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Creating communities and living among like-minded people is one of humanity’s core traits, and it’s no different in the post-apocalyptic world ofThe Last of Us. From Tommy creating the peaceful town of Jackson to the Fireflies being formed to start a revolution, the zombie-infested universe has no shortage of various groups trying to survive and make the best of their unfortunate circumstances.
However, in the third episode of The Last of Us Season 2 on HBO, a new group called the Seraphites, or the Scars, is introduced that looks and feels much different than the other communities featured in the series.
Major spoilers for HBO’s The Last of Us and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2 below.
Who Are The Seraphites?
The introduction of the Seraphites in The Last of Us television adaptation is actually much less hostile and antagonisticcompared to their first appearance in the game,considering they’re the villainsfor a good chunk of The Last of Us Part 2.
In the HBO series, the Seraphites appear to be an innocent group of people who are simply moving from one place to another for safety until they are brutallyattacked and killed by the Washington Liberation Fronton the way.
The little girl Seraphite in the HBO adaptation, called Constance, is likely named after the Elder Constance mentioned in The Last of Us Part 2, who actually learned directly from the Prophet while she was still alive.
Their unconventional looks include completely bald heads for men with no facial hair, braided hair for girls and women, andscars on both cheeksfor some of their members.
On top of that, the way they communicate with each other is also quite different from the rest of the groups featured in The Last of Us, asthey rely on whistling to signalvarious circumstances, including safety and hostility.
The Seraphites are a religious communitywho follow the teachings of a woman they call the Prophet, but it is revealed that she ended up dying years ago, leaving the group disorganized and without any clear sense of direction.
Aside from that, theSeraphites also carry old-school weapons, mainly relying on hammers, bows and arrows, and other melee tools instead of the traditional firearms that the other groups use.
The Seraphites In The Last Of Us Part 2
In the game The Last of Us Part 2,the Seraphites are extremely violent individuals, but it is revealed that the Prophet actuallyfounded the community on the basis of peace, truly believing that the Cordyceps outbreak happened because of humanity’s overindulgence in the materialistic world.
This is why the group doesnot rely on any modern technologyto navigate life, replacing walkie-talkies with whistles, vehicles with horses, and guns with melee weapons.
The Seraphites also allwear the same robe-like clothes, showcasing a sense of unified community and appearing as a collective under one Prophet instead of individuals with their own lives and wants.
Starting off as a small group in Seattle, the Seraphites gradually became a much larger force in the city, resulting in theWLF taking notice and trying to stopits expanding control in the area.
This gave rise to a never-ending conflict between the two factions, during which the Prophet was also taken hostage and eventually killed, resulting in the Seraphitesforgetting their peaceful roots and making up their own rulesfor their people.
The Social Structure Of The Seraphites
The Seraphites follow a hierarchy that consists of individuals known asElders at the very top, who get special privileges like priority access to food, important decision-making, and choice of marriage.
The system followed by the Seraphites also makes it mandatory for theeldest child of every family to become a soldierin the group’s army, which requires an initiation process that involves branding the individual’s cheeks with scars.
However, it is arguably even worse for the other children of the family, as they are mostlychosen for marriage by the Eldersagainst their will, and if they try to retaliate, they are branded as apostates and often sentenced to death.
Without spoiling too many plot details from The Last of Us Part 2, an example of contrasting lives comes in the form of two siblings in the game,Yara and Lev.
While Ellie is almost always fighting against the Seraphites and doesn’t really get the time to learn more about them,Abby witnessesthe inner workings of the religious cult through Yara and Lev.
Yara, who is the older sister, is chosen as a warrior, whereas Lev has to marry one of the Elders,but because of his gender dysphoria, the latter goes against the Seraphite tradition, shaves his head, and announces that he identifies as a male.
That does not sit well with the Elders, as theylabel him a blasphemous apostate, forcing him to run away from the death that awaits him, with his sister deciding to follow him as well.
Since both children are not present to atone for their sins, their mother is the one whoputs herself through pain and hunger, which is another Seraphite tradition that makes the parents of sinful children responsible for their wrongdoings.
How The Seraphites Survive In The Post-Apocalyptic World
The Seraphites reside in atowncalled Haven on Seraphite Island, a piece of land that got separated from Seattle due to the constant flooding that plagues the city, keeping them relatively safe from the WLF, as the faction would require boats to get to them.
However, the Seraphites take every chance that they can get to intercept WLF soldiers while they are traveling through Seattle,destroying their vehicles and killing them.
While the rest of the Seraphite community do not carry firearms, the soldiers understand thatthey do need guns if they want to surviveand win against the WLF, but they still try to get up close and personal with their melee weapons to finish the job.
The Seraphites also oftenhang the bodies of dead WLF soldiersall over Seattle to send a message and make them atone for their sins, removing their arms and praying for their salvation in the process.
Additionally, to make their traversal through the city easier so that the WLF doesn’t catch them, the Seraphites built bases on top of Seattle’s skyscrapers, connecting them withan intricate system of bridgesthat is quite dangerous itself.
With extreme religious beliefs, silence in their predator-like movements, whistling as their mode of communication and coordination during combat, and barbarically unhinged nature, the Seraphites showcase just how much humanity can truly fall once civilization comes to an end, making themone of the most dangerous groupsin the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us.
