Episode 4 of The Last of Us introduced new, never-before-seen characters that don’t exist in the video game, including Kathleen. Here’s what you need to know about this character. Warning, spoilers.
Warning, spoilers. It is advisable to have seen episode 4 of The Last of Us before continuing to read this article.
The fourth episode of The Last of Us, which was seen by 7.5 million viewers when it aired on HBO in the United States, marks a big departure from the famous video game. This chapter, entitled “Please Hold to My Hand”, introduces a completely new character!
After passing through the home of the late Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) set off for Wyoming to find Tommy, Joel’s brother.
But they make a necessary detour via Kansas City, a city in ruins in the hands of “Hunters”. If these bandits are present in the video game, their leader is a character totally invented by the co-showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.
Who is Kathleen, the leader of the Hunters?
A non-existent character in the video game, Kathleen is played by Melanie Lynskey, a New Zealand actress known for her roles in the films Heavenly Creatures, The Mystifier and Memoirs of Our Fathers and the series My Uncle Charlie and Yellowjackets.
Within Kansas City, Kathleen is an important person. She is the leader of a group of militarized populists who “protect” the city from the government and the FEDRA (Federal Disaster Management Agency), which is an authority figure in the quarantine zones and which manages the survivors of the epidemic with an iron fist.
It is precisely this dictatorship that the Hunters and Kathleen are fighting. That’s why we see her threatening a FEDRA doctor in the episode to look for Henry, a young man who was playing double games between FEDRA and the Hunters and who would be responsible for the death of Kathleen’s brother.
HBO
This name has necessarily appealed to video game fans since Henry is a character that exists in the video game work. Kathleen is therefore not a character that came out of nowhere, she has a real role in The Last of Us and will make the link between Joel and Ellie and Henry and his little brother Sam.
Above all, she brings a little more nuance to this part of the game. Admittedly, Kathleen is an antagonist, but she is a more complex character than it seems, as Neil Druckmann explained to ScreenRant :
“Craig invented Kathleen, who’s the leader of what’s been called Hunters in the game, and Hunters play a slightly different role here. I like the idea that it’s not just good and bad guys. bad guys. Everyone’s trying to survive, everyone’s trying to live life to the fullest. But often the goals are in competition with each other, and that’s where the interesting stuff happens.”
But the threat is not only human in The Last of Us: the infected are always very present and Kathleen seems to hide the danger of Rangers, Claqueurs and other Colossi. The infected appear to be buried in the ground and in the Kansas City slums. What does Kathleen intend to do in the face of this threat?
Episode 5, which will be available in advance, will allow us to know even more about Kathleen and how she will be confronted with Joel and Ellie. One thing is certain, the face-to-face will be violent.
The first four episodes of The Last of Us are available on Prime Video.