The Last of Us Just Introduced A Doomed Cult — And Changed the Game In A Huge Way
May she guide them through the storm.
In the wake of the apocalypse, it would make sense that people look for meaning, and that often means finding religion. It happened in The Leftovers with the Guilty Remnant, in Mad Max with the Cult of the V8, and in Yellowjackets with the Wilderness. The Fallout series was almost entirely about cults, from the Brotherhood of Steel to the Vault Dwellers, to that strange ritual moment in Vault 4.
The Last of Us touched on the pervasiveness of cults in times of crisis in Season 1, when Ellie and Joel encountered David, the leader of a fanatically religious group of survivors who have resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Now, in Season 2, the series is touching on one of the game’s biggest cults, way before the game ever mentioned them.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3.
The Last of Us Season 1 changed the cannibals to be an ultra-religious sect.
The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3 mostly focuses on Ellie’s reaction to losing Joel, but about 20 minutes in, there is an abrupt switch. After Ellie discusses going to Seattle with Tommy, we suddenly cut to a trail near Seattle, where a young girl is walking with her father with a group of people. They both are wearing drab combat gear and sport strange scars on their faces.
“Why can’t she just keep us safe?” the girl asks. “The Prophet?” her dad replies. “She’s been dead 10 years, Constance. I wouldn’t count on her to help.”
This exchange confirms these characters are members of the Seraphites, the post-apocalyptic cult from the game that inhabit Seattle and are constantly battling the WLF, the Seattle-based faction to whom Abby belongs. The cult was started by a nameless female prophet who started having visions, and slowly, the Seraphites were formed and turned into a militaristic army. Members are known for their specific appearance: shaved heads on the men, braided crowns for the women, and curved scars on each side of their faces.
Tributes to the Prophet are everywhere in The Last of Us Part II.
At some point before Ellie arrives in Seattle in the game, the prophet was executed by the WLF. That only made the Seraphites more inspired to fight: she became a martyr, and murals and shrines to the Prophet popped up all over the city. Now, we know exactly when the Prophet was martyred. Since Season 2 Episode 1 depicted a New Year’s party for the year 2029, that means she’s been dead since 2019, 16 years after the apocalypse kicked off.
In the game, the Seraphites provide an antagonistic group for the WLF in Seattle, with Abby and her group constantly at odds with them — that is, until Abby finds herself helping out two “apostates” trying to leave the cult due to intolerance, forcing her to see why people find such purpose in a group like that.
Unfortunately, the Seraphites in the series meet a dismal end. While Ellie and Dina wander down a deserted trail, Dina investigates something, only to return sick to her stomach. When Ellie looks to see what’s wrong, she sees the bodies of Constance and her father.
The Seraphites appearing this early is a huge change from the game. In the game, we don’t learn about the “Scars” as the WLF calls them until more than halfway through the game, when the perspective switches from Ellie on her way to Seattle to Abby returning to Seattle. With the second game being adapted into multiple seasons of the HBO series, it’s unclear when we’ll get to properly see the Seraphites like in the game, but at least we’re getting our first glimpses now.
