The world of The Last of Us is bleak, harsh, and unforgiving. Players may eventually become numb to the occasional happy moment. Its a dark and broken world that many within it have made the mistake of attempting to fix.
The Fireflies are one of the driving of forces of The Last of Us series. When they saddle Joel with transporting Ellie across the United States in hopes of saving the world, they inadvertently save the man’s soul. His humanity, eroded by the injustices he committed to survive, is restored when he sees his dearly departed daughter in Ellie. However, the Fireflies aren’t as lucky. For those willing to search for it, the game tells a tale about an organization that made a path to hell paved with their good intentions.
10 They Were Martyrs
Players experience the harshness of the United States government’s response to the CBI virus (what turns people into the zombie-like clickers) when a soldier kills Joel’s daughter in the prologue of the first game.
The Fireflies originally formed to protest against the US government’s handling of the situation. After the militant group attacked multiple Quarantine Zones, the government executed half a dozen Fireflies. However, that only served to make them more popular in the public’s eyes.
9 Could The Operation Have Even Worked?
At the end of the first game, Joel realizes that to procure the virus the doctors must kill Ellie. He ultimately makes the morally ambiguous choice of killing everyone he needs to in order to save Ellie. This ultimately triggers the events of Part II and the end of any hope for a cure. Or did it?
The industry-leading expert on fan theories, Matthew Patrick, postulated that perhaps the operation would have been in vain even if they went through with it. He goes much more into the subject, but the key principle was that the medical science presented in the game wasn’t 100% accurate.
8 They Won (But Then They Lost Anyway)
Once their movement began to gain traction they were eventually able to successfully take over various Quarantine Zones. In some areas, like Pittsburg, they liberated entire cities. However, they would soon learn that actions have consequences.
They received most of their help from citizens rising up against the US government with them. However, the public would eventually see the Fireflies as another potential threat to their freedom. The group was chased out of almost every area they helped free.
7 Some Fans Are Official Members
Before the game's release, Naughty Dog held three different contests to get the names of eight winners from each contest on Firefly Pendants in the game. Contests were to make fan art, fan videos/trailers, and cosplay photos of the game.
Wouldn't it be amazing to be a character in a video game? While many players find themselves escaping into the world of video games, few can truly say they are actually a part of it (A recent example is Nintendo naming an Animal Crossing villager after a grandmother who put countless hours of playtime into the series).
Prior to the release date of Part II (June 14, 2019) the series developer, Naughty Dog, held several contests that would allow fans to be included in the game. Fans were allowed to submit cosplay photos, fan art, and other creative content. The winners had their names on various collectible Firefly pendants that players could find in the game.
6 Nearly Every Main Character Has Connections To One
The Fireflies are an integral part of The Last of Us universe, so it makes sense every prominent character would have connections to them.
Joel and Ellie, the two most iconic characters in the franchise, were both very close with members. Joel's brother spent a considerable amount of time as a Firefly before retiring. One of Ellie's best childhood friends was a Firefly. Abby (who, for better or worse, is sure to go down as one of the most controversial characters in gaming history) had the most connections. Of all the playable characters in the series so far, she's the only one to have ever been a member.
5 The Unknown Past of Tommy: Joel’s Brother & Former Firefly
Tommy is an interesting counterpoint to his brother Joel. While Part I focuses on Joel regaining his humanity after years of committing horrible acts to stay alive, by the time the first game begins Tommy already has.
After becoming disgusted by the actions he and his brother were taking, Tommy left him and joined the Fireflies in an effort to help the world. However, once he noticed how far the Fireflies had fled from their humanity as well (at this point they were arguably terrorists) he left them as well and eventually helped run a peaceful community.
His life is the central theme of the series in a microcosm. Even when the world has turned to madness or cruelty, a person can still find the goodness in the world if they look for it (Ergo the moth imagery in Part II that symbolizing searching for the light).
4 Ellie’s Lost Friend
While Part I only briefly mentions the friend Ellie lost, a DLC released later fully elaborated on one of the many people Ellie has lost.
After losing her mother at a young age, Ellie was mostly passed from one parental figure or guardian to another. Riley was one of the first true connections Ellie made when they became friends. However, like almost everyone else in Ellie's life, she left to join the Fireflies. However, she returned to meet back up with Ellie and the two had a fun night at an abandoned mall. But tragedy struck when Riley was bitten by an infected and doomed to die.
3 Marlene, Marlene, Marlene (Please Don’t Take Ellie Just Because You Can)
Just like the titular Jolene in Dolly Parton's iconic song "Jolene", Marlene ultimately seeks to take away an important figure in the protagonist's life.
Not much has been told about Marlene's life before the plague or how she rose through the ranks of the Fireflies. However, it is known that in the twilight of the organization's life Marlene was the one that led it.
At the end of the first game, she makes the hard choice to kill Ellie in order to make a cure that could save the human race. If she joined the Fireflies, its likely she'd end up like most of the people in games. A good human that must make terrible choices to survive.
2 Their Musical Talents
Swaths of fans wanted Naughty Dog to make an Uncharted spin-off that was a Mario Kart type racing game. They called it Unkarted. However, there sadly isn't as much of a push in The Last of Us fandom for something that's a bold new direction for the series. We suggest a musical.
After the release of Part I, Naughty Dog revealed an alternate ending to the first game. While most of Joel's inner turmoil was for killing Fireflies in order to save Ellie, for one take the studio tried something different. Now, to show the extreme emotion the actors used one of the most tragically underused elements of storytelling. Song.
1 Are They Even Still Around? (Spoilers For The Ending of Part II)
At the end of Part II, Abby and Lev finally find evidence of the reemergence of the Fireflies when they contact one via the radio. However, at least it seems like they do.
Almost immediately they’re captured by a gang of human traffickers called the Rattlers. It's never clarified, but is it possible that they faked the signal? It would have been a good strategy to lure unsuspecting survivors out into the open. It's even possible the group was formed-at least in part- out of mutual hatred for the Fireflies (the group was considered by some to be a terrorist organization). However, that’s just a theory.