For those following The Last of Us Part 2, fans will likely remember the second official trailer for the game being very different and very controversial. Brutality aside, the main thing was every single character shown was new. Everything was cryptic, with many of the characters speaking in code and plenty of people getting maimed and killed. Some even theorized it was a radicalized version of the Fireflies that Ellie and Joel encountered during the event of the first game.
Assuming some fans still haven't been spoiled from the leak, many are likely wondering what happened to the Fireflies after Joel and Ellie escaped from the hospital. Considering the end of The Last of Us didn't bode well for the Fireflies, the group's future is left uncertain. With five years difference between the first game and The Last of Us Part 2, from everything that's been shown it seems the Fireflies are either gone entirely, or have transformed into something far more radical than before. Note: There will be no known spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 ahead.
Where are the Fireflies Now?
Five years prior to The Last of Us 2, the Fireflies were a highly organized militant group working to reinstate a unified government. As players found out in The Last of Us, the group had an additional desire to find the cure to the cordyceps brain infection that spread and turned people into the game's version of zombies. It's why Ellie was so important to the group, they intended to sacrifice her and utilize her immunity to create a cure for the disease with no proof that it would work. Joel's mission was to escort Ellie to the Fireflies, not even knowing that was their true intentions.
Joel turned on the Fireflies, killing their leader Marlene and escaping with Ellie to a safe community. After that, the Fireflies presumably disappeared or lost control without their leader. The group was a nationwide organization, spread across what's left of the United States, so it's unclear what happened to them. The Last of Us Part 2 has hinted at the continued existence of the Fireflies, and that Joel and Ellie may run into them again. But this new group shown in the second trailer seems very different in comparison. Each member refers to others using biblical references like sheep and lamb when referring to other people. There's a strong tie to religion for this group, yet their actions depict much more savage and disorganized intentions.
Remnants of the Fireflies
This group, through all that's officially known so far, doesn't seem to have any known affiliation with the Fireflies. They're similarly large in numbers, but the way this group seems to be interacting with the world around them is completely different. The Fireflies were an organized rebellious group against the former federal government militants, a structured force that was systematically fighting back. Morale was already low between the Fireflies prior to the events of The Last of Us, so for them to lose not only their leader but several of their members at the end of the first game, it doesn't bode well for their group.
But, it's very possible that the group seen in these trailers are the remnants of the Fireflies afflicted with rage. This group realized Ellie was in the Jackson settlement, which leads to the people living there getting attacked. Some theories going around point to someone's death from these attacks causing Ellie to go on her vengeful quest in The Last of Us 2. Granted we know now that it wasn't Joel's death that instigated Ellie, but something else that caused her to go after this group. Later on in the trailer, there's a voice presumably from one of the members of this group that says "we could've killed you."
A Possible Connection
This can be interpreted a number of ways, especially considering how much is still not known about the full game. One possibility is that this threat is potentially in reference to The Last of Us' ending, when Ellie was almost killed for the Fireflies' research. The woman's voice could be a member/former member of the Fireflies who's now part of this new, more radicalized group. Realizing that Ellie is the one they were after for a cure, it's very possible these attacks occurred to draw her out for capture. Or this could be a long-standing grudge from a former Firefly looking to get even. Otherwise it's hard to discern why these attacks were made against the settlement, considering the settlement likely has higher numbers and greater firepower.
The only other option is that this truly is a completely new group, one bent on brutality for no discernible reason, but that wouldn't make any sense for the sequel. Why attack a settlement where they're greatly outnumbered? How does someone from this particular group of folks know who Ellie is? It's hard not to draw some kind of correlation and could be the last of the Fireflies looking to get even or achieve their ultimate goal.
The Last of Us 2 is coming to PS4 on June 19.
