Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us.
After episode eight of The Last of Us aired on HBO Max, there were repeated comments that were found across social media, from Reddit to TikTok. There were different variations of it, but it all reads around the lines of “The clickers are fake, but David is real.” For context, episode eight, titled ‘When we are in need,’ featured an antagonist that isn’t something completely exaggerated for the sake of the show. Someone like David can be found in the real world today.
These comments reminded me of a scene in episode four when Joel told Ellie that there are worse things that people could do than “kill.” Ellie thought starting the fire would attract the infected toward them. But Joel explained to her that it was the people that they needed to be wary of.
This made me realize that this show has a greater nemesis than the infected.
In a show where 60 percent of the population has perished thanks to a mutated fungal infection, for some reason, it seems like the fallen humans aren’t the enemy. But rather it’s humanity itself that are the real villains of this story. And this continues to be the case as the series goes on.
Throughout the show, we’ve seen how different groups of survivors were able to live for 20 years after the apocalypse. And at first glance, it’s just intense resource management, as well as forming some sort of leadership hierarchy in order to keep people safe. But the more we watch Joel and Ellie travel across the country, we continue to see how violent and dangerous humanity has become.
What’s depressing is that you’d think that humanity would work together, especially on how everything collapsed in just one night. But based on what we saw in episode three, as well as a few others, some people want to do things their way, as they believe they could do a better job of surviving, and it worked. And this was further continued in later episodes where we see rebellious uprisings against FEDRA, mem killing men, and bombings that in the end, don’t help the remaining parts of humanity who just want to live.
In episode seven, we see Ellie and Riley debate whether or not FEDRA is, and I quote, “fascist dickbags who should be hanged for their crimes.” It was also revealed by Ellie that the Fireflies bombed the storage depot as a form of rebellion against FEDRA. We see two groups of power who survived the apocalypse and are in opposition, doing everything they can to overthrow the other, only to have the everyday people suffer. Maybe that’s why the people in Kansas revolted against their FEDRA leaders.
Speaking of Kansas, it’s no different. Henry and Kathleen were willing to kill people for the sake of their families. And for Kathleen, people respected her since she was able to make a change and liberate Kansas City from FEDRA. But it was her need for revenge that lead to the downfall of the city when her Freedom Fighters didn’t prioritize the infected threat that’s been looming for quite some time. In the end, the rest of Kansas’ survivors who had nothing to do with Kathleen’s revenge plot ended up suffering.
And let’s talk about the show’s biggest villain by far in the show, David the pedophilic, cannibalistic, possibly abusive, preacher. In episode eight, he instilled fear in his “sheep.” People needed his permission to do something like hunting, which led to them not being ready to survive the winter. People were afraid to speak against him and would get hurt if they do. Even the tiny details in the show reveal how this guy isn’t doing everything for the people who rely on him.
During the communal dinner scene, he was the only one with the most food on his plate, while everyone else barely had enough to fill themselves. There is already a power imbalance seen between the leader and the followers that also eventually led to that group’s downfall.
Oddly enough, the only way to beat this show’s great evil is for humanity itself to come together. The only place in the series where there is some sort of safety and order is that one independent settlement in Jackson, the place where Tommy lives. Not only is there a working government but everyone is on the same page to the point where they were able to thrive and live like it’s 2003. There is food, entertainment, education, resources, etc. And most importantly, everyone is safe and can trust each other.
The same can be said for episode three. Bill and Frank not only found love but also a purpose aswell. And Bill’s life lessons from when he was a lone wolf “survivalist” to a lover, would be eventually passed down to Joel when he needs to take care of Ellie. Speaking of those two, have you noticed how Joel no longer saw her as “cargo” and calls her “baby girl” in episode eight? The two were able to rely upon and trust each other, which helped them survive this journey.
If humanity were able to work together to conquer this beast of survival, things would have probably worked out. But thanks to greed, power, and the need to control others, you can see why most of the deaths we see in the show are caused by other surviving humans. Meanwhile, the infected are just another threat to be aware of, but would hardly attack unless provoked or detected.