The Last of Us Timeline Explained
The Last of Us Timeline Explained
The Complete Fallout Timeline Explained
“The Last of Us” released in 2013 and almost immediately began earning praise. Players loved the morally grey journey of Joel and Ellie. While the world had been ravaged by the game’s terrifying Infected, the purpose of the story was in its title. Naughty Dog and Sony expertly explored the lengths to which people will go to protect those they love, as well as what horrors they’d commit against their fellow man to survive. But how did we get here? Both games in the series use environmental storytelling and exposition to chart the descent of humanity in the 20 years before they take place. Welcome to WatchMojo, and this is “The Last of Us” timeline explained. Before we begin, it’s important to note that “The Last of Us” TV adaptation features a different timeline than the games. While the show’s events begin in 2003, the first entry starts in the same year it released: 2013. It opens on September 26th, the day that would forever be known as Outbreak Day. This was when the Cordyceps Brain Infection, or CBI, reached critical mass. The origins of the mutated fungus aren’t explicitly stated. What we know is that it made its way from South America through infected crops, though Mexico and Central America were also warned against by the FDA. Regardless, by the time the game opens, hospital admittance has raised by 300% in Texas alone. In the early hours of September 27th, the US military tried to contain the spread with disastrous results for many. At first, it seemed humanity was more than willing to fight back. Major cities were turned into quarantine zones by the Federal Disaster Response Agency, or FEDRA, which also authorized rescue missions to smaller, more secluded areas. In one such area close to the Seattle QZ, they came across a woman who had kept her entire community alive while others around them fell. She claimed to have had a vision about the Infection being God’s wrath, and strove to lead a simpler, sin-free existence. Her followers would later refer to her as the Prophet, and themselves the Seraphites. However, they were far from the only group to form in response to their current situation. Not long after the Prophet’s community was discovered, FEDRA ceased issuing search and rescue missions. Only a few months into 2014, and 60% of the world’s population was either dead or infected. Even worse, it issued martial law and turned every quarantine zone into a police state. The Fireflies were founded in opposition to this, fighting to overthrow FEDRA, restore the original government, and find a cure for CBI. While we don’t know who the group’s founders were, Marlene is shown to be the strong-willed leader during the events of the games. The Fireflies would consistently cause trouble over the years to come, giving ordinary people the strength to overtake quarantine zones like those in Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City. Despite everything, life continued on in its own way. Two vital characters to the series, Ellie Williams and Abby Anderson, were born in the late 2010s. As Ellie’s mother died shortly after, she was given to Marlene for safekeeping. But the Firefly lifestyle is a dangerous one, and so with no other choice, Ellie was given to FEDRA. During the first years of Ellie’s life, another important group was formed. Just as they had in many other quarantine zones, FEDRA ruled over Seattle with little to no mercy. With no Fireflies to rely on, Jason & Emma Patterson founded the Washington Liberation Front in the mid-2020s along with Isaac Dixon. However, they had no plans for restoring the old world and simply wanted FEDRA out of their lives. Branded as terrorists, the Pattersons were eventually killed, resulting in a major conflict between the two factions that saw the WLF eventually victorious. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be its last. The WLF, or “Wolves,” would turn Seattle into an impressive community, but not without violent conflicts with the Seraphites, which lasted for years. Other than these big groups and organizations, regular people found different ways of getting by outside the QZs. Unfortunately, the majority of them still chose violence over compassion. We’ve seen those known as Hunters, who trap and rob unsuspecting travelers of their gear before killing them. The second game introduced Rattlers, a group that kidnapped people and used them for slave labor. Some desperate survivors would even turn to cannibalism. Not every community was founded with evil intentions, though. Some, like Tommy and Maria’s commune in Jackson, Wyoming, were simply born out of a desire to live peacefully. While war waged between the WLF and Seraphites on one coast, Ellie grew up restlessly on the other. Her time attending FEDRA schools was lonely, save for her friendship with Riley Abel, a fellow student with dreams of joining the Fireflies. Through a misadventure with her, Ellie would finally meet Marlene, Queen Firefly herself. And through a second, more tragic misadventure, she’d find out she was the one human alive immune to CBI. Ellie’s immunization realization is the last major event before the central story takes place. With FEDRA’s militaristic response, the people of “The Last of Us” were primed not to trust anyone outside their community. This mistrust continued and grew stronger, creating a perfect cocktail for the last of humanity to turn on eachother quicker than the vicious Infected. By piecing together the history of its world, we can see how the state and outcome of the games were inevitable.
