The Seraphites are among the new factions on The Last of Us: Part II. During the course of the game, players will learn the most about the movement during their campaign with Abby. Currently, the Scars are at war with Abby’s Washington Liberation Front in the race of taking the full reign of Seattle.
Here, we’re answering some of the fans’ unanswered questions about the Seraphites and revealing some of the religious cult’s key facts. Make yourself at home if you have finished Part II because there will be so many significant spoilers ahead, but if you haven’t, feel free to back off!
10 They Formed Shortly After The Outbreak
The Seraphites were formed roughly ‘a few years’ after the 2013 Outbreak Day, the day the Cordyceps Brain Infection took over. Based in Seattle, the group started out as a small gathering who followed a woman,who proclaimed herself as a prophet who believed that the infection was caused by ‘human’s sins.’
Aside from numerous name-drops and graffiti scattered throughout the game, the Seraphites’ prophet actually never makes an in-game appearance. At some point before the game’s events, she died though the cause was pretty unclear.
9 They Started Off As A Peaceful Community
During the early stage of the Seraphites’ formation, the rebel militia group Washington Liberation Front (WLF) was at war against the Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA). The prophet wanted to step away from the hostile war to form her own peaceful community on an island far away from Seattle’s shores.
Unlike the more militarized WLF and FEDRA, the Seraphites formed their own, arming themselves with traditional weapons such as bows, axes, and hatchets. They even believed that human’s reliance on machines and technology is sinful, which they claim led to the Cordyceps Infection.
8 They Brokered Peace With the Wolves
Having started as a peaceful community, the Seraphites and the Wolves never had a problem back in the days. However, the death of their prophet led them astray from her original peaceful preachings. Even though it’s never mentioned in any of their sacred texts, the elders of the community decided to use violence as a way of survival some time after her passing.
At some point, the Wolves and the Seraphites called for a truce, only for each side to break it all over again. Both groups’ desire to control Seattle caused the war to sufficiently escalate to even worse degrees than anticipated.
7 They Use Whistling As A Form Of Frontline Communication
Through both Ellie and Abby’s journey, you’ll find out that the Seraphites use some kind of whistling as their way to communicate on the battlefield. This whistling makes it harder for their enemies to decipher their commands or messages, making it easier for them to eliminate their enemies efficiently. Mastering the whistling code and the English language gives the Scars’ a massive advantage, as it lets them understand their enemies’ communication, but not vice versa.
During the game, the only help you can have of understanding what their whistling means is through the subtitles, so good luck with that.
6 The Prophet Originally Preached Peace & Non-Violence
Outside of her gender, no one knew exactly who the prophet was but from all the letters, drawings, and collectibles found in the game, it’s clear that she initially promoted love and compassion. When she started the community, she did her best to keep them away from the violent WLF/FEDRA war, hoping to never cross that line and live peacefully on the island.
Together, they built villages and its capital, called Haven, where majority of the population lived. It’s just sad to see that after her death, her followers began preaching violence against the Wolves, something she was heavily against.
5 They’re The Weakest Faction In The War
According to Yara, before Isaac’s WLF invasion, the Seraphites were roughly a thousand strong, although only half were trained for combat. It means that they had a little over 500 ready-to-die soldiers, contrary to the Wolves’ plentiful battalions who are armed with extensive stocks of modern weaponry.
They were never a militia group in the first place, which made them the weakest side of the uneven-yet-inevitable battle with the Wolves. They eventually lost but they were able to deal significant blow to the Wolves (more on that later).
4 They Follow A Primitive Lifestyle
The Seraphites adopted a primitive lifestyle, including how they distribute their food while also arranging their children’s marriage. According to them, the first recipient of the meals should be the elder of the community, and so on. They also punish parents whose kids don’t follow their religion’s rules by cutting them short from their food stocks.
Speaking of arranged marriages, Lev was actually named Lily, and his mother wanted him to marry someone older. Instead, he decided to shave his head off and run away from the community that raised him.
3 Owen Didn’t Agree With The Seraphites’ Philosophy
During your early campaign with Abby, you’ll find out that Owen went AWOL from the Wolves because he did not share the same philosophy of violence with Isaac and Danny. It’s mentioned that Owen refused to kill an elder Seraphite but Danny insisted, which eventually led to Owen shooting Danny in the stomach and running away. Danny still managed to walk his way to the WLF’s gate, but passed away shortly after telling Isaac that Owen was out there protecting a Scar.
Owen was never a fan of violence and he’s had enough of it. When the two crossed an elder, defenseless Seraphite, this became a turning point in his life.
2 They Believe in Human Sacrifice as a Way to Redeem Their Sins
It’s crazy to think how far can human civilization goes backward in less than 20 years. Case in point, the Seraphites are such a dangerous and primitive cult that they’re not a stranger to practicing human sacrifice.
Believing that they’re ’nested with sins’ for their reliance on machinery and technology, the Seraphites hang people who are not a part of their group and cut their organs out to free these sacrifices from their sins. Then, they’d end the ritual with a chant, “Now they are free.”
1 They Killed Isaac
The Seraphites, as mentioned earlier, were only 500 soldiers strong, defending against Isaac’s vicious battalions and unlimited stocks. The inevitable ambush happened at night, but the Seraphites were already prepared for that moment. They managed to hold off Isaac’s soldiers, inflicting heavy casualties on an otherwise superior foe.
Later through a radio broadcast, Abby learned that Isaac died from a gunshot by Yara. The Seraphites might have lost their villages, but the Wolves lost their one and only leader, leaving the future of the ruthless militia group in limbo.
