‘Walking Dead’ Season 5 Spoilers: Meet Aaron; 5 Things To Know About Ross Marquand’s Character

Stranger danger! Episode 10 of “The Walking Dead” introduced a character named Aaron (Ross Marquand), and the addition could change everything for Rick’s group of survivors.

Season 5 of the hit AMC series has been extremely rough. From cannibals to kidnappings, the group has had its share of troubles to overcome. Although everyone has tried to maintain a positive outlook, recent events like the deaths of Beth (Emily Kinney) and Tyreese (Chad Coleman) have caused some of the crew to become unraveled. On top of the loss, they’ve also had to deal with a lack of food, water and shelter.

Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) appeared to take one step toward moving on in the final moments of episode 10 – until a stranger appeared.

“I’m a friend,” the man told Sasha and Maggie, who had their guns pointed at him. “I’d like to talk to the person in charge. Rick, right? I have good news.”

The stranger turned out to be Aaron, the mysterious person who also gave the survivors water earlier in the episode. Can Aaron be trusted? Or is he another threat like Gareth (Andrew J. West) and the Governor (David Morrissey)? “Walking Dead” fans will have to wait and see, but we’ve rounded up everything there is to know about the new character:

Aaron’s Introduction

Aaron might be new to the AMC series, but he’s a character that fans of Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels are very familiar with. The character first appeared in issue 67, which was released in November 2009. Like the TV show, Aaron meets Rick’s group before Washington, D.C. The only difference is that in the comics Rick’s group is outside of D.C. because Eugene (Josh McDermitt) claims that he needs to deliver information about a cure to government scientists. Rick finds out that Eugene is lying when he discovers that his “special government radio” doesn’t have any batteries. The AMC series cleared up the story line in the first half of the season when Eugene revealed to Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) that he had been lying. Although Rick’s group knows that a cure doesn’t exist, they’re still moving toward Washington with the hope of finding food, water and shelter.

A New Group

Aaron hails from the Alexandria Safe-Zone, a location where other survivors have set up a home. Like Terminus, the Alexandria Safe-Zone is looking to add people to its community. Crucially, they don’t want to eat people. In order to find “good” humans, the Alexandria Safe-Zone sends out “recruiters” – like Aaron. It’s Aaron’s job to decide if a human should be invited back to the safe haven.

Aaron’s Sexuality

In the comics, Aaron is gay. Showrunner Scott Gimple teased the addition of a gay character while on “The Talking Dead” in December.

“I’ll just say that in the comic there is more than one gay character,” he previewed. “So it may be the one you are thinking of or it may be another one.”

Viewers also could potentially meet Aaron’s boyfriend, Eric. The comic book character also is a recruiter for the Alexandria Safe-Zone.

Comics To The Small Screen

Ross Marquand revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he wasn’t sure if he should read the comics after he landed the role. Before moving forward he decided to talk to Gimple. According to Marquand, the showrunner told him to read the graphic novels for “insight” into the character; however, he wanted him to make Aaron his own.

Aaron Is A Stalker

Rick and his group are not the only people who have come face to face with some dangerous humans in the zombie apocalypse. It sounds like Aaron and his crew of survivors also have encountered some bad people.

“He’s been tracking the group for a while and getting a vibe from then and getting the dynamics of leadership from them and how they work together – and that’s extremely important to him,” Marquand told EW. “A lot more is going to be revealed next week.”

Do you trust Aaron? Tweet your thoughts to @AmandaTVScoop.