The Weapon That The Walking Dead: World Beyond Fans Think Is The Weakest
There are some fearsome and iconic weapons in The Walking Dead's universe. Think Daryl's crossbow; Michonne's katana; Negan's bat, Lucille; Morgan's staff on The Walking Dead, and his new axe on Fear the Walking Dead. But there are also a couple of less impressive weapons that don't achieve the same level of intimidation. Alicia's broken gun barrel on Fear is one. The other is on The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the third series in the franchise, which follows a group of young apocalypse survivors as they make a cross-country trek to find themselves and save their father.
World Beyond has its own proprietary weapon used by the Civic Republic Military called an S-pole, which is a staff with a blade on the end of it. The main character of World Beyond is a teen girl named Iris (Aliyah Royale), whose signature weapon is an S-pole she customized with a fossilized triceratops horn she got from her friend Elton (Nicolas Cantu). She's gained a lot of zombie-killing experience with it. This is not canon, but Royale named the weapon "Shiloh" after a husky she had when she was a kid, according to TV Guide. Unfortunately for Shiloh, fans don't think she's very cool. In a recent Reddit thread, users discussed the apparent impracticality of the weapon, which seems inefficient and easily breakable.
The spear ain't it
The thread was started by Reddit user sharpness1000, who posted a close-up screenshot of Iris' weapon that clearly shows how it's just a not-very-sharp rock tied to the end of a stick and said "Can we all appreciate the stupidity of this weapon." "I say this to my girlfriend EVERY time this stupid spear is on screen," user WUURMFOOD replied. "It's blunt, clearly plastic and tied on with string. It looks like a Halloween toy in a supermarket [aisle]."
"I've been trying to figure out what that was," user twillardswillard said. "I thought it was a rock, but then I was like these nerds have to be smarter than that. No it's a rock. They're nerds." That's true, the characters are sheltered nerds by design. "A rusty piece of sharpened rebar with duct tape hand holds would be a better spear," user opiate_lifer added.
User SpaceLegolasElnor, who has the top-rated reply, gave a thoughtful response about how the weapon could better relate to the themes of the show. "The only sad thing I see about this weapon is that it has not broken yet," they wrote. "I understand that it is a part of the story, that the teenagers are not ready and will fail before they can grow. But that weapon should break soon to teach them how to make better weapons." User uncap3dcrusad3r summed it up very simply: "Overall, dare I say, I like this show... But that thing... There's no excuses for that level of bulls—."
Which is the strongest weapon?
Conversely, when The Walking Dead fans on Reddit took a poll of the show's most iconic weapons, Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat Lucille topped the ranking. The bat, which is named after Negan's late wife, is an instantly recognizable symbol of The Walking Dead and was infamously used to kill Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) in the season 7 premiere. Ironically, the actress behind Iris said she was inspired to name her weapon based on Negan's example.
In an exclusive interview with Looper, Aliyah Royale said she read the comics and rewatched eipsodes of The Walking Dead to prepare. "That's how I discovered my forever affinity for the man that is Negan and his sidekick Lucille. I think that's what inspired me to name my weapon, Shiloh. Negan's relationship with Lucille is like, 'This is a person. This isn't a weapon. What are you talking about? This isn't a bat.' This is a legit character in the show. I love that. But once I signed on, I was ready and willing. And the fear that you see on the show, every single scene where I'm afraid, it's one hundred percent authentic."