Last Updated on May 23, 2025 @ 14:30:12 PM.
The Last of Us Season 2 is almost over, but some fans pieced together certain events that linked this adaptation to the source material. The HBO team walked into this project knowing that it couldn’t be a one-for-one adaptation, and the show greatly benefited from the creative changes.
One of the best parts about this adaptation is being able to answer some questions left by the game. The details and execution were a bit different, but it directly answers how certain groups or factions came to be amidst the events of the second game.
The Last of Us Season 2 Filled in the Gaps for Some of the Game’s Mysteries
During Ellie and Dina’s first day in Seattle, they came across an old FEDRA truck full of skeletons and a cryptic note that hints at betrayal. This section is probably the longest and most open section of The Last of Us Part 2. The survivors explore different buildings and points of interest and can stumble into a broken-down FEDRA transport by the river.
Inside this truck are skeletons of FEDRA soldiers who were killed and likely betrayed by one of their own. The fourth episode somewhat answered how this happened with Jeffrey Wright’s Isaac Dixon’s explosive introduction.
this is INSANE pic.twitter.com/fxpTpDSrZH
— riri (@cbyrir) May 21, 2025
In the episode, this was Isaac’s final test to win the trust of the local rebellion that then becomes the Washington Liberation Front. Isaac has grown tired of how people with power, like FEDRA, abuse it and do not fulfill their roles as protectors but become oppressors instead. To prove his loyalty to the people, he spared one soldier and threw grenades within the transport to kill his men.
In the game, the truck was riddled with bullets, and a note was written by what one can assume to be the same soldier Isaac spared, who was later radicalized after years of fighting. The video game version may not be canon to the live-action adaptation and vice versa, but it is a nice connective thread that somewhat answers one of the game’s many mysteries.
Also the letter you can find in the truck is written by the soldier who betrayed fedra for isaac
— jade (@uqjqjjqqk) May 21, 2025
It is interesting to see The Last of Us Season 2 take time to build up parts of the original narrative that didn’t get as much attention. Seattle has been a war zone for the WLF and Seraphites for years, and the show gave audience members a formal origin story as to how certain events happened and to understand Isaac’s motivations.
For more Thumb Wars coverage, check out how The Last of Us Part 3 may not be the second Naughty Dog project, and Tony Dalton’s brief cameo in The Last of Us Season 2 before starring in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Otherwise, follow Thumb Wars on X, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram to keep up with the latest news, reviews, and interviews!
Rouvin Josef Quirimit is a Content Writer, an avid gamer (on his PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch), and film enthusiast. He was fortunate to grow up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was enamored by the storytelling of a shared universe full of heart and spectacle. His love for movies led him to great single-player games and he intends to cover major franchises for years to come!
