After a lengthy delay, The Walking Dead season 10 has come to a close, but why did Beta die smiling? The Walking Dead is no stranger to leaving fans on a tantalizing cliffhanger ending, but the most recent instance was entirely unintentional. The penultimate episode of The Walking Dead season 10 aired on April 5th and saw Beta and the Whisperers lead a massive horde of zombies straight through the gates of Alexandria. Fortunately, the residents had already evacuated to a local hospital, but Beta summoned all of his undead whispering powers and discerned their location, marching towards the holed-up protagonists for one final standoff.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the final episode of The Walking Dead season 10 was pushed back to October 4th - the time of year a new season would usually be kicking off. "A Certain Doom" begins with Luke spearheading the use of large speakers to disrupt the movement of the Whisperers and their horde, putting an end to the siege with a helping hand from Lydia. Led by Daryl, Alexandria then go on the attack, and The Walking Dead fans finally get their long-awaited rematch when Daryl and Negan face off against Beta. Daryl Dixon finally manages to get the best of his nemesis and puts Beta down, but while many would expect the villain to die angry at being unable to avenge Alpha's death, he instead passes away with a smile.
So why does this infamously unhappy villain finally crack a smile upon the moment of his defeat? The first reason is the philosophy of Alpha. Prior to meeting Samantha Morton's Whisperer leader, Beta was utterly lost, living alone inside a hospital for the mentally ill. Alpha came along, gave Beta direction and protected his secret, and together they forged the Whisperers. Apart from wearing skin and roaming in the wild, a key tenet in the way of the Whisperpers was "embrace all death." Arguably, Alpha didn't entirely adhere to this motto (although Negan didn't exactly give her a chance to smile) but Beta bought in 100%. Naturally, this means embracing his own death too. Even if that means defeat at the hands of a hated enemy and being unable to take revenge on Alexandria, the Whisperers' way of honoring death above all else took precedence during Beta's final moments. Perhaps in the warped logic of the Whisperers, Beta believes that by becoming one with the undead and honoring The Walking Dead's "circle of life," his will shall live on through the zombies he nourishes.
However, it isn't just Beta's dedication to Alpha's teachings that forces him to eke out a deathbed grin. When Alpha died, Beta's personality evolved considerably. As well as honoring and respecting the undead, Beta began to hallucinate voices from them. Beta transcended from someone who wore the skin of the dead and walked among them to a villain who was truly at one with the zombies. The trauma of Alpha's death converged with Beta's pre-existing mental illness to create a new persona that was more zombie than human. When Beta dies covered in zombies, he sees that his oneness with the undead is now becoming a reality. To many, being eaten by hungry zombies would be a punishment; to Beta, the experience is both natural and to be celebrated. Alpha said previously that those who are eaten should be happy to fuel her horde, and Beta exemplifies this attitude better than anyone.
At first glance, Beta's mysterious smile in The Walking Dead's season 10 finale might've indicated a variety of thoughts - acceptance of defeat, having a back-up plan, being glad to finally rest. Instead, Beta's death smile is proof that he lived by the Whisperer code right up until his dying moments. Where many of his group would've cracked in fear, Beta's death-embracing mindset prevailed even after he became a smorgasbord for the undead.