| “ | It's a project that involves studying live test subjects through death to further research on reanimation. That's what I've been hiding. My test subject's going on a full eight hours without reanimating. This could be the step forward we've been waiting for, and with Dr. Bennett helping me openly and passing on that knowledge to his daughter, think of the progress we could make!
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Dr. Lyla Belshaw (née unknown) is a main character and an antagonist, as well as a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead: World Beyond. She is a scientist for the Civic Republic of Philadelphia.
Overview[]
Lyla is described as a mysterious figure operating in the shadows on behalf of the cause she believes in.[1] On the surface, Lyla seems to be a kind, intelligent, and well-meaning researcher of the Civic Republic of Philadelphia. She did genuinely seem to care for Leo Bennett whom she entered a relationship with and opened up to him about her family's deaths. However deep down, Lyla is shown to actually be a manipulative, deceitful, and cold-hearted woman who is willing to kill people for the sake of her experiments.
Lyla plays a huge role in the genocide of the Campus Colony and Omaha. Having created an intra-cerebral injection of algae-derived chemical which showed promise of delaying the time between death and reanimation, the thousands of people living in the Campus Colony ended up being used as test subjects for her experiments. While Lyla herself does seem to feel some guilt for her despicable actions, having at one point questioned the Civic Republic why they had to wipe out the Campus Colony, she ultimately still chose to go along with it after being given a warning and remained unemotional about the thousands of deaths that she caused. Later, Lyla experiments on a former CRM soldier, Barca, who rants at Lyla about how their both going to Hell for their horrible crimes. Lyla remains unemotional and simply silences Barca before killing him for her experiments.
In the end, Lyla shows that she ultimately only cares about herself. She betrays Leo by telling Jadis that he and his daughters stole the missing vial in order to get on her good side. However, Lyla would find that she is expendable in the CRM's eyes. After Barca fails to not reanimate after over eight hours, Jadis chooses to have Lyla killed and be replaced by Dr. Bennett. In her last moments, Lyla dies a karmic death, dying in the room she killed many test subjects all while begging to be saved as she is bitten by one of her previous victims.
Pre-Apocalypse[]
Location Unknown[]
Prior to the outbreak, it is know she had a husband and daughter. Furthermore, she was a scientist for a big pharmaceutical company where she tested their products on animals.
Post-Apocalypse[]
New York[]
Early on in the apocalypse, her daughter Mia was bitten by what she believed at the time to be just a man. Mia got sick so her husband Kevin decided to stay with her during the night. At some point, Mia died and reanimated and bit her father thus killing him too. Lyla couldn't bear to put them down so she let them roam inside her daughter's room. One day, a bookshelf fell on top of both walkers. Lyla managed to subdue the pair afterwards and began to experiment on them. That being said, it is unknown if they were ever put down for good.
At some point in the apocalypse, Lyla joined a vast civilization known as the Civic Republic of Philadelphia where she was appointed as a scientist and transferred to a research facility in New York state.
Season 1[]
"The Wrong End of a Telescope"[]
At the Civic Republic Research Facility, Lyla records notes on her reanimated colleague Dr. Samuel Abbott. Lyla notes that he has displayed no detectable responses to psychological stimuli and that necrotic plasma and brain fluid are being drawn for further testing which will be compared to tests performed before and immediately following Samuel's reanimation. Lyla plans to begin the climate variation tests the next day and notes his identity as Dr. Samuel Abbot of Portland, Oregon before having the next test subject brought out as she enjoys her lunch of a large sandwich. While the next test subject is being prepared for her, Lyla takes a brief look at a picture frame on her desk where she is standing happily with Samuel, Dr. Leo Bennett, and another scientist.
"Shadow Puppets"[]
Lyla is alone at her desk looking at the photograph of her, Leo Bennett, Samuel Abbott, and the other scientist before she takes out Leo's manuscript from her desk drawer. She opens the manuscript to find a note from Iris and Hope to their father telling him to finish saving the world and to hurry up and come home. Lyla smiles at it before she receives a phone call from Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Kublek. Lyla tells Kublek that she's still working on what Kublek is asking about, but it will be taken care of by the time "they" arrive. Lyla confirms that Leo and his security detail will not be a problem before hanging up. Lyla closes the book and looks at the picture again before looking back out of the window at her test subjects.
"In This Life"[]
In a flashback, a distracted Leo sits at dinner with Lyla. Leo apologizes for being so scatterbrained and admits that he just thinking about the girls. Lyla reassures Leo that he doesn't have to apologize for missing his daughters and Leo states that he gets lost thinking about what they're doing. Lyla recognizes just how much Leo loves his daughter and tells him that that is just one of the things that she loves about him. Lyla suggests that Leo pretend that he's with Hope and Iris now and asks what he would be doing with them on a Tuesday night at 8:30. After thinking about it for a moment, Leo is sure that Iris is helping someone or working on her assignment from school while he's sure that Hope is with friends getting into some kind of trouble.
Later, Lyla gets up to get more food and Leo asks her if she had ever heard from Dr. Samuel Abbott since he went back to Portland. After a moment's hesitation, Lyla claims not to have heard a word from him, stating that they were sad to lose him. Leo comments on how sudden Samuel's departure was since before Samuel left, he wouldn't stop talking about how much he loved it at the research facility and the opportunity to mold the best young scientific minds. Lyla claims that Samuel had gotten word that his sister wasn't well and quickly changes the subject by giving Leo his next helping of lentils. Lyla realizes from Leo's reaction that her cooking really is terrible, but he promises that she's still incredible. The two kiss, promise each other no more lies and laugh.
After dinner, Leo and Lyla share a glass of wine and Leo suggests that Hope might want to be a vintner, having found a few books on winemaking in her room before he left which Leo realizes could just be Hope wanting to drink booze. Leo begins to explain how he knew how brilliant Hope really is. When Hope is 6 years old, Leo walks into the study to find processor chips and circuitry everywhere and Hope working on dismantling a computer. While Leo thinks at first that Hope is just being disruptive to try to get his attention, he was wrong. Hope was just doing what Hope does and being curious. When Leo walks in the next day, he discovers that Hope had put the whole computer back together by herself. Leo later tells his wife Kari that this isn't something that normal kids do and Hope is extraordinary. Lyla jokes that Hope will make some amazing wine while Leo suggests that Hope will save the world.
In the present, in front of the darkened mirrored window of her lab, Lyla practices telling Leo that he will be reunited with Hope in 24 hours, reiterating that she cares about the two of them, their future and everyone's future which is what this is all about. Lyla explains that when Leo had told her about Hope's gifts and genius months ago which he hadn't even told Hope about, he'd trusted Lyla, but she had told the CRM. Lyla feels that she had to as they need generations of great minds and while Leo was frustrated with Hope and she was frustrated with herself, Hope is safe and she's seen the world now and she is ready. Lyla believes that to bring back the world, it will take the brightest minds working together and Hope is one of those minds. According to all of the models, if progress isn't made in the next 30 years, human life will be gone from the planet and this is bigger than all of them. Lyla is willing to live with Leo hating her so that the world can live. Grabbing her things, Lyla leaves her lab.
At dinner, Lyla is distracted and Leo asks what's on her mind. However, Lyla hesitates and tells Leo that it's nothing. Leo opens up to Lyla, telling her that this place is important to them both and the Civic Republic's civilian government is doing great things, but Leo has his suspicions about the military. Will's scouting expedition with the CRM was due back a few days ago and although Lyla tries to dismiss it, Leo questions how Lyla can be sure that Samuel went to visit a sister and he thinks it's possible that they are being lied to. Leo has an idea of how they can know for certain, but he needs Lyla's help.
Season 2[]
"Foothold"[]
Lying in bed with Lyla, Leo wonders if he should even ask Hope questions or just let her tell him when she's ready. Leo is worried about what Hope saw out there and had to do before learning about the deaths of everyone in the Campus Colony. Lyla reassures Leo that Hope will be there which is what's important and that, by this time tomorrow, the CRM will have Iris and Felix at the research facility too, safe, just like Hope. Leo promises Lyla that he does want his daughters to know about them, but when the time is something close to right which Lyla says will be soon. Lyla becomes upset, telling Leo that she can't stop thinking about how the CRM wouldn't have gone after Hope if Lyla hadn't mentioned her to Sergeant Mills. Lyla claims that she should've known as "no useful data here goes to waste." Leo suggests that, from a more scientific standpoint, Lyla's indiscretions saved his daughters' lives. If Hope and Iris hadn't left home when they did, they would've died when the Campus Colony was destroyed. Leo and Lyla kiss before she leaves.
Later, as she sits on a bench outside, Hope is approached by Lyla who recognizes her from a picture on Leo's desk. As they shake hands, Hope notices Lyla's hand tattoo of the symbol for the Alliance of the Three. Lyla tells Hope that while Leo was supposed to meet Hope, he is waiting for an update on Iris and she offers to take Hope on a tour. Looking at a security guard using a keycard to enter a building and Lyla's own keycard, Hope accepts her offer, asking Lyla to show her everything.
Walking into the lab area, Hope asks what the facility was before the world turned and Lyla tells her that it was a government-funded educational research lab housing experiments in dark matter and neutrino physics. Before that, it was an old diamond mine and the shafts and rock stability made it ideal for experiments that required shielding from the sun's cosmic radiation. Now, the CRM is using the labs for their own purposes. Down here, the CRM scientists are laying down the foundation to one day find out why the world turned. Hope asks if that means that they're trying to find a cure and, as they walk past scientists performing various experiments, Lyla confirms that pinpointing what inside of them makes them turn, whether it be fungal, bacterial, viral or something else entirely is one part of it, but it's also about trying to find a way to get rid of the ones who have already turned. By investigating and hopefully discovering what keeps the dead animated, what inside them slows their decomposition rate and feeds their appetites, the scientists hope to one day find a way to turn off those triggers, eliminate the dead as a threat and eradicate them from the Earth. Hope wonders if that's even possible and Lyla tells her that she wouldn't be here if she didn't think that it was. Hope thinks that it sounds a little far-fetched and Lyla calls it a big picture approach: they teach her everything that she needs to know and as she researches and investigates, Hope teaches in turn. The knowledge gets passed on to the next generation and so on until a solution is found. Approaching Leo's office, Hope takes interest in a door that is marked as being for authorized personnel only and asks if she can just meet Lyla at Leo's office, claiming that she wants to use a bathroom that they had passed. Lyla gives her directions to the lab and departs.
Hope enters Leo's lab where Lyla tells her that she's been thinking that it would be good if Leo filled Hope in on what he's been up to at the research facility. However, Lyla isn't sure where Leo actually is and she promises Hope that Leo loves her very much, but he doesn't have a choice except to work this hard. Hope already knows that Leo is doing it for her, Iris and the future, but she is still visibly disappointed. Showing Hope the picture of her on Leo's desk, Lyla tells her that she's met many parents who feel helpless and want to make their children's lives better, want to do something to fight this, but they can't, they don't have the knowledge, just the desire. Those parents are relying on people like Hope's father to do what they can't and Lyla wonders if Hope can imagine what being under that kind of pressure feels like. As a way of still having Leo fill Hope in, Lyla shows her a video recorded by Leo of his work on alongside several other scientists, including Samuel Abbott and Lyla, on a viral recorder attached to an empty's brainstem that can transmit and record the dead's biological responses to environmental stimuli and provides them tracking data to approximate and predict behavior. Lyla tells Hope that she and the other scientists had tried for years to create a viral recorder, but Leo had cracked it in just two months, "his mind is truly something else." Amazed, Hope watches her father's video on his research with interest. Leo talks about his work on infecting the undead with strains of fungi that grow on necrotic flesh in the hopes of modifying an existing fungus to one day accelerate the dead's rate of decay, virtually neutralizing them as an active mobile threat.
Later, in her lab, Lyla reports to Elizabeth Kublek that Hope seems to be coming around which is good because they might need her help to bring Leo around. Elizabeth is sure that Leo will come around, stating that Leo is anxious about finding his other daughter, but the CRM will find her. However, Lyla warns Elizabeth that the manipulation to get Hope to the research facility has eroded some of Leo's enthusiasm towards the CRM and the very promising work that he's doing. Lyla believes that they will need Hope to keep Leo motivated, but Elizabeth thought that that was what Lyla was for. Lyla promises that she's doing her best and Elizabeth hopes that it's good enough for both Leo's sake and Lyla's. As Elizabeth starts to leave, Lyla asks when she will be receiving her next test subject as it has been awhile since her last premortem and Lyla is assuming that Major General Beale's plans are moving ahead as scheduled. Elizabeth confirms that they are and tells Lyla that she thinks that Lyla will have what she needs in time. As Elizabeth leaves, Lyla looks through her observation window at her zombified colleague Dr. Samuel Abbott.
"Quatervois"[]
Hope makes her way to Leo's lab where Leo, Lyla, Terry Ellis and another scientist are working. Ellis warmly greets Hope, stating she's just the young mind that they were looking for. Seeing that her father is busy, Hope goes to leave, but Leo stops her, telling Hope that he's still trying to find answers about Iris and Felix, but Ellis had called earlier that morning. Hope is initially worried that she's in trouble as Leo invites her in, but Ellis explains that he had decided to do a little extracurricular work and apply Hope's yeast theory to Leo's fungal decay research. Lyla introduces Hope to Dr. Amanda Siegel, one of the most well-respected mycologists. Once Leo and Ellis had looped Lyla in, she asked Siegel to tag along in case something were to come of it. Ellis reveals that they have identified three strains of yeast that they believe with some augmentation, could gravely accelerate necrotic decomposition. Siegel tells Hope that, while there's still a lot of work to be done, it's sparks like this that will light a path to a new world where the dead have been neutralized as a threat. Lyla adds that Hope should be proud and Leo states that it's early, but this discovery could be big. Hope is initially excited but, after a moment, asks to talk to Leo alone and the three scientists leave.
After learning the truth about the destruction of Omaha and the Campus Colony, Leo goes in search of Lyla to inform her of their escape plan, believing that she is the only other person in the research facility that the Endlings can trust and suggesting that maybe she can come with them. However, Lyla isn't in her office and Leo's search for her is interrupted by Huck seeking out Leo's help after having uncovered proof that the CRM was responsible for the destruction of Omaha and the Campus Colony.
Entering her lab, Lyla tells her assistants that she just got word that the new test subject has arrived. Standing in the other doorway, a masked Jadis tells Lyla that it has as she requested, coming from the Civic Republic itself. As Lyla's assistants raise the table that the test subject is on to face the window, Lyla goes over his file. Lyla is surprised to see that her test subject, Sergeant Major Barca, is a soldier. Lyla orders her assistants to keep Barca sedated while they establish baseline vitals. Lyla tells Jadis that she realizes that this is her last chance to get this right and asks her to assure Lieutenant Colonel Kublek that she will. Removing her mask, Jadis tells Lyla that the Lieutenant Colonel's been called to the Civic Republic indefinitely and, until further notice, Lyla will be answering to Jadis instead.
"Who Are You?"[]
In a flashback, Leo, Lyla, Will, Romano, Samuel Abbott, Dr. Ebersol, two other scientists and a squad of CRM soldiers led by Corporal Diane Pierce run through the woods, fleeing a small herd. However, the soldiers, Will and Romano are able to put all of the nearby empties down. Leo jokes that it's just another day at the office while Diane apologizes, stating that a small herd they'd been tracking had dipped south a little too close for comfort. Diane tells the scientists that they'll wait it out there for a few minutes until the CRM's disruption charges turn the empties around. Will warns that the charges might draw more empties from the south and he leaves with Romano to scout it out.
Leo jokingly asks if all of her research expeditions are this exciting and, with a laugh, Lyla tells him that they are almost never. Another empty approaches, but Lyla stops the soldiers from shooting it as it's one of their test subjects. The soldiers capture the empty instead and Leo begins recording with a video camera. Approaching the empty, Lyla states that its geo tracker must've malfunctioned again while Ebersol had thought that the hard reset coding would've fixed the issue. Ebersol activates a command on his control pad, but the empty's bio recorder just shorts out. Ebersol has the soldiers hold the empty while he runs a diagnostic and Lyla reassures Leo that they had the bio recorder's data box fireproofed just in case. Lyla drops some papers and, as Lep bends down to help her, he tells her to call him Leo rather than Dr. Bennett. Lyla asks for Leo's opinion on the research facility so far and Leo calls it remarkable with the infrastructure and the equipment being beyond anything that he'd imagined. The geo glitches aside, Leo can't wait to see more.
In the present, Lyla enters Leo's lab, having just heard the news about Iris and Felix being found. Leo tells his girlfriend that they had just come in and he was about to tell her. Lyla knows that Leo must be incredibly relieved and shows him some clothes that she's picked out for Iris and Felix from the stockpile. Noticing how distracted Leo is, Lyla offers a raincheck on dinner that night which Leo has completely forgotten about. However, Leo decides to have dinner with her anyways, thinking that a dose of domestic normalcy might help, and it might be good for Lyla to meet them. Lyla drops the bag of clothes and as Leo goes to help her pick it up, he remembers doing the exact same thing when she dropped the papers during their research expedition and that those papers had also talked about Project V. Leo is stunned by the realization that Lyla is involved in the CRM's genocide of Omaha and the Campus Colony, but he agrees to see her at 7 p.m. for dinner.
At dinner, Iris tries to brag to Lyla that she could've been an amazing chef, but Leo refuses to back her up. Watching Leo and Lyla hold hands as they laugh, Iris asks what Lyla did for a living before all of this. Lyla reveals that she worked for big pharma on treatment for a variety of diseases, but she doesn't want to bore them with all of that. Iris asks if Lyla tested on animals which she confirms is unfortunately true, calling it industry standard. Iris suggests that if it was so unfortunate that it shouldn't have been standard while Leo and Hope exchange a look while Lyla tells Iris that in most cases, testing on isolated cells doesn't produce reliable results. Lyla asks if it isn't worth it if sacrificing a few mice means saving thousands of lives. Iris suggests that it depends on where you're willing to draw the line and what if what you're doing is worse than the disease you're trying to cure. Leo interrupts, suggesting that this might be a discussion that's better suited for a classroom. However, Lyla acknowledges that Iris has a point, but it all comes down to how much of your humanity and soul you are willing to sacrifice for the greater good. While they all do things that they wish they didn't have to, that's just life. Iris angrily tells Lyla that it's not just life, but a choice to do those things and to say that it's not is just an excuse. Standing, Hope suggests that they go check on Felix and see if he's doing any better. Iris refuses, but Leo reinforces Hope's suggestion and Iris reluctantly leaves with Hope. Lyla tries to leave, but Leo convinces her that Iris just needs some time to cool off and to stay.
When Huck knocks out the power to the facility, the power surge causes one of the bulbs in Leo's apartment to blow, startling Leo and Lyla. Lighting a candle, Leo guesses from the flickering lights that the grid is trying to come back on. Looking distressed, Lyla comments that she should go check on her lab, but Leo reassures Lyla that all of the labs are run by backup generators. Lyla reveals that tonight has just brought up some things for her and Leo asks her what they are. Lyla admits that there is something that she hasn't been honest with Leo about, but he'll need to come with her as it's better if Lyla shows him. Leo follows her out, but he first grabs a knife.
Lyla leads Leo to a bench beneath a tree, confusing him. Lyla reminds Leo that he had asked in the past if she had a family before all of this and, while she's barely said a word about it before, she should tell Leo what happened to them. Lyla tearfully explains that it was right at the start of the outbreak and Mia, her daughter, was six. Mia was bitten by an empty who had gotten into their backyard and Lyla's husband Kevin slept with Mia in her bed that night. Mia had gotten so sick so fast, and Kevin loved her deeply. When Lyla went to check on them the next morning, Kevin was on the floor, bleeding out, after his neck had been almost chewed through and Mia wasn't her daughter anymore and a few hours later, Kevin wasn't her husband anymore as they both became empties. By that point, the phones had stopped working and most of the neighbors were gone so Lyla just kept them there. One day, there was a crash and Kevin and Mia were pinned beneath a bookcase and that was when Lyla knew what she needed to do. Using an extension cord and some belts from her closet, Lyla made it so they couldn't attack her, got her old medical kit from the garage and did everything she could to fix them. Getting even more emotional, Lyla admits that she did horrible things to her family, whatever she could think of to try to bring her husband and baby girl back, but she couldn't. Lyla spent her life looking for cures to diseases, but she couldn't cure her family. Lyla touches the tree where her initials, Mia's and Kevin's are carved into it in the form of three overlapping circles similar to the symbol for the Alliance of the Three. Lyla explains that her lost family is the reason that she's doing what she's doing and, while she couldn't fix her family, maybe someday she can help fix the world. Leo pulls the crying Lyla into a hug, comforting her.
"Blood and Lies"[]
In a flashback, Lyla performs tests on the sedated Barca and announces that, assuming no abnormalities show up in his bloodwork, Barca should be suitable for their purposes. Checking her watch, Lyla notes that she has her dinner with the Bennett's, she'll check back in later and they'll begin at dawn. Lyla then has dinner with Leo and his family, experiences the power outage and tells Leo about the deaths of her own family.
At dawn, Lyla prepares to experiment on Barca who is tied to an upright table. Now conscious, Barca tells Lyla that they're both going to Hell and maybe they're already there. Barca calls the CRM plan bullshit, insisting that they what they do now matters "cause if tomorrow -- if it's built with blood and lies, that's all it'll ever be." Lyla mutes Barca's pleas and clinically recites into a tape recorder his medical facts and prepares to proceed with exposure to Trial 6.0. Lyla fills the room with her modified chlorine gas, killing Barca. Lyla notes down his time of death as 8:22 a.m. and starts the clock to see how long it will take until Barca reanimates. Staring at Barca's corpse, Lyla reassures herself that "this is how we have tomorrow" and walks away. Lieutenant Frank Newton enters with another soldier and tells Lyla that they have a problem.
In his apartment, Leo does research on chemical warfare when he's interrupted by an urgent knock at the door. Quickly hiding his research, Leo opens the door to find Lyla who warns Leo that the CRM is coming at any second to take him in for questioning. Lyla knows that Leo, Felix or the girls somehow stole the vial from her lab, although she doesn't know how they did it. Leo tries to deny it, but Lyla interrupts him, telling Leo that she was brought in for questioning that morning. All of the vials containing important specimens associated with CRM operations are stored in a refrigerator with security sensors. As a result, the CRM knows that a vial went missing during the blackout. Leo starts to ask what she means by specimens associated with CRM operations, but Lyla stops him, telling Leo that he doesn't have to pretend, and Leo needs to listen as the CRM is coming. Lyla told them that she misplaced the vial and, if he just gives it back to her, Lyla won't be in danger anymore and neither will Leo and his daughters. A knock sounds at the door and Lyla pleads for Leo to lie to the soldiers that she was an hour late for dinner. Leo reluctantly orders Lyla to hide and answers the door to be greeted by Frank and two CRM soldiers. Frank tells Leo that he needs to come with them, as they have some questions for him.
Iris enters Leo's apartment, calling out for her sister. To Iris' surprise, she is greeted by both Hope and Lyla. Hope explains that Lyla wants to make them an offer and Lyla tells Iris that she needs the vial that they stole. While Lyla hasn't given them any reason to trust her, she'll tell them anything that they want to know about who she is and what she does. Iris questions why they should believe anything that she says, but Lyla tells Iris that they can come with her, and she'll show them. However, they need to decide now as Leo's life depends on it.
Lyla leads Hope and Iris to the observation room of her lab where the girls are shocked to see Lyla's empty test subjects. Lyla reveals that she developed the contents of the vial right here in the lab that no one at the research facility is supposed to know about, Leo included. Iris demands the answers that Lyla had promised, and Lyla reveals that she studies reanimation, but in order to understand what causes someone to come back after they die, Lyla needs to observe a subject while they are dying. Hope is shocked that Lyla killed all of these people for research, but Lyla tells her that most of them were found already bitten out in the wild. They would've died in vain, but the research facility made it so that their passing could be a gift to science, to the future. Iris recognizes that Lyla had only said that most of her test subjects were already bitten, and, telling Hope and Iris that they need to understand what they are up against, brings up a camera view of the zombified Samuel Abbott in a cell and releases a rat into the cell. Watching as Samuel chases it around, Lyla tells Hope and Iris that the rat will eventually get tired, but the dead won't ever. The dead are perpetually in motion and none of them will be safe as long as this exists in the world.
Hope demands answers about Omaha and how this ties into the genocide there. Lyla explains that she developed an intra-cerebral injection of algae-derived chemical extracts that showed promise in delaying the time between death and reanimation, but Lyla needed a lot more test subjects to be sure. The CRM told Lyla and Samuel about a secret military operation in which tens of thousands would die. They were assured that this operation was critical to the survival of the human race and that they were being let in on something that almost no one outside of the military knew about and it was their chance to test the formula out in the field. Lyla and Samuel were horrified by it and the Civic Republic's civilian government has no idea what its military does outside of its walls. Samuel threatened to tell the government about it, so they made sure he never would. The three watch as Samuel continues to chase the rat around the cell and Iris wonders why 100,000 people would need to die. Lyla admits that she had asked the CRM that, but they had warned her to never ask them that again. Lyla claims that she would've stopped it if she could've, but Iris angrily tells Lyla that she could've, but Lyla chose to put her own safety before the lives the people that were murdered. Lyla insists that if she resisted, they would've killed her too, but what was going to happen was going to happen either way. Lyla could end up dead, or she could try to turn something that she couldn't stop into something that could help humanity. Hope angrily asks if Lyla found the answers that she was looking for, but Lyla tells her that it's not about answers, but data.
Disgusted, Iris asks if they're just supposed to trust her, but Lyla insists that she's telling them the truth and that giving her that vial back will save Leo. Lyla told the CRM that she misplaced it during the blackout and showing the CRM that she has it will take all of the suspicion off of Leo. Lyla claims that this is her putting Leo's life ahead of her own and that she's doing this to save him. Iris thinks that she's doing this to save herself, but Lyla continues to insist that she cares about Leo and that the return of the vial is what keeps both Leo and Lyla alive, maybe all of them. Iris continues to refuse, but Hope finally admits that the vial is in the Bunker and, much to Iris' shock, gives Lyla directions to the hiding place. Lyla tearfully thanks Hope and tells Hope and Iris that they should wait a few minutes after she leaves as it's best that they aren't seen together more than they already have. Hope agrees and Lyla leaves the lab.
Frank enters the interrogation room with Lyla who is carrying the missing vial. Lyla presents the vial to Jadis who dismisses all of the other soldiers aside from Frank and asks where she found it. Looking at the vial, Lyla decides to be honest and tells Jadis that Leo stole it with the help of his daughters and his security detail. The group became suspicious that she was involved in classified experiments and took it from the storage freezer. Jadis has Frank take the vial from Lyla who apologizes to the furious Leo, telling him that there's no more lies and deceit. Lyla had thought that she could manage this to everyone's benefit, and she tells Jadis that she can't hurt Leo who is too valuable as they need him, and Leo can help with Project Votus. Interested, Huck asks about Project Votus and, over Jadis' orders not to speak, Lyla explains that it's a that studies live test subjects through death to further research on reanimation. Leo is shocked as Lyla explains that this is what's she's been hiding, and Leo now knows the truth.
Lyla tells Jadis that Jadis is now going to let Leo go as Lyla thinks that she's on the verge of a significant breakthrough: her test subject is going on a full eight hours without reanimating. Jadis calls it rare, but not unheard of, but Lyla thinks that this could be the step forward that they've been waiting for and with Leo helping her openly and passing on that knowledge to his daughter, they could make a lot of progress. Lyla insists that they need Leo and Hope's help and Jadis states that in the position she holds, Jadis has proven her use to the CRM by making the right deals on their behalf. Jadis believes what Lyla says and per Elizabeth, Project Votus is the ultimate priority. Jadis tells Leo that the deal is that Leo will walk today and get away with another capital crime as will Hope, Iris and Felix and in return, they focus his efforts on Project Votus. Glaring at Lyla, Leo reluctantly agrees and Jadis asks if Leo is motivated, and can he move past all of this and see what he's doing for what it is. Leo states that he can and that what it is is "saving what's left. Whatever it is." Jadis tells him that it's a war of life versus death and it doesn't mean that some of them won't die along the way. Jadis orders Frank to release Felix and he leaves to do so. Jadis looks forward to seeing the fruits of Leo and Lyla's labor and she orders Lyla to stick around so that they can go see about her test subject after Jadis deals with some business with her team. It does sound like historic progress and Jadis would love to share the news with Major General Beale.
Entering Lyla's lab, Huck asks if her mother knows about this. Jadis explains that Elizabeth not only knows, but she founded the project with Beale eight years ago. Lyla states that it's been a lot of work over a long time and Jadis feels lucky to be here to see it if they have a major breakthrough on their hands today. However, with Lyla's timer reading 7 hours and 48 minutes, the three women find Barca reanimated. Examining the empty, Jadis comments that it's a shame that it didn't even break eight hours with Lyla having gotten Jadis excited about delivering good news to Beale today. Lyla insists that they can still crack this with Leo's help, but Jadis informs Lyla that Leo won't be helping her. Much to Huck's surprise, Jadis orders her to remove Barca's restraints and, drawing her gun, Huck forces Lyla into a corner and cuts one of Barca's restraints. Jadis explains that her job is to eliminate security threats and Lyla was sloppy with sensitive research and lied to the CRM. Thankfully, Lyla has already passed the baton onto her successor who is a man of greater intelligence with two easy to squeeze pressure points. Looking at Huck, Jadis states that Leo is the better bet and is easy to control when there's family to threaten.
With Jadis looking at her to act and Lyla begging her not to do it, Huck cuts Barca free and holds Lyla at gunpoint as she and Jadis escape into the observation area and lock the door. Banging on the door, Lyla pleads for her life before running around the room as Barca comes after her. "The rat will eventually get tired, but the dead won't. I couldn't have put it better myself," Jadis quips into the intercom, looking at Lyla's notes. Jadis mutes the intercom and Lyla's pleas for her life as Barca chases Lyla around the room and Huck and Jadis watch. Finally, as Lyla bangs on the glass, pleading, Barca catches up to her and bites into Lyla's neck, splatting the glass with her blood, killing Lyla whose body slumps to the floor.
Turning to Huck, Jadis calls it another tragic accident, stating that these things happen, and Huck realizes that Jadis knew from the start that Lyla was covering for Leo. Jadis states that Huck is still smart as hell and, if her mother had any doubts about Huck's allegiance, she'll be pleased that Jadis helped Huck put them to rest today. Huck asks if this was all about testing her, but Jadis tells her that not all of it was: it was clear from the start that Lyla was covering for Leo, and she had to go so Jadis used Huck to help her install Leo as Lyla's replacement.
"Returning Point"[]
Leo reveals the truth about the CRM's genocide of Omaha and the Campus Colony as well as the murders of Lyla, Samuel Abbott and Romano to the other scientists as proof of why they need to leave the CRM. Huck later expresses remorse for her role in Lyla's death, but Leo tells her that Lyla's death was her own fault and that if Lyla had to die at someone else's hands, Leo wishes that it had been his. However, Huck insists that Leo doesn't want that on his conscience.
"Death and the Dead"[]
While trying to destroy the chlorine gas, Hope and Felix discover that the frozen walkers in the cold storage area of the research facility are defrosting due to Jadis cutting the power, having anticipated their move. As Felix fights two of the walkers, Hope attempts to shut the freezer door, only to have a zombified Lyla get in the way, having been turned into one of the CRM's test subjects after her death. Hope desperately slams the freezer door on Lyla repeatedly with the struggle causing Lyla's head to get stuck just inside of the door. As Hope keeps slamming the door on Lyla, she remembers Lyla telling her that she should be proud and that this is her home now, causing her to redouble her efforts. Finally, Lyla's frozen head shatters under the repeated blows, putting her down.
Death[]
- Killed By
- Herself (Caused)
- Anne (Caused)
- Jennifer Mallick (Caused)
- Barca (Infected, Alive)
Due to having broken protocols and being seen as a liability, Anne orders Jennifer to untie a zombified Barca who bites her in the neck and kills her. She later reanimates.
- Hope Bennett (Zombified)
While trying to destroy the chlorine gas, Hope and Felix discover that all of the frozen test subjects have been thawed out, including Lyla. The reanimated Lyla attacks Hope who repeatedly smashes her head with a freezer door, ultimately shattering it and putting Lyla down.
Killed Victims[]
This list shows the victims Lyla has killed:
- Mrs. Plaskett (Caused)
- Ruth (Caused)
- Daniel (Caused)
- Margaret (Caused)
- Galbraith (Caused)
- Dani (Caused)
- Phoebe (Caused)
- Jan (Caused)
- Mr. Kapadia (Caused)
- Izzy (Caused)
- Marco Voci (Caused)
- Dr. Bavolar (Caused)
- Dwyer (Caused)
- Kallenbach (Caused)
- Adult Administrator (Caused)
- Campus Student 1 (Caused)
- Campus Student 2 (Caused)
- Barca (Alive)
- Herself (Indirectly Caused)
- 97,403 unnamed Omaha residents (Caused)
- 9,652 unnamed Campus Colony residents (Caused)
- 2 unnamed Portland representatives (Caused)
- Possibly numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people
Relationships[]
For a more in-depth look at Lyka's relationships, read here; Lyla Belshaw (World Beyond)/Relationships
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Appearances[]
World Beyond[]
Season 1[]
Season 2[]
- "Foothold"
- "Quatervois"
- "Who Are You?"
- "Blood and Lies"
- "Death and the Dead" (Zombified/Flashback)
Gallery[]
- For more images of Lyla, please visit Lyla Belshaw (World Beyond)/Gallery.
Trivia[]
- Lyla is the first main character in World Beyond to die.
- In the Memoriam on Talking Dead for "Death and the Dead", she is credited as Dr. Lyla Belshaw Empty.
International Dubbers[]
| Language | Dubber | Other Characters Voiced |
|---|---|---|
| Czech | N/A | N/A |
| French | Céline Mauge | N/A |
| German | N/A | N/A |
| Hungarian | N/A | N/A |
| Italian | N/A | N/A |
| Japanese | Yasuko Fujino | Amelia Ortiz |
| Portuguese | Adriana Pissardini | N/A |
| Spanish (Latin America) | N/A | N/A |
| Spanish (Spain) | N/A | N/A |
References[]
World Beyond Characters
| |
|---|---|
| Campus Colony | Iris • Hope • Silas • Felix • Elton • Will • Leopold • Romano • Marco • Mr. Kapadia • Dani • Phoebe • Jan • Dr. K |
| Lincoln | Isaac • Amelia • Kari • Cliff |
| Civic Republic of Philadelphia | Elizabeth • Tiga • Grady • Mason • Terry • Ian • Diane • Marjorie • Amanda • Tucker • Jadis • Dr. Ebersol • Cohen • Robertson • Lowery • Armadi • Nolan • Betts • Murrow • Dennis • Jennifer • Frank • Webb • Lyla • Samuel • Mills • Barca |
| Illinois | Percy • Tony • Walter |
| Military Personnel | Dawson • Drake • Owens • Wilkins • Powlowski • Farmer • Simms |
| Omaha | Mrs. Plaskett • Ruth • Galbraith • Daniel • Margaret • Gary |
| The Perimeter | Indira • Asha • Robin • Brody • Dev |
| Miscellaneous Survivors | Candice • Beta • Edwin • Sabina • Mr. Mallick |
| Animals | Teresa |
| Alive characters appear in green. Unknown characters appear in blue. Dead characters appear in red and italics. Undead characters appear in gray and italics. | |