Video game adaptations almost always differ from the source material, and HBO’s The Last of Us is no exception. Some characters have different motivations in the show, and a few iconic moments end up happening in a different location. However, one of the sequences the show keeps fairly accurate is Joel’s death at the hands of Abby. It has to be so brutal that Ellie feels she has no choice but to head to Seattle and kill Abby and her crew. Well, she makes her decision in Season 2, Episode 3, “The Path,” with Dina and Ellie traveling to Seattle and coming across a conflict that’s going to shake them to their core.
Around midway through “The Path,” the episode heads to the forests of Seattle, where a group of survivors is looking for a new place to call home. They’re clearly religious fanatics, but it’s hard to judge during the apocalypse, and it’s clear that HBO is hoping that’s how everyone will feel because the group’s introduction isn’t anything like the one in the game.
The Seraphites Join the Fray in The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 3
Most of “The Path” focuses on Ellie trying to adjust to life without Joel in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She tells everyone that needs to hear it that she’s okay after her three-month stay in the hospital and is ready to move on. However, a trip to Joel’s old house makes everything rush back, and after Dina reveals she has information about Abby and her friends, the kid gloves come off. The two of them devise a plan to sneak out to seek revenge, but they have no idea what they’re walking into.
The big issue with Ellie and Dina’s plan is that they believe the Washington Liberation Front, aka the WLF, is a small outfit that won’t pose much of a threat. As the end of “The Path” reveals, though, it’s actually a massive militia with access to military-grade vehicles and weapons. Abby and her allies need all the equipment they can get because they’re battling another group, the Seraphites. They make a brief appearance during the episode, with their journey being cut short after a brutal attack by the WLF. Ellie and Dina come across remnants of the fight, which reaffirms their belief that the WLF needs to go. However, this moment isn’t anything like the Seraphites’ introduction in The Last of Us Part II video game, proving once again that HBO isn’t tying its hands to the past.
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HBO’s The Last of Us Changes the Seraphites’ Introduction for One Big Reason
In The Last of Us Part II, Ellie and Dina head to Seattle and start learning more and more about the WLF. They also pick up breadcrumbs about the Seraphites, a cult that worships a prophet with mysterious origins. It takes a while for Ellie to come into contact with the Seraphites, but when she does, they aren’t the sympathetic figures that HBO makes them out to be. Ellie gets shot by an arrow before coming across a few members of the cult hanging a man in the forest. It then becomes a battle for survival, with Ellie having to take out more than a few Seraphites to get away.
That’s a lot different than what happens in the show, and there’s an easy explanation for that. Both Last of Us games, as well as the first season of the show, are all about perspective. Yes, there are characters like David who are downright evil, but most people are just trying to get by in a lawless world. They make tough choices and have to live with the consequences of them. Season 2 appears to be following suit, with Abby opening up about her dad before killing Joel. However, first impressions still matter, so to avoid a situation where the audience hates the Seraphites from the jump, HBO is switching things up.
At this point in the story, all the hatred is pointed in the WLF’s direction. That’s going to change over the course of this season and next, but there’s no need to pull the audience in a million different directions just yet. Let them focus on the enemy at hand before deciding whose side they’re really on or if they want to bow out on the whole thing.
The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming on Max.
Do you like the change HBO makes to the Seraphites’ introduction in The Last of Us Season 2? Do you think it improves on the game? Let us know in the comments below!
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