They haven’t just been killed; they’ve been ritualistically slaughtered. They’ve been strung up on nooses and had their guts carved out of their bodies. And if that wasn’t ominous enough, Ellie follows a trail of blood to a graffiti tag on the wall: a Seraphite logo painted in blood, accompanied by the words, “Feel her love.” This tells Ellie that the massacre was carried out by the seemingly benevolent religious group they saw murdered in the woods. But what exactly does “Feel her love” mean, and why is it significant?
"Feel Her Love" Is A Saying Used By The Seraphites In The Last Of Us
It's One Of Several Seraphite Mantras
In The Last of Us season 2, episode 4, Ellie finds the phrase “Feel her love” written in blood at the scene of the dead W.L.F. members. “Feel her love” is a saying commonly used by the Seraphites. Contrary to its loving message, the Seraphites usually write this phrase in their enemies’ blood. This perfectly encapsulates the central paradox of the Seraphite religion: the prophet founded this organization on teachings of love and togetherness, but since her death, those teachings have been warped by the Elders to promote violence, manipulation, and servitude.
The Seraphites have a few different mantras; “Feel her love” is just one of them. When the W.L.F.’s leader Isaac is seen torturing a naked Seraphite with a scorching-hot Williams-Sonoma saucepan, the Seraphite refuses to give up any intel and instead keeps repeating the phrase, “She guides me.” The Seraphites often tell each other, “May she guide you,” which is essentially the Seraphite version of the Christian mantra “Peace be with you.” It’s what members of the religion say to each other to express kindness, camaraderie, and good wishes.
"Feel Her Love" Connects To The Seraphites' Worship Of The Prophet
The Prophet Is The "Her" Of "Feel Her Love"
“Feel her love” points to the Seraphites’ worship and devotion to their prophet. The “her” of “Feel her love,” and the “she” of “May she guide you,” is the Seraphite prophet. Shortly after the outbreak, the Seraphite religion was founded by a woman who had a vision of utopian post-apocalyptic life. She formed the Seraphites on the basis of denouncing old-world technology and embracing the traditions of farming, whittling, and carpentry. But after she was captured and executed by the W.L.F., the Elders took over the religion, ramped up the warfare, and chose multiple underage “wives” from the community’s children.
What the Seraphites are doing now — stringing up Wolves, pulling out their organs, and painting their logo in blood — is so far removed from what the prophet originally preached. So, it’s ironic that the Seraphites are still hung up on their obsession with the prophet and the sayings she pioneered. When she came up with her teachings of love, she didn’t expect them to be written in blood at the scene of a massacre. The Last of Us season 2’s background storytelling is pointing to the key theme of Ellie’s revenge narrative: the futility of the endless cycle of violence.
The Last of Us airs new episodes on HBO and Max every Sunday.
The Last of Us’ TV adaptation had the freedom to cut away and introduce the Seraphites on their own terms, but the game was limited to Ellie’s perspective. As she explores Seattle on her first day in the city, she first learns about the presence of a strange religious cult when she sees murals depicting the prophet bearing the phrase, “Feel her love.” It’s a key tenet of the Seraphite religion, but it’s also been so ridiculously skewed since the prophet first came up with it that it’s come to mean the opposite: feel her wrath.
