( ) — If you’re following the chaotic path of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in The Last of Us series, you’ll have come across the terms Fireflies and Phaedra, among others.
Fighting against infected, both go together with Tess (Anna Torv) to the United States Capitol, which is where they have to take Ellie to be there with a group of Fireflies.
Taking Ellie with that group was the deal that Joel and Tess reached with Marlene and Kim in chapter 1 of the series, when it is known that they are leaders of the Fireflies and that they have a plan with Ellie to end the dominance of PHAEDRA.
What are the Fireflies and Phaedra in The Last of Us?
From the first chapter of the HBO series, it is revealed that FEDRA is a military group that maintains strict control in the quarantine zones, in order to avoid further infections with the cordyceps fungus.
Phaedra is in control of the quarantine zone in Boston, where Joel, Tess, Ellie, Marlene and Kim are located.
When episode 1 introduces the characters of Marlene and Kim, it is when we learn that both are part of an organization that opposes FEDRA called Fireflies, which has the objective of overthrowing the military group and thus restoring democracy in society.
It’s been 20 years of fighting with FEDRA, according to what Marlene and Kim talk about, but there has never been any success in overthrowing the military group, so Marlene has a new plan that no longer involves constant armed violence.
That new plan involves Ellie, whom we know because Marlene and Kim have her kidnapped at a location in Fireflies. The plan is to smuggle her out of Boston and out of Phaedra’s control, as she is apparently immune and the opposition organization is known to be developing a cure somewhere in the West.
Joel and Tess are left with the task of delivering Ellie after Marlene and Kim are injured in a confrontation over a car battery, a rare commodity in the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us.
