'The Walking Dead' fans mourn a major character as a new threat emerges

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 9, Episode 8 of The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead is having its best season in a long time, and it looks like it won't be slowing down after Sunday night's mid-season finale.

Sunday night's mid-season finale of The Walking Dead, "Evolution," continued the recent trend of the show's renewed sense of direction and refreshing quality, introducing a new threat to the survivors still left on the show and shocking fans with the loss of one of The Walking Dead's more recent fan-favorite characters.

That new threat, which bubbled up with a hefty dose of unsettling suspense through "Evolution," is the Whisperers — a group of violent humans who, inspired by the overwhelming zombie uprising, wear the skin of walkers and walk among them, whispering to each other to keep from arising undead (and human) suspicions.

It looks like they'll be a big part of the second half of Season 9, based on the new trailer:

Amid the new developments of The Walking Dead, one of the toughest for fans was the death of Jesus, who had become a fan favorite despite not getting a whole lot of attention in the show.

On the run from a horde that turned out to be full of Whisperers, Jesus was killed by a Whisperer while trying to save Eugene and Aaron in a tense, heartbreaking scene.

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Jesus was killed by the Whisperers, showing just how much of a threat they're going to be in future episodes.

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Some fans are hopeful that, true to nature of the figure that inspired his nickname, Jesus will come back.

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Unfortunately, this has yet to happen in The Walking Dead, so don't get your hopes up.

The Walking Dead returns to finish out Season 9 in February.