We’ve seen a lot of different zombies throughout the decades on The Walking Dead. But the ones glimpsed in this week’s episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, called the Tupilaq, might be some of the scariest ones in years. And they come right out of Inuit myth.
In the hour, Carol (Melissa McBride) and Ash (Manish Dayal) land in Greenland on the way to France, due to a faulty fuel line. While there they are almost grabbed by some desiccated walkers hidden in the grass who jump out to grab them. It’s surprisingly jump-scare coded, much more so than the show has been in a while — or at least, I definitely jumped when they popped out. Twice.
Carol and Ash are saved by the arrival of Eun (Minami Bages) and Hanna (Maria Erwolter), two women who we later discover are scientists working on their PhDs, studying in Greenland when the world fell. Hanna casually drops that they call the zombies “Tupilaq” and when Carol questions the word, Eun clarifies further.
“Pet name for the necrotics,” says Eun. “After an old Inuit myth. Tupilaq is a flesh-eating beast conjured up to take revenge on its enemy.”
Hanna continues, “And if you can’t find them, it returns home to kill its maker.”
Carol is mostly unphased, quipping, “Rose by any other name, I guess.” The episode moves on from there, but there are certainly parallels in terms of how Eun tries to kill Hanna, Hanna kills Eun, and then Ash kills Hanna. Meanwhile, Carol just sort of floats in the middle of this whole thing. Which among them is the Tupilaq? Perhaps all of them, to be honest.
In Greenland, The Tupilaq Is Made From Dead Animals — And Dead Children
I wouldn’t call myself an expert on this, and I am not Inuit, so please take everything I say here with a grain of salt. But Eun and Hanna are skirting over a lot of myths about the creature to make it work for The Walking Dead.
The short version is that a Tupilaq can refer to either a carving or the monster itself. As for the monster, it is crafted by a shaman out of dead animal parts, and sometimes dead children parts, and then animated. Sort of like the myth of the Golem, but way grosser. The resulting monster would be placed into the sea and brought to life, then sent to attack an enemy. However, if the enemy had greater magic powers, it could send the Tupilaq back to destroy its maker.
Interestingly, visual representations were essentially trinkets to show off to tourists. Once Europeans began to visit Greenland, they loved the myth of the Tupilaq. So the natives created sculptures out of sperm whale teeth to show them what the Tupilaq was supposed to look like.
This, by the way, is all specific to Greenland. Variations of the myth are throughout parts of Inuit culture, and they all vary wildly. And in fact, to certain cultures, the Tupilaq was similar to The Devil in Christianity.
So yes, Hanna and Eun are sort of correct. But they better keep working on those PhDs, because their comparative religion needs some work.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premiere on Sundays on AMC and AMC+. The episodes premiere at 3 am ET / 12 am PT on AMC+, and 9 pm ET on AMC.
Here’s the full list of episodes in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2 with premiere dates:
- Sunday, September 29, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 1 – “The Book of Carol: La gentillesse des étrangers”
- Sunday, October 6, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 2 – “The Book of Carol: Moulin Rouge”
- Sunday, October 13, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 3 – “The Book of Carol: L’Invisible”
- Sunday, October 20, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 4 – “The Book of Carol: La Paradis Pour Toi”
- Sunday, October 27, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 5 – “The Book of Carol: Vouloir, C’est Pouvoir”
- Sunday, November 3, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 6 – “The Book of Carol: Au Revoir Les Enfants” *Season Finale*
Where To Watch The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
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