Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 3 and 4, as well as The Last of Us Part 2.
HBO’sThe Last of Usseason 2 is already heading towards its fifth episode, and so far, the post-apocalyptic series has seen a ton of traumatic and sorrowful events happen. Just like in the game, Joel’s journey came to a sad end in episode 2 at the hands of Abby Anderson in a brutal revenge attack for the death of her father, Jerry, who was a surgeon at the Firefly Hospital that Joel went buck-crazy at. Again, like the Naughty Dog sequel, Ellie sets out on a quest for blood to kill Abby and the rest of the WLF members for Joel’s murder, along with Dina (and of course, Shimmer).
Although fans knew that some aspects ofThe Last of UsTV show would be different from the PlayStation game,The Last of Us Part 2, there have been quite a few surprising additions to its story. To name just a few, Gail, the therapist who talks to Joel in a counseling session, wasn’t in the game, as well as Jackson remaining untouched, whereas in the show, a large-scale action sequence introduced a sprawling horde of infected to the town in a bid to bring its people to their knees. Fans also didn’t get to witness the porch scene with Ellie and Joel before his untimely death. However,the introduction of the Seraphitesin episode 3 ofThe Last of Uswas a welcome addition as the radical group plays a huge part in the game, but this time, it seems as though their story has been tweaked, too.
The Last of Us Fans Believe a Splintered Group of the Seraphites Were Revealed in Episode 4
Over on Reddit, an interesting post has emerged that talks aboutthe group of Seraphitesviewers saw fleeing through a forest in episode 3, where they ultimately ended up losing their lives. The thread states that this group could actually be a splintered group who have broken free from the main religious cult and is on the run. The reason fans have come up with this conclusion is all down to what the captured “scar” said to Isaac while he was being tortured. While Isaac is interrogating the Seraphite prisoner, he says (speaking of their prophet), “Some of you actually understand she was just a person,” to which the Scar replies, “Heretics”.
“In the scene from episode 3 that introduces us to the Seraphites, the man tells the girl that the prophet was only eternal in the sense that they kept her spirit alive by following her words and keeping her teachings, “but we keep ourselves safe.” Initially, I thought this was a rather soft approach to the Seraphites' beliefs, but now it’s clear that this was intentional. She asked him where they were going, and he said he didn’t know yet, but “I told you the reason we’re going.” With this new perspective, it seems that these Seraphites had abandoned the main settlement and struck out on their own, probably even running from potential punishment at the hands of “faithful” Seraphites,” wrote the Reddit poster.
The poster goes on to say that the “Seraphite group” viewers saw slaughtered in the forest were actually running from the cult as they didn’t want to be a part of its cruel and radical religious politics anymore, so whenthey were all killed by the Washington Liberation Front, they wouldn’t have known they weren’t like the rest of the Seraphites. “This is so fitting with the overarching themes of the cycle of violence, and how everyone (WLF, Seraphites, Abby, and Ellie) gets so locked into what drives their hate that they become blind to anything else,” expressed the Redditor.
It seems as though manyLast of Usfans agree with this Seraphite theory in Season 2. “After episode 3, I felt let down that the Scars were being portrayed too sympathetically and we wouldn’t really see the more brutal and unhinged side of them, but now, after watching episode 4, I feel my fears have been absolved,” said one comment under the post, while another said, “Damn, brilliant catch here and makes you wonder, what are the Seraphites like that are committing atrocities like the hung up soldiers in the theater?.” Another fan of the series applauded how well the episode was written, initially luring the audience into a false sense of security. “They did it expertly. The writing deliberately leads the audience to that conclusion by framing scenes in the way they do and trickling out the information.”
However, it remains to be seen if this theory actually plays out, but it seems as though this could be a very solid conclusion and a brilliant way to showcase Season 2’s many twists and turns, as well as its undercurrent theme of the circle of violence. In the game,siblings Lev and Yara were examples of Seraphites who left the group due to its oppressive rules, such as the persecution of those who didn’t conform to the group’s rigid beliefs. Players of the sequel did read and hear about other scars who left or tried to leave the group, but other than Yara and Lev, the narrative was never fleshed out, most likely due to time constraints.
The Last of UsSeason 2 streams on Max, with new episodes dropping every Sunday.
