The Last Of Us' Seraphites Explained: Symbol, Face Scars, Prophet & Game Connection

The Last Of Us

word of advice : This article check spoilers forThe Last of Usseason 2 , episode 3 , andThe Last of Us Part II .

In the episode , it ’s undecipherable who these cultists are , butplayers ofThe Last of Us Part IIrecognized them straight off . They ’re from a grouping call the Seraphites , whowill become a large part of the level now that Ellie and Dina are in Seattle . All the mysteries surrounding this rage — their symbolization , their oracle , the scars on their faces — will be answered as Ellie and Dina search the city and get swing out up in their civil war withthe Washington Liberation Front . So , who are the Seraphites , and who killed them ?

The Religious Cult Introduced In The Last Of Us Season 2 Are The Seraphites

The Seraphites Are At War With The W.L.F.

The spiritual cultist seen inThe Last of Usseason 2 , sequence 3are Seraphites . As they travel further into the city , Ellie and Dina will come to the ominous recognition that they ’ve ramble into an fighting warzone . The Seraphites are in the midst of a brutal civil warfare with Abby ’s grouping , the W.L.F.Every endeavour at a armistice or a ceasefire has failed , because someone on one side inevitably interrupt the peace and restart the difference of opinion . This civil war encapsulates the story ’s thematic geographic expedition of the interminable , futile bike of violence .

By the meter Ellie and Dina get to Seattle , the state of war has escalated to the point that one group will have to pass over out the other in fiat to put a stop to the fighting . The Seraphites inhabit on an island just outside Seattle . It ’s technically not an island ; it ’s a part of the metropolis , formerly know as the Queen Anne suburb , that ’s been separated from the rest of the city by flooding . Their prophet forbids them from using any technology from the “ sure-enough world,”so they use gas lanterns and fight the septic with arrows .

What The Seraphites' Symbol Means

It Looks Like A Wound With A Stitch Through It

The Seraphites have a very classifiable symbol that appears all throughout the biz , butthe signification of the allegory is never fully explain . It ’s been see in a few different ways , compare to everything from the ichthys to the Pisces symbol . But the explanation that make up the most good sense is thatit ’s a combat injury with a stitch through it . Healing wounds is a common spiritual theme — just expect at Christianity ’s stress on mark — andit ties in with the Seraphites ’ ritualistic practice of giving themselves mark . Stitching up an open wound would , of course , result in a mark .

Why The Seraphites Have Scars On Their Faces

It’s An Initiation Ritual

The most typical affair about the Seraphites that differentiate them from other factions inThe Last of Usuniverse is the scars on their human face . This is an initiation ritual for new members . When a new Seraphite joins the cult , they have to cut the side of their grimace and allow them heal as permanent scars . This ritual has lead the W.L.F. to mint the derogative slur “ scars”to refer to Seraphites . These scratch have a symbolic meaning . The Prophet decreed that every Seraphite should give themselves scarsas a monitor of humanity ’s inherent imperfectness .

Who The Prophet Is & Why She’s So Important To The Seraphites

The Prophet Had A Vision Of Utopian Post-Apocalyptic Life

The Seraphites follow the teachings of their unknown vaticinator . briefly after the Cordyceps outbreak , the Prophet had a imaginativeness of utopian post - apocalyptic life and founded the Seraphites to bring that vision to life . At some point before the events ofThe Last of Usseason 2 , the W.L.F. captured the Prophet and executed her . After she died , the Elders took over Seraphite leading and twisted her teachings to suit their own selfish desires . They ramp up the vehemence that the Prophet preach against and took multiple minor “ wife ” from the Seraphite population .

Who Killed The Seraphites Members In The Last Of Us Season 2 - Was It The WLF?

It’s Unconfirmed, But It’s Highly Likely The Wolves Did It

When Ellie and Dina arrive in Seattle , they find that the Seraphite patrol we saw earlier in the episode has been slaughter . Their death are much too clean to have been because of the infect , so it ’s likely that it was the W.L.F. The final moments of the installment show just how huge and redoubtable the W.L.F. is . The organization did n’t get that big and overthrow the Q.Z. without being ruthless enough to slaughter a group like this without call back twice .

The Seraphites' Role In The Last Of Us Part 2 Game Explained

Protecting Two Young Seraphite Runaways Is Abby’s Redemption Arc

During Ellie ’s rampage through Seattle , the Seraphites are an important part of the environmental storytelling . Their constant attacks put another obstruction between Ellie and her revenge , andgive her enough more people to kill as she step by step suffer her humanity in the pursuit of payback . Their war with the W.L.F. not only makes Seattle a ruthlessly hostile gameplay environment ; it also symbolize the cycle of violence that the game explores through Ellie and Abby ’s chain of retribution . But the Seraphites do n’t become a significant part of the plot of ground until the gameswitches its linear perspective to Abby .

Their warfare with the W.L.F. not only makes Seattle a ruthlessly hostile gameplay surroundings ; it also symbolizes the cps of vehemence that the biz research through Ellie and Abby ’s chain of retribution .

Throughout Ellie ’s three day in Seattle , she goes through the same aroused journey that Abby went on before the events of the game . She sets out to exact retaliation for her don ’s end , she becomes a cold - blooded Orcinus orca in the process , and she finds that payback does n’t make her find any better . At the close of those three day , the biz expire back to show the same three days from Abby ’s perspective . Abby ’s storyline shows what add up next . After losing her humanity in the pursuit of revenge against Joel , Abby charts a tricksy route to redemption .

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Killing Joel did n’t make Abby feel any better about her pappa ’s last . Instead , she discover something else to fight for . She lease two untried runaway Seraphites namedLev and Yaraunder her fender and becomes ferociously protective of them — even turning on her own the great unwashed to keep them good . Abby ’s moral force with Lev and Yara isdeliberately remindful of Joel and Ellie . We determine a pile more about the Seraphites through Lev and Yara , and see that there are human existence on both side of any battle . ButThe Last of Usprobably wo n’t get to this until season 3 .