The Last Of Us Season 2 Introduced The Seraphites Early, But I'm Still Looking Forward To One Shocking Moment Involving The Cult

The Last of Us season 2 has introduced the Seraphites much earlier than I expected, but it can still preserve the shock of Ellie's first encounter with this religious cult. While Jackson is deliberating over whether or not to send a 16-person revenge squad after Joel’s killers, The Last of Us season 2, episode 3, “The Path,” cuts away to a forest clearing just outside Seattle. There, we’re introduced to a religious cult whose members all have scars across their faces.

Ellie’s first encounter with the Seraphites in The Last of Us Part II is one of the most shocking moments in the game. Now that the TV show has introduced the Seraphites before Ellie even gets to Seattle, it seems like it won’t be able to repeat that shock factor from its source material. But the way the show has depicted the Seraphites so far means that it can still preserve the horror of the moment Ellie first encounters the cult.

The Last Of Us Season 2 Introduced The Seraphites Much Earlier Than I Expected

The TV Show Introduced The Seraphites Before Ellie Even Got To Seattle

As a huge fan of the game, I was really excited to see the Seraphites realized in live-action in the TV show — the trailers were full of tantalizing Seraphite shots — but I didn’t expect them to be introduced so early. In the game, Ellie is in Seattle for a day and a half before she sees any Seraphites. She sees murals depicting the Seraphite prophet and finds letters, religious totems, and dead bodies establishing the cult’s presence in the city.

But she doesn’t encounter the Seraphites in person until she’s cutting through the park and an arrow hits her in the shoulder. After getting past that wave of Seraphites, she stumbles across another group of Seraphites executing a captured Wolf. They ritualistically hang their prisoner with a noose and carve into their abdomen. It’s a very disturbing sight that establishes these new enemies as being just as formidable as the other hostile Seattle faction. Now, it seems as though the TV show can’t replicate the shock factor of that moment.

The Seraphites' Unexpected Brutality Will Still Make Ellie's First Encounter Shocking

They're Not As Innocent As They Look

Just because The Last of Us has introduced the Seraphites so early, it doesn’t mean that Ellie’s first encounter with the cult can’t have the same impact. So far, the show has only depicted the Seraphites as a seemingly benevolent religious group being brutalized by the Wolves. So, it’ll still be a surprise when Ellie finds how brutal they are themselves, ritualistically hanging and mutilating people. The Last of Us’ TV audience will still be horrified to learn that the Seraphites aren’t as innocent as they look.