- Warning: There are spoilers ahead for season 10, episode 14 of “The Walking Dead,” “Look at the Flowers.”
- The end of Sunday’s episode introduces a mysterious new female character played by Paola Lázaro.
- In the comics, the character is named Juanita Sanchez. But she’s better known by her nickname Princess and is found in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Sunday’s episode of “The Walking Dead” introduced another character from the comics.
Near the end of Sunday’s episode as Eugene, Yumiko, and King Ezekiel are making their way through, what appears to be, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they run into a woman wearing a bright pink jacket and vibrant purple hair played by Paola Lázaro.
Her name was never said on screen, but if you’re a fan of the comics you definitely recognized Lázaro on Sunday’s episode. Here’s everything you need to know about the character she’s playing on “TWD.”
Lázaro is playing a character named Princess who is introduced late in ‘The Walking Dead’ comics
Princess is introduced in Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" comic in issue No. 171. That's pretty late in the series as "TWD" ended its comic run at issue No. 193.
Her full name is Juanita Sanchez and she's from Pittsburgh. In the comics, she's referred to as the "Princess of Pittsburgh." Fans learned Princess would join the show on season 10 in October 2019 at New York Comic Con.
Wait. So the group is in Pittsburgh?
That's what it seems like. Take another look at the skyline in the episode as the trio enters the city.
A close look at Sunday's episode shows Eugene, Yumiko, and Ezekiel traveling through, what appears to be, Pittsburgh to meet Stephanie who is located in Charleston, West Virginia.
That's not really the most direct route to get to Charleston, WV from Alexandria, Virginia. One could argue the group is trying to stay on major highways and one of the direct paths from Alexandria to Charleston is possibly blocked. Maybe "TWD" just wanted to add a nice nod to the comics or perhaps they really traveled up to Pittsburgh to then backtrack back down to WV.
So who exactly is Princess and why is she being introduced now?
Princess has a big personality and is a bit of a talker. She has a super cheery personality. It's not fake, but behind the smiles and positive energy is a young woman who came from a broken home with a stepfather and brother who punished and beat her. She welcomed the zombie apocalypse as an escape from her former life and rebelled by dying her hair purple simply because she could.
In the apocalypse, she has preferred to be on her own so she's a bit chatty and awkward around people. She'd actually probably either get along really well with Negan, a character who loves to hear himself talk, or drive him bananas.
In the comics, Princess comes across Michonne, Magna, Yumiko, Eugene, and Siddiq. With Michonne gone and Siddiq dead, the show has changed up the group who find Princess a bit.
The addition of Princess isn't necessarily needed this late on "TWD." The character, while cheerful and vibrant with a complicated past, doesn't have much to do in the comics. When meeting Stephanie's group, she becomes entangled in a relationship with someone from that group, but that's really the extent of Princess in the comics.
Maybe showrunner Angela Kang has something more for her character to do.
Does this version of Princess appear to be exactly like the comic version? She seems a little different so far.
We know "TWD" series likes to make a lot of changes from the comic while still paying homage to its namesake.
The TV version of Princess definitely has the look down. But on the show so far, Princess seems to have an interesting sense of humor.
As the group travel through Pittsburgh, they continue to come across zombies who are tied up in funny ways so they can't harm others. They're put on display for humor. In one instance, one walker is handcuffed to a steering wheel in a car while another is dressed up as a cop chained up near the car appearing to write the driver a ticket. The sight sends Ezekiel into a fit of laughter.
It's inferred that Princess is the one responsible for chaining up all of the undead in Pittsburgh. That's not something she did in the comics.
There's currently only one episode of "TWD" left for the foreseeable future after AMC delayed the finale due to the coronavirus pandemic. Hopefully, we'll get to see a bit more of Princess before the show comes to an abrupt end next week.
You can follow along with our "Walking Dead" coverage here.
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