The Last of Us‘ first season saw Joel and Ellie survive encounters with dangerous groups all across the country. From FEDRA in Boston and Kansas City’s resistance, to cannibal Christians in Colorado and Fireflies in Salt Lake City, the show’s wasteland is populated by countless organizations, each with their own agendas and means of survival. Now the series’ second season has introduced two more important sects from Seattle, the W.L.F. and the “Scars.” Who are these two very different organizations, and what do they both want? Here’s what we’ve learned about each side’s TV show counterpart so far on The Last of Us.
What Is the W.L.F. on The Last of Us?
When Joel killed the Fireflies in Salt Lake City he seemingly destroyed the group. With none of their brethren left, Abby and her friends decided to head to Seattle. They knew about an “outfit” there run by a “guy named Isaac.” Season two’s stunning second episode gave that group an acronym: W.L.F. Based on the weapons, discipline, and tracking abilities Abby and her friends showed while hunting down Joel, W.L.F. clearly did a good job training the former Fireflies.
Episode three revealed that W.L.F. stands for Washington Liberation Front. It started as a “small regional group fighting FEDRA,” the type of organization we met in Kansas City previously. But the end of episode three revealed that W.L.F. has clearly grown in both size and strength from whatever intel Dina had. A large squadron of soldiers marched through the streets of Seattle with tanks. They also have patrols and watchmen all over the city, all signs of a well-run military operation.
While we haven’t met Isaac yet, he turned the W.L.F. into Seattle’s most powerful, ruling militia. However, his group doesn’t seem all that different from the one it replaced. And it also appears W.L.F. faces some of the same problems its predecessor, FEDRA, did. Despite the group’s literal firepower, they weren’t able to convince everyone in Seattle to join their cause. A very different kind of outfit also resides there.
Who Are the “Scars” on The Last of Us?
Episode three also introduced Seattle’s other major organization from The Last of Us Part II video game. While the show did not yet name them, this religious sect is formally known as Seraphites. Colloquially, they are called “Scars” after the religious carvings they put on their face.
The Scars, whose symbol Ellie and Dina came across, follow the teachings and lessons of The Prophet, a woman who died ten years earlier. Unlike W.L.F. and its military garb, the Scars dress in simple, matching green robes. They also shun modern technology. The Last of Us‘ Scars arm themselves with primitive handmade tools like hammers, bows, and arrows rather than automatic guns. They also communicate with whistles rather than walkie-talkies. The Scars developed that code so they could protect themselves.
In episode three of The Last of Us season two, the atavistic Scars stood as more than just the ideological opposite of the militaristic W.L.F. The Scars we met were trying to distance themselves from war with the W.L.F. But they didn’t make it. “Wolves” showed up and slaughtered every Scar, even the children among them.
Why would W.L.F. do that on The Last of Us? What possible harm could people who speak of a Prophet and carry hammers to protect themselves, people quietly traveling through the woods to escape, possibly pose to a highly-organized group running tanks through Seattle’s streets?
HBO’s The Last of Us has a lot more to reveal about both.