The Last of Us Season 2 Reveals The Backstory Of A Major Villain
A role worthy of its A-list casting.
The Last of Us Season 2 is mostly about Ellie, Abby, and the often-futile drive for revenge. But in the most recent episodes, we’ve learned about the other conflict: a decade-long fight for Seattle between the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), the group Abby belongs to, and the Seraphites, the hyper-religious cult led by a now-martyred prophet.
As this side of the story takes focus, we’re finally getting backstory for one of the game’s most interesting characters who only briefly appeared, and it sets up a shocking moment in the show’s future.
Warning! Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4 below.
Isaac was played by Jeffrey Wright in The Last of Us Part 2, but his role was much smaller.
When Isaac is first mentioned in The Last of Us Part II, he’s ominously mentioned by WLF members who confront Ellie and Dina when they reach Seattle. His name is invoked on patrols they overhear, always said with reverence. It’s not until the last third of the game that we actually see him, fresh from torturing a Seraphite member. He discusses defeating the Seraphites for good, and that’s the last time we see him until a brief appearance towards the end of the story.
Jeffrey Wright plays Isaac in the game and carries his performance over into the series. He’s no stranger to an HBO series, having previously starred in Angels in America, Boardwalk Empire, and Westworld, all on the network. Thankfully, this packed resume is honored with far more screentime this go around.
Hanrahan is an original character added to The Last of Us series.
The first time we see Isaac, it’s not as the realpolitik WLF leader we saw briefly in the game. Instead, he’s shown as a young FEDRA officer annoyed with the flippant behavior of his comrades. When the troop van is approached by an outside group, Isaac gets out and, surprisingly, is recognized by the leader, Hanrahan, a brand-new character for the story.
Without another word, he tosses two grenades into the van and closes the door, murdering his entire squadron. “Welcome to the fight,” Hanrahan says.
This backstory is completely different than the one we’re given in the game. While Isaac doesn’t talk about his backstory, a close look at the documents found in the game reveals he never worked for FEDRA. Instead, he was just a civilian living in the Seattle QZ, one of the “voters” the FEDRA soldiers in the series talk about so disparagingly. He then joined and eventually led a rebellion group that would become the WLF.
Unlike the game, the Seraphite torture is shown in detail.
The next time we see Isaac in the series, it’s 11 years later, in the present day. Much like in the game, he’s torturing a Seraphite, but instead of meeting him just as he’s leaving the room, we see the full interrogation in detail. He discusses fine French cookware while he heats up a saucepan and burns his victim with it, trying to break his faith and get details on the next attack.
If this is just the first episode Isaac appears in, it’s likely we’ll get much more of him in the future. Unlike the game, the show has established that Isaac was once a FEDRA faithful before he defected. What caused him to leave, and how did this whole conflict with the Seraphites start? It’s a recipe for what The Last of Us does best: a rich flashback episode that does more than the game ever could.
