Includes MASSIVE SPOILERS for The Last of Us season 2, episode 2, and MASSIVE SPOILERS for The Last of Us Part II video game!
The Last of Usseason 2 has just introduced one of the core factions from the games, andthey’ll play an integral role throughout the following episodes.The Last of Usseason 2’s castis more expansive than the previous run, focusing on more of an ensemble rather than the franchise’s central duo. Season 1 showed audiences several groups, from the Fireflies to FEDRA to the Kansas City resistance, with no clear indication of right and wrong between them, a complication that the sophomore run will continue to examine.
In the lawless country exhibited inThe Last of Usfranchise, factions form and dissolve quickly, demonstrating the ruthlessness and instability of the show’s world. InThe Last of Usseason 2, episode 2, we even see Jackson, a peaceful commune utopia, get disrupted by a horde of infected. The show’s most dramatic moment sees Abby, a new character in season 2, tracking down andkilling Joel Miller, andthe members of Abby’s group are shown to have patches that read “WLF,“introducing a crucial new group.
WLF Stands For Washington Liberation Front In The Last Of Us
WLF Members Are Generally Referred To As Wolves
InThe Last of Us Part II, WLF isone of the primary factions involved in the game’s Seattle plotline, which comprises the bulk of the story. Often referred to as “Wolves,” WLF actually stands for Washington Liberation Front, a noble-sounding title for a group that’s essentially a paramilitary organization, equipped with some of the strongest resources and military technology one can find in the world ofThe Last of Us.
WLF Became What They Hated
Image via Max
FEDRA was a United States government agencythat exists inThe Last of Us, with the organization tending to most city quarantine zones at the start of the outbreak. However, like we saw with Boston in season 1,FEDRA has a habit of making enemies with its tyrannical rule, leading to violent resistance groups forming in response.The Last of Usconsistently explores a cycle with these resistance groups, where once they’ve taken over, they become precisely what they once hated. InThe Last of Us Part II, WLF fills that role.
Rather than offering the city liberation, WLF established itself as the new city government, forcing the remaining civilians to join them.
Characters named Emma and Jason Patterson formed WLF in response to FEDRA’s horrifying treatment in the Seattle area, and the once-peaceful protests quickly turned to violent retaliation. After the Pattersons were killed,Isaac Dixon became the leader of WLF through violence and death, helping to defeat FEDRA and secure the vast majority of Seattle for his group. Rather than offering the city liberation, WLF established itself as the new city government, forcing the remaining civilians to join them.
Isaac Dixon is played byWestworldstar Jeffrey Wright in the video game, and the actor will reprise his role for season 2 of the TV series.
Abby’s Group Joined The WLF After The Fireflies Disbanded
Joel Describes Abby’s Group As Military; He’s Not Wrong
The Last of Usseason 2 premiere introduced Abby and her friends, all of whom were young Fireflies in the Salt Lake City establishment before the show’s five-year time gap. When Joel massacred the Fireflies of Saint Mary’s Hospital and killed the doctor, Abby’s father, she and her group were left to fend for themselves. TheFireflies are practically eliminated at this point, so they traveled north to Seattle and joined WLF, a choice they’ve come to have largely mixed feelings about.
Abby and her companions have spent years living in Seattle, but flashbacks in the game reveal that her attempts at happiness were plagued byher desire for revenge against Joel. Like we’ve seen with Ellie, Dina, and Jesse in Jackson,the characters living in Seattle have experienced the highs and lows of romantic relationships and friendships of their own. That said, while Jackson has sought relative peace, focusing on protecting its people from Infected and outside groups, WLF has continued to wage war for control over the city.
The WLF’s War With The Seraphites Explained
WLF Still Fights For Control Of Seattle
After the fall of FEDRA, WLF became increasingly hostile over the years, with their main enemy becoming the Seraphites, a faction that had left the main city to settle on a nearby island. While the Wolves referred to this group as Scars, the Seraphites were insulted by this name, as they had becomea religious group under a mysterious leader known as the Prophet. The Seraphites are the most curious group depicted in the games, with strict rules that they live by, such as not using any tools or objects from the “old world,” like guns.
Conflict between the Wolves and the Seraphites took off when the Prophet organized a bombing against a WLF supply platoon, killing several soldiers and destroying trucks.Isaac is portrayed as a ruthless character in the video game, with his primary objective being to wage war on the Seraphitesrather than protect his own people. The game sees him organizing a full-on invasion, with the main characters caught in the middle of all-out war as WLF prepares to defeat its enemy once and for all, sailing all its boats to the Seraphite Island.
What Happened To The Washington Liberation Front In The Last Of Us
WLF’s Fate Isn’t Entirely Clear
The ending ofThe Last of Us Part IIis vague on multiple accounts, with the POV characters moving away from Seattle before we can see the outcome of the war. WLF invades the Seraphite Island with its full strength, and the subsequent battle is devastating for both sides. Abby is caught in the middle of the conflict, and she ends up face-to-face with Isaac, after previously betraying his orders to help with the war.Isaac is shot in the back, and a radio broadcast can be heard later on, explaining the outcome of the invasion.
WLF was repelled by the Seraphites and forced to retreat from the island, though, as we see in the game, the Seraphite establishments are lit almost entirely ablaze in the invasion. It’s pretty cheesy to say “no one wins in war,” but the result is ultimately a pyrrhic victory for the Seraphites. Following the conflict, it’s unclear what happens to WLF inThe Last of Us. It’s possible that they rebuild with the remaining members, or that they disperse like the Fireflies, with their population spreading to other cities and factions. Perhaps the HBO adaptation can offer more insight.
