We're back with The Last of Us Season 2, with mysterious new characters and geared-up new factions to avoid like the plague or join, depending on your priorities in the apocalypse.Â
In Season 1 of Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann's Naughty Dog game adaptation, it was all about FEDRA and the Fireflies. But now, with the majority of Fireflies sent into oblivion by Joel (Pedro Pascal) in the Season 1 finale, the faction has evolved elsewhere.
In Season 2, episode 1, we meet Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and her crew, who are members of a group with a wolf logo on their gear. But who is this new faction? Are they good or bad?
Now, it'll be unfeasible for me to tell you everything about this group — if you've played the games, you'll know what happens with this group in The Last of Us Part II. But here's what I can tell viewers of the HBO series about the WLF as it happens in Season 2 (with no spoilers beyond what happens in the latest episode on Max).
Wait, who are the Fireflies again?
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
They were a highly skilled, revolutionary militia group whose aim was to liberate quarantine zones (QZs) from the U.S. government's military arm, FEDRA, who in turn branded them terrorists. You might remember Joel and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) found their graffiti on walls all through Season 1 — their motto was "When you're lost in the darkness, look for the light." You might also remember Ellie was a FEDRA cadet with her best friend and first love, Riley (Storm Reid), whose plans to join the Fireflies were fatally derailed.
The Fireflies' leader, Marlene (Merle Dandridge), was the one who sent Tess (Anna Torv) and Joel on the mission to retrieve Ellie in the first place, taking her from the Fireflies' Boston QZ hideout to a Salt Lake City base camp where doctors were working on a cure for the Cordyceps pandemic (remember, Ellie's immune to Infected bites). Marlene would also be the last Firefly killed by Joel at the hospital, after he learned Ellie would be sacrificed for such research — it's the big point of contention between them.
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
And it's at this very medical facility we meet the WLF for the first time in Season 2, episode 1, reeling from what they've found.
What is the Washington Liberation Front in The Last of Us?
Credit: Liane Hentscher / HBO
A militia group hailing from Seattle, the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) are identifiable by their logo featuring a snarling wolf on a yellow triangle — the first time we see this is in episode 2 on one of their backpacks. Made up of former Fireflies and new members, the WLF are a bit of a mystery at this point of the show, but members of the group have already done major damage.
In Season 2, episode 1, we meet former Firefly and soon-to-be WLF member Abby and her friends, Manny (Danny Ramirez), Nora (Tati Gabrielle), Mel (Ariela Barer), and Owen (Spencer Lord), who have discovered the remnants of Joel's massacre of the Fireflies in Salt Lake City. To say they look pissed is an understatement, but Abby is the one who decides they should prioritise tracking down the killer.
We find the Abby and her friends again hiding out in a mountain cabin in the second episode (The Terrible One We Won't Get Over Anytime Soon), where Abby lures Joel and Dina (Isabela Merced) into a fatal trap. Before murdering Joel, she reveals that her father was one of the Fireflies Joel killed in the season finale, the surgeon who was about to operate on Ellie.
But what's Abby's actual involvement with the WLF? Before bludgeoning him to death, Abby tells Joel she's been a militia member for five years and that she's been taught to only attack those who can fight back. "Our commander trained us to follow a code. We don't kill those that can't defend themselves," she says. "And right now, that's you. But I am going to kill you. Because it doesn't matter if you have a code, like me, or you're a lawless piece of shit, like you. There are just some things everyone agrees are just fucking wrong."
We're not sure what Abby's commander will have to say about how she's gone about her vengeance, but we don't know them yet at all, really.
Where is the WLF base?
As we learn over the first three episodes of The Last of Us Season 2, the WLF is based in Seattle. But it's not until episode 3 we actually get to see the scale of the group.
While Ellie and Dina assume the Wolves are a small faction, in the final moments of the episode we see Manny back in Seattle in the crumbling Space Needle overseeing multiple city checkpoints. Then, we see giant tanks rolling through the streets, the type FEDRA used in the first season. They're accompanied by at least 50 foot soldiers, armed to the teeth. Infiltrating the WLF to kill Abby won't be a walk in the park after all.
Who is the WLF leader?
In episode 1, Owen mentions the group's leader, Isaac Dixon (Jeffrey Wright), who we've yet to meet. He'll play a major role in the story, but all we know about him for now is that he's the commander of the faction and the group rely on his approval — and Abby's gone rogue.
What's the deal between the WLF and the Seraphites?
In episode 3, we meet another new group called the Seraphites or "Scars" on a forest trail near Seattle. Their leader calls for everyone to take cover when it appears "Wolves" are on their path. They look terrified, and they should be, as as Ellie and Dina discover the entire Seraphite party slain at the end of the episode.
We're not yet sure what the relationship between the WLF and the Seraphites is at this point in the show, but we do know they're not friendly. Judging by the Seraphite leader's reaction to "Wolves" over what his daughter calls "Demons" as a threat, we think they're more scared of the WLF than they are of Infected.
With both parties existing in Seattle, perhaps their rivalry is territorial — but from the looks of the WLF's tanks, guns, and footsoldiers at the end of the episode, the odds seem somewhat against the Seraphites.
The Last of Us Season 2 is now streaming on Max. New episodes air weekly on Sundays 9 p.m. ET on HBO.