The Last of Us Season 2: Who Are the Seraphites?

This article contains spoilers for HBO’s The Last of Us season 2 episode 3 and The Last of Us Part II

Episode 3 of The Last of Us season 2 has introduced viewers to yet another faction in this world, providing a look ahead at what kinds of people call post-apocalyptic Seattle home. We know that Seattle is the base for the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), the militia group that Abby and her crew joined after the Fireflies, but there’s another group we meet in this episode that play a large role in The Last of Us Part II – the Seraphites.

While they aren’t technically referred to by name yet in this episode, those who are familiar with the game’s story will recognize the whistling, robed group on the run as Seraphites. In the game, the Seraphites are a religious cult that have taken root in Seattle and are constantly at war with the WLF. Seraphites have renounced old world technology, choosing instead to live off the land and use more primitive weapons like hammers, axes, and bows and arrows.

The Seraphites worship the Prophet, a yet-to-be-named woman who is rumored to have had a vision in the early days of the Cordyceps infection. In her vision, she became inspired to lead a more egalitarian life, living off the land and detaching themselves from mortal pleasures, like technology. The Prophet believed that the Cordyceps infection was a punishment for humanity’s sins and that this new post-apocalyptic world was a chance to start anew. The Prophet is also rumored to have been a fierce fighter who was able to protect the community from attacks by infected.

Throughout The Last of Us Part II, the WLF derogatorily call the Seraphites “Scars,” referring to the self-inflicted scars that are visible on their faces. “We are imperfect beings, and we make ourselves imperfect in her eyes,” is a common saying amongst the Seraphites, and seems to be their motivation for giving themselves these scars. 

Like most religious cults, it seems like the Seraphites have become increasingly zealous over the years, using the Prophet’s teachings to enact violence on others. In the game, we see them hang and dismember people, we learn from a former member that they are incredibly transphobic, and we also learn that they aren’t against marrying children off to the elders. 

In the game, we learn a lot about the Seraphites second hand, from letters left behind, from members of the WLF, and from a couple young kids who have very recently escaped the cult. So we really don’t know how much of their current practices were in the Prophet’s original teachings versus what has potentially been warped and manipulated over the years to justify their actions. It also doesn’t help that the Seraphites have been at war with the WLF for a long time. Both groups have enacted so much violence against each other, and it’s always easier to justify atrocities when you believe you’re fighting for the ‘greater good’ of humanity.

The Seraphites have long been a fascinating part of The Last of Us Part II’s lore, and hopefully we’ll get to see more of them and their origins as the HBO series goes on. The show is already using them as a tactic to show us how ruthless the WLF can be. There’s a reason they’re introduced to us via a small group with a young child that Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) find massacred as soon as they hit the outskirts of Seattle. But as we know in this world, the good guys and the bad guys are never truly as black and white as we might want them to be.

The post The Last of Us Season 2: Who Are the Seraphites? appeared first on Den of Geek.