The Walking Dead will be forced to drop a major comic storyline featuring Maggie after season 10's latest twist. After encountering the Whisperers last season, The Walking Dead's current run has been dominated by the ongoing conflict between the good guys and Alpha's forest-dwelling goons, and it's the latter that appears to have the upper hand. Although yet to launch another major offensive after season 9's slaughter, the Whisperers are tormenting their enemies with random hordes, restricted food and a constant feeling of being watched.
Season 10 of The Walking Dead has featured some of the most significant deviations from the original comic book yet, and this is largely thanks to the departure of Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. Stripped of its lead protagonist, the landscape of The Walking Dead has shifted dramatically. Alpha has a new commander called Gamma, Yumiko has taken charge of Hilltop and Alexandria continues to struggle with large personalities overriding the elected council, none of which made it into the comics. Those changes aside, the overall flow of the Whisperer War arc has been largely faithful, with the allied communities forced to bide their time in order to avoid being wiped out by Alpha's horde, while Negan escapes and goes off to join Alexandria's new enemies.
One major alteration to the comics is the huge Dante twist from "Open Your Eyes." Siddiq has spent most of season 10 suffering PTSD from last season's ill-fated community fair, but has found a friend in fellow medical professional and Alexandria newcomer, Dante. Despite an awkward personality, Dante has seemed to help Siddiq in a time of great need, and covered for him when the stress got too much. At the end of The Walking Dead's latest episode, however, Siddiq recognized Dante's tongue-clicking habit as something he had heard while captured by the Whisperers, coming to the stunning realization that Dante was a mole sent by Alpha. Trying not to show panic, Siddiq reaches for his weapon, but is silenced by Dante before he can fight back.
This is arguably one of The Walking Dead's best-ever twists, as while Dante does appear in the comic books, he's just a regular member of Hilltop. Despite it's effectiveness, however, the reveal does mean that Dante's biggest comic arc simply cannot happen. In the original version of The Walking Dead, Dante falls for Maggie, but is continuously rebuffed due to the Hilltop leader still harboring guilt and grief over her deceased ex-husband, Glenn. Dante's affection creates a side-story that acts as Maggie's final piece of personal character development in the comics - getting over Glenn and allowing herself to commit to another.
With Maggie confirmed to return in The Walking Dead season 11, or perhaps even at the very end of the current run, any romance with Dante has now been nixed entirely. It's likely that the spy's true allegiance will have been outed by then, but even if Dante's cover remains intact and he does start a relationship with Maggie, the focus will be firmly on his murderous intentions, rather than Maggie's emotional growth.
With major comic characters such as Rick and Carl now gone from TV, The Walking Dead has been using different figures to recreate certain comic arcs, and this might've been the same with Maggie's new partner, if only there were any prospective candidates. The likes of Daryl and Eugene have become too close as friends for anything further to develop, Gabriel seems to do well with the ladies but is committed to Rosita, and Alden might just be a little too young. A spurned Ezekiel might've finally found his true Queen, but it appears his time is drawing near. Unless The Walking Dead bolsters its ranks with new characters in season 11, it seems that one of Maggie's biggest comic storylines will be dropped for the TV series.
The Walking Dead continues with "The World Before" November 24th on AMC.