies	None
Enemies	The Coalition The Wardens
Appearances
Seen in Series	TV Series
Issue/Episode	"Home Sweet Home" to "No Other Way"

“

Fortitudo Saludis! ―The group's motto.

”

The Reapers are a group of hostile survivors introduced in Season 10 of AMC's The Walking Dead. They served as the primary antagonistic group of the episode "Home Sweet Home" and the first part of Season 11.

Overview

The Reapers are a relatively small, but cohesive group of survivors that prey upon other groups and settlements. Led by Pope, they attack their targets with frightening precision and ferocity, striking terror into the hearts of any survivors they might leave behind.

The Reapers demonstrate a cult-like devotion to their leader Pope, who himself is a very spiritual individual that follows his own, twisted interpretation of Christianity. Being a small group whose members mostly knew each other even before the apocalypse, the Reapers are shown to have quite strong attachments to one another, and display great sadness if they witness one of their own slain. They see their group as a surrogate family of sort, and refer to each other as "brother" and "sister". Because of their history, the Reapers have an obsession with fire, and will utilize it to initiate any new members they might recruit. Likewise, any member that betrays the group is punished by being burned alive.

What the Reapers lack in numbers, they more than make up for in skill, which allows them to target groups much larger than themselves. Each individual member of the Reapers has military training, allowing them to easily eliminate most targets they encounter in hand-to-hand combat. Additionally, members of the Reapers are shown to be extremely tough, able to shrug off stab wounds and even falls from great heights. Nonetheless, the Reapers are fully aware their smaller group size puts them at a disadvantage, so will often organize ambushes and utilize hit-and-run tactics instead of fighting larger groups head on. Only once they isolate their targets will they confront them directly. In combat, the Reapers often make use of throwing knives to deadly effect.

Pre-Apocalypse

Most of the men and women in the Reapers were U.S. soldiers fighting in Afghanistan prior to the Trials. Upon returning from war, many struggled to find jobs or deal with trauma, but the relationship between them remained strong. Many decided to become mercenaries.

Post-Apocalypse

At some point following the outbreak, Pope and his men took shelter from a napalm bombing run, presumably from Operation Cobalt. Holing up in a church outside of town, Pope realized that none of his men nor himself were hurt. Believing them to be blessed by God, Pope formed the Reapers.

The group gradually began attacking survivor settlements and slaughtering innocent survivors on Pope's orders, despite these groups having done nothing to the Reapers. The group was heavily armed with military-grade weaponry and utilized stealth and ambush tactics in attacking and hunting their victims. They appear to all wear metal masks to conceal their faces, as well as hoods and are armed with a variety of weapons. Additionally, each individual member is seen donning a necklace with a handcrafted sigil, signifying their allegiance with the Reapers.

According to Leah Shaw, at some point the Reapers suffered a massive attack from a herd that caused Leah to get separated from them and her son, Matthew, to get bitten and die. Leah remained separated from the Reapers for at least a couple of years until they eventually found her again and she rejoined the group.

At some point, the Reapers discovered a location known as Meridian and attacked Maggie Rhee's group who resided there despite having no previous conflicts with her group, forcing her and her surviving group members to flee back to Virginia, in which the Reapers followed them to finish them off due to them being "marked" by Pope.

Season 10

"Home Sweet Home"

One member of the Reapers appears in this episode. He is responsible for killing members of Maggie's group, by setting their rendezvous point ablaze.

As Daryl and Maggie try to find the remaining members of her group, the Reaper stalks them. After Maggie is reunited with her people, the Reaper takes shots at them, killing Gus, Ainsley and Maya. Maggie tries to sneak up on him, but he hides and she only finds his rifle.

As she searches, the Reaper, wearing camouflage, lunges at Maggie with a knife, but she dodges and stabs him in the chest. Despite this, he shrugs off the injury, pushes her to the ground, and pulls the knife from his chest. He tries to kill Maggie by throwing the knife, but she ducks out of the way in time. As the Reaper advances towards her, Maggie backs up into a trap and is strung up on a tree. Before the Reaper can kill her, Daryl shoots him in the side with his crossbow, before charging him. The Reaper once again shrugs off the injury and effortlessly tosses Daryl into a tree, knocking him out. This buys Maggie enough time to free herself.

Just as she is about to face the Reaper once more, he is shot in the chest with an arrow, and quickly surrounded by Kelly, Elijah, Cole, and the remaining members of Maggie's group. Maggie furiously questions the Reaper about his identity and his group, but he says nothing. Maggie threatens to kill him, as she knows he is alone, and inquires about his motive for attacking the group. The Reaper, knowing there is no escape for him, calmly tosses his weapon to the ground and simply says "Pope marked you", before pulling a pin from a grenade and blowing himself up as the others dive for cover.

"Find Me"

In a flashback, Leah opens up to Daryl about her old squad that was her family and the loss of her son in a massive herd attack that had separated Leah from the Reapers.

Season 11

"Acheron: Part I"

Maggie describes the Reapers' attack on Meridian which is now under their control. According to Maggie, her group only knew two things about them: "they come at night and by the time you see them, you're already dead." However, Montanio's lone attack has revealed something else about them: there aren't that many Reapers. In order to save the starving Alexandria, Maggie assembles a mission to defeat the Reapers and retake Meridian and its abundant food supply.

"Acheron: Part II"

Maggie's group are stopped in their tracks by a horrific sight: dozens of bodies strung up by their ankles and hanging from roadside trees. A bolt suddenly strikes Roy in the face, instantly killing him. A bladed weapon is then flung from the darkness, striking Cole in the thigh, cutting his hand fully. The group immediately flees for cover as more bolts and other projectiles come flying out of the darkness. As the group scrambles for cover, they see a group of Reapers advancing towards them.

"Hunted"

As the Reapers unleash their attack, the group scatters into the woods. Alden, Negan, and Gabriel are injured, while Cole is killed by one of the Reapers. Duncan, on the other hand, is stabbed with several throwing knives. Maggie is briefly ensnared by a whip, but Elijah comes to her aid and frees her, only to be ensnared himself and dragged off. Alone, Maggie observes her environment. Sensing a Reaper nearby, she throws Elijah's sickle at him, but misses. This, however, gives her enough time to escape.

Michael and Bossie proceed to stalk Maggie for miles, tracking her through the night to a mall where they eventually ambush her and Alden, who also sought refuge at the mall. Bossie attacks Alden, while Michael initially overpowers Maggie, but she is able to stab him in the head with a glass bottle. Negan finishes him off with a blow from his crowbar. Maggie flicks her knife at Bossie, hitting him in the back, but despite being wounded, he manages to fling a flashbang and escape along with Michael's body after it explodes and stuns Maggie and Negan.

Gabriel catches up to the Reaper he'd been tracking. Nicholls is grievously wounded and reciting a prayer. He greets Gabriel in a friendly manner and tells him not to be afraid, but Gabriel assures him he isn't. The Reaper goes on to declare he has been blessed, and asks Gabriel to pray for him. Furious, Gabriel points out Nicholls tried to kill his friends, but the latter retorts that they tried to kill him in turn. He asks Gabriel again to pray for him, stating that even his enemies deserve that much. Disappointed at Gabriel's continued refusal, Nicholls says that the thought Gabriel was a man of God. Gabriel coldly replies that God isn't here anymore, before killing the Reaper.

"Rendition"

Daryl chases Carver through the woods and engages in a brief fight with him. When Daryl falls into danger, Dog attacks Carver, biting him until Carver tosses him aside. With two other Reapers joining Carver, Daryl runs off with two of the Reapers following and the third taking an interest in Dog.

The next day, Daryl is followed by the Reaper that had taken an interest in Dog and eventually finds the Reaper with his pet. The Reaper reveals herself to be Leah Shaw, Dog's old owner who had disappeared without a trace some time before. Leah, Carver and several other Reapers capture Daryl and take him to Meridian where the Reapers have recovered Agatha's body and strung her up over the gates.

Leah interrogates Daryl, revealing that her disappearance was because the Reapers, the family that she had told him about, had returned for her and she willingly left with them. The Reapers torture Daryl for information on Maggie and her group, but Daryl continues to insist that he'd simply met them on the road a week before and doesn't know anything. The Reapers have also captured Frost and torture him for information. During this time, Bossie returns with Michael Turner who had died of his injuries from Maggie and Negan despite Bossie's best efforts. After Leah opens up to him about Turner's death, Daryl reluctantly reveals that the group's leadership is a woman, a tall skinny guy who never shuts up and a priest who carries a shotgun. However, he claims that the group speaks in code since Daryl is an outsider that they don't trust and that they have greater numbers than the 15 Reapers at Meridian.

Leah then brings the information that Daryl had given her to Pope, suggesting that Daryl could be a good addition to the Reapers since they need the manpower with Turner dead and Nicholls and Montanio still missing. However, Pope is furious that they had to lose a day since Leah wanted to go on a fishing expedition with an old boyfriend. Leah insists that Daryl could be useful and that he's a lot like them, but Pope is doubtful. After Leah states that she has chosen the Reapers over anything that she might've had with Daryl in the past and that Daryl can be trusted, Pope decides to see for himself. However, after Leah sends Carver, Bossie and Wells out, they lock her and Daryl in and set the cabin on fire. Daryl manages to break a window and he and Leah escape outside where they find Pope and the rest of the Reapers watching them. The fire having been a test, Pope and the Reapers welcome Daryl into the fold.

After Daryl passes his test, Pope interrogates him and Daryl admits that he no longer believes in God, but rather himself which Pope calls a mistake since Daryl isn't God. Pouring them a drink, Pope explains the history of the Reapers, from them serving together in Afghanistan, to them becoming mercenaries, their experiences after the outbreak began and how they had all miraculously survived Operation Cobalt unharmed. Pope compares their survival to the test that he had put Daryl through - a literal Baptism by Fire that Daryl had come out of completely unharmed.

Pope and Daryl join the Reapers who are eating around a campfire and Pope has Bossie give Daryl some food. Pope tells everyone that Bossie had walked 10 miles carrying Turner on his back which Bossie states that anyone would've done. Pointing out that Bossie's wounds are all on his back, Pope expresses doubt about Bossie's story that he was with Turner facing the enemy and states that it's human nature to run in fear, but divine strength to face that fear head on and risk everything for someone else like Daryl did when he ensured that Leah got out of the fire first. Believing that Bossie had abandoned Turner to die, Pope burns him to death in the fire as a punishment.

"On the Inside"

In Meridian, Carver tortures Frost and demands to know where his people are. Frost refuses to talk. Pope orders Daryl to take a turn interrogating Carver. Daryl puts Frost in a chokehold and orders him to give up his friends' location. Frost still refuses. Daryl chops off Frost's finger and again demands to know the location of his friends. Frost finally reveals the location of the supply depot. Pope dispatches Leah to scout the location with a crew of Reapers.

Daryl, Leah, Carver, and a crew of Reapers approach the supply depot. Daryl quietly shakes a hanging telephone wire to warn Maggie of their arrival. The Reapers burst into the supply depot and search the house. No one is there. Leah orders them to search the entire town. The Reapers search another house. Leah finds some wet, bloody bandages, indicating someone was recently there. Daryl notices a trap door under a rug and quietly slides the rug over the door. He offers to track Maggie's group outside. Carver suspects something and quarrels with Daryl. Leah sends Carver upstairs to sweep the rooms one more time and warns Daryl not to anger Carver. Maggie, Negan, Gabriel, and Elijah listen from the basement.

Coming up with nothing, Daryl and Carver argue again, with Daryl criticizing the Reapers' plan of attack and slyly incorporates intel about the Reapers as he talks, knowing that Maggie's group is listening. Carver accuses Daryl of being disloyal. Daryl admits that the only reason he joined the Reapers is because he cares about Leah, but says he will follow Pope out of fear. Carver notices the trap door and opens it. The basement is empty. Maggie's group quietly sneaks out of the basement and escapes. The Reapers return to Meridian. Carver tells Pope that Maggie's group got away. Pope reveals that he continued to interrogate Frost after they left and got all the information he needed. They see Frost tied to a post: he is now a walker. Pope confers privately with Carver as they head inside. Leah looks at Daryl.

"Promises Broken"

Washington and Ancheta return from their scout mission and inform Pope that they couldn't find Maggie's group. Pope screams at his subordinates for failing to find Maggie's group until Leah puts herself between him and the others to take the blame. Pope angrily orders Leah and Daryl to go scout again. While walking alone, Daryl begins asking Leah about the Reapers' history; Leah says they took Meridian, justifying it since they needed a place to stay, and that they are only hunting Maggie so she doesn't try to take revenge. Leah confides in Daryl that she sees Pope as a father figure and that his recent behavior is unusual, but Daryl is privately unconvinced.

The two come across a lone survivor, who promises that he's alone and is looking for supplies for his sick wife. Leah asks Pope what to do with him over the radio, and Pope orders them to kill him and his family. The survivor leads Leah and Daryl to his hideout, where his sick wife and son are. Leah tells the man to leave with his son and never return, and he obliges as Daryl kills his wife out of mercy. Leah tells Daryl she will tell Pope he killed the family to improve his standing. Daryl tries to tell Leah something, but they are ordered to immediately return to Meridian.

"For Blood"

Maggie, Negan, Gabriel and Elijah lead their herd to Meridian where they are quickly spotted by the Reapers. Daryl suggests that he leads the herd a couple of miles away, but Pope sends Paul Wells instead. As Wells leads the walkers into the nearby woods, more walkers suddenly approach from the other direction. As Wells fights off the walkers, Negan and Maggie suddenly attack and stab him before leaving Wells to be devoured by the herd. When Wells fails to respond or return, Pope reveals that sending him out was a test to see whether or not Maggie was leading the attack.

That night, Maggie's group leads the herd back to Meridian, but they run into a minefield set between the gates and the road. Although the minefield destroys many walkers, the vast majority of the herd is able to push through and Daryl notices the disguised Maggie and Gabriel splitting off from the rest of the herd while Negan and Elijah continue to lead the walkers. Despite getting injured by shrapnel from some of the mines, Negan and Elijah are able to push through to the gate. Pretending to have been sent to help patrol the perimeter, Daryl kills Powell and breaks open the food storage shed. With Powell's death getting rid of the only guard on that portion of the wall, Maggie and Gabriel are able to break through a part of the wall and into the part of Meridian where the useless food is dumped. Maggie sends Gabriel into a building to retrieve a sniper rifle while she heads off on her own.

As the herd approaches the wall, Pope has Ancheta ready the hwacha which will be able to eliminate most of the walkers, leaving the Reapers able to eliminate the rest. While alone together, Daryl reveals his true allegiance to Leah Shaw and attempts to convince her to help him before they are interrupted by the arrival of Pope and Ancheta. Before the hwacha can be fired, Maggie hotwires a truck parked in the garage and rams it through the gate, allowing her friends and the herd in. Deaver attacks a fleeing Maggie, but Gabriel kills him with his sniper rifle and forces a couple of other Reapers to retreat. As the Reapers fight off the walkers, Pope orders the hwacha fired into the courtyard regardless of the fact that his people are still down there. With Pope refusing to listen to reason or call the Reapers back before firing, Leah joins Daryl in attacking, killing Pope herself while Daryl kills Ancheta and cuts the fuse to the hwacha.

However, after Pope's death, Leah blames his murder on Daryl to the rest of the Reapers, having killed Pope to protect her family since Pope was more worried with winning then his people. As Daryl flees and joins Maggie, Negan and Elijah in fighting the walkers and Reapers in the courtyard below, Leah has the hwacha prepared once again and orders her people to pull back. Once the courtyard is cleared of the Reapers, Leah has the hwacha fired at the herd and Maggie's group in an attempt to kill them all.

"No Other Way"

After the destruction of the herd by the hwacha, Maggie's group manages to escape alive. Fisher gets into a fight with Maggie. Despite getting the jump on her, Maggie ends up pushing him into the hwacha’s line of fire. One of the explosives hits him and blows him up. Carver looks for them and receives a radio order from Leah to kill everyone that he finds.

Austin attempts to shoot Gabriel, but Daryl stops him and engages in a fight with him. Austin ends up getting stabbed in the stomach and strangled by Daryl to silence him after he tries to run away. With the rest of the Reapers closing in on them, Daryl covers his mouth and suffocates Austin as well until he dies. He hides just as Leah enters the room and discovers Austin's body. She states that she will not lose anyone else as Daryl quietly escapes the room.

Gabriel encounters Mancea and draws his machete. Mancea predicts that Gabriel will not kill him, since he did not kill him at the graveyard. Gabriel is surprised to learn that Mancea had known of his presence at the graveyard. Mancea asks if Gabriel listens to God anymore and urges Gabriel to renew his faith. Gabriel hears a noise behind the door then stabs Mancea in the gut.

Carver chases Maggie down a hall. Negan and Elijah ambush him. Elijah angrily confronts Brandon over his murder of Elijah's sister which Brandon nonchalantly responds to with no remorse. Brandon proves to be more than a match for the three, but after Elijah creates a distraction, Negan smacks Carver with a heavy bell. Maggie gets ready to deal a fatal blow to Carver. Daryl intervenes and insists they use Carver as leverage, despite Elijah's vow to avenge his sister. Daryl radios Leah and proposes they talk.

Daryl, Maggie, Negan, and Elijah meet with Leah and the remaining Reapers. Daryl offers to release Carver if the Reapers leave Meridian, but vows to kill them if they return. Leah rejects his offer and reveals that a sniper will gun them down if they don't release Carver. Daryl reluctantly lets Carver go. Gabriel shoots Carver in the leg and informs Leah via walkie that he killed her sniper. Leah accepts Daryl's terms and starts to leave with two Reapers.

As Leah, Boone and Washington leave, Elijah reminds Maggie of her promise to exact revenge upon Brandon and the rest of the Reapers for the massacre of all of their people. Maggie shoots and kills Boone and Washington while Leah gets away. When Maggie tries to shoot Brandon, she discovers that the gun is out of ammunition, giving Brandon time to grab a knife to defend himself. However, Maggie grabs one of Elijah's kamas, kicks the knife from Brandon's hand and drives the kama into his chest, killing Brandon and getting revenge for all of the people that the Reapers had killed.

After the defeat of the Reapers, Maggie returns to the church where she had been forced to leave Alden behind. Inside, Maggie finds and puts down a zombified Reaper, only to discover that he and Alden had killed each other and then reanimated. Maggie sadly puts down her friend and buries him nearby.

"Acts of God"

Leah seeks revenge for the deaths of the Reapers, hunting Maggie with the help of Lance Hornsby and the Commonwealth Army. Leah succeeds in killing Marco and capturing Maggie, taking her to Leah's Cabin. However, Daryl kills Leah before she can kill Maggie, bringing a final end to the Reapers.

Members

• Leah Shaw (Former Leader/Second-in-Command)
• Brandon Carver (Former Second-in-Command)
• Ira Washington
• Boone
• Jenson
• Mancea (Priest)
• Austin
• Fisher
• Pope (Former Leader)
• Deaver
• Ancheta (Engineer)
• Marcus Powell
• Paul Wells
• Bossie
• Michael Turner
• Nicholls
• Montanio
• Matthew Shaw
• Reaper 1
• Reaper 2
• Reaper 3
• Reaper 4
• Reaper 5
• Dog's Mother

Formerly

• Daryl Dixon
• Dog

Killed Victims

The following is a list of victims the Reapers have killed:

• Matthew Shaw (Before Reanimation or Zombified)
• Ms. Adams
• Leo
• Teresa (Alive)
• Josephine (Alive and Zombified)
• Jen
• Billy
• Matty
• Gus
• Ainsley
• Maya
• Montanio (Suicide)
• Reaper 5 (Alive)
• Roy
• Cole
• Duncan
• Agatha (Before Reanimation or Zombified)
• Bossie
• Frost (Alive)
• Paul Wells (Indirectly Caused)
• Pope
• Fisher (Accidental)
• Alden (Alive)
• Many unnamed Wardens
• Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people

Deaths

• Matthew Shaw
• Dog's Mother
• Montanio
• Michael Turner
• Nicholls
• Reaper 5 (Alive)
• Bossie
• Paul Wells
• Marcus Powell
• Ancheta
• Deaver
• Pope
• Fisher
• Austin
• Mancea
• Jenson
• Boone
• Ira Washington
• Brandon Carver
• Reaper 1
• Reaper 2
• Reaper 3
• Reaper 4 (Alive and Zombified)
• Leah Shaw
• Many unnamed members (Pre- and Post-Apocalypse)

Appearances

TV Series

Season 10

• "Home Sweet Home"
• "Find Me" ^(Flashback)

Season 11

• "Acheron: Part II"
• "Hunted"
• "Rendition"
• "On the Inside"
• "Promises Broken"
• "For Blood"
• "No Other Way"

Trivia

• As of "Acts of God", the Reapers are completely extinct with the death of Leah Shaw.
• The Reapers are the last major antagonistic group introduced in the TV Series.
  • They are also the last group to go defunct.