The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: Blood, Betrayal, And The Bite That Changes Everything

Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 4 follow below.

Season 2 of the HBO series The Last of Us is slowly and steadily moving towards its conclusion. The first episode felt like the calm before the storm, and viewers were not ready for what was coming. Without any doubt, the second episode ruined everyone, and Joel's death was a pivotal moment that changed everything for Ellie. Although she wanted Jackson's help to avenge Joel's death, she had to take matters into her own hands to take revenge on what Abby and her group did to Joel. It has been a roller coaster of a season so far because it has been about Ellie's transformative journey while trying to find redemption.

But it has also been about Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) trying to find love in Dina (played by Isabel Merced), which makes everyone realize that she also needs someone to hold onto. However, she doesn't let anything come between her and the mission—not even love—proving that in a world drowning in blood and betrayal, Ellie’s fiercest weapon is her resolve. If Episode 3 was all about the journey, the fourth episode of The Last of Us Season 2 is about the terrors it brought. So, how did Ellie and Dina confront those challenges? Did something change? Let's take a look at what happened in Episode 4 of the HBO series.

Isaac’s Dark Past And The Origins Of The Washington Liberation Front Revealed

Episode 4 begins with a flashback sequence and introduces viewers to Isaac Dixon (played by Jeffrey Wright). Isaac, one of the commanding officers in the Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA), was patrolling the Seattle Quarantine Zone with his team when one of his team members started telling a story about the "voters." The member noted how one of his fellow soldiers killed some of the voters who were disseminating pamphlets about how FEDRA was evil. When one of the members asked why they called them "voters," Isaac chipped in and said that these people called them voters because they were stripped of their voting rights.

But their conversation ends when they see many people coming in front of their vehicle. They were not armed and looked like they wanted to talk. Isaac decides to go out and talk to them, instead of going out with extra force and killing all of them. He gets out of the vehicle and talks to one of the women, who already knows his name. "Are you Isaac?" she asked. Isaac nodded and asked if she was Hanrahan. The woman nodded, which prompted Isaac to walk back to his vehicle and throw two of the grenades inside it, killing all of his team members. Apart from Isaac, only one FEDRA member remained alive, and he joined Isaac in setting up the Washington Liberation Front.

Ellie And Dina Share An Emotional Moment In Seattle That'll Be Familiar To Fans Of The Games

Meanwhile, 11 years later, viewers see Ellie and Dina continuing their journey in Seattle, and trying to find Abby and her friends. But soon they realize that WLF might be bigger than they had imagined. They look at a big building and get to know that they might be looking at the entire area of that building, so they need to be really cautious. As a result, they take refuge inside a music store and decide to move at night. In the music store, Dina looks for food and medicine. While looking for medicine, she picks up what looks like pregnancy tests.

On the other hand, Ellie walks through the store and finds a guitar in its case. She pulls it out of the case and starts singing a song.

A few moments later, Dina comes there and sees Ellie playing the guitar and singing a song, which makes her emotional. Although Ellie stops after seeing her, Dina requests her to keep playing. Ellie says yes and continues to sing for Dina. The lyrics of the song made Dina emotional, and it seemed like Dina was falling more and more in love with her. As the song comes to an end, Dina wipes her tears away and tells Ellie that it was so beautiful. Ellie didn't shy away from saying that it was Joel who taught her how to play this. After that, they both go and eat something.

Isaac Confronts A Captive Seraphite As Tensions Between WLF And Scars Boil Over

In the present day, Isaac is seen cooking something and telling a story about how he always wanted to own Mauviel cookware for his kitchen. Although he owns them now, he didn't think the situation would be so different because of the apocalypse. It is later revealed that he was telling all of this to a member of the Seraphites whom the WLF captured. The particular member of the Seraphites, also known as Scars, was covered in blood and bruises when Isaac asked him where the Seraphites were about to attack next. The Scar told Isaac that WLF will never win this battle, and their loss is inevitable. Isaac finds it amusing as the Seraphites still believe they can win this battle even when the WLF has advanced weapons and hospitals. Meanwhile, all Seraphites have are bows, arrows, and superstitions.

As the conversation progressed, Isaac revealed how the truce was broken, and the Seraphites taught their children to shoot at them. When Isaac asks him how they are going to lose, Scar tells him that people will learn about the WLF's reality, and every day, people will get out of the WLF and join the Seraphites. Isaac continues to punish him, but he has had enough of this game, and kills Scar by shooting him.

Ellie And Dina Face Brutal WLF Murders, Infected Threats, And A Shocking Reveal

The night is finally here, and it's time for Ellie and Dina to continue their journey. But they are still figuring out where to go. They realize that no patrolling is happening, but Ellie believes that no patrolling isn't good news every time. So, they decide to enter the building in front of them and come face-to-face with a terrifying scene where several members of the WLF have been brutally beaten, with their intestines hanging out of their bodies. Dina couldn't watch the horrifying scene and puked. Meanwhile, Ellie sees the Seraphites logo on the wall and tells Dina that this brutality was done by the group they encountered in the forest. As they prepared to leave the scene, several WLF members arrived at the building, only to discover the gruesome aftermath—their comrades had been brutally slaughtered by the Seraphites.

Ellie manages to take the stairs and draw attention to her, and when one of the WLF soldiers finds her, Ellie fights back, and when it looked like she might get outnumbered, Dina comes and shoots one of the soldiers, killing him instantly. On the other hand, Ellie kills another WLF soldier. The duo successfully got out of the building and managed to crawl into another building, which leads up to a subway. While leaving the subway, they see several members of the WLF coming their way and searching for them. Although they successfully hide themselves from the WLF soldiers, they quickly realize that there is a presence of the infected ones in the subway. Dina counts how many infected people were present there and stops at five. However, soon they realized there were more than five present there and went face-to-face with the WLF soldier. Ellie and Dina got out of the situation by running away from the infected ones and killing some of them.

However, things get worse for them when Ellie, while trying to save Dina from one of the infected ones, gets bitten. They manage to kill that particular infected one and flee the scene. As they arrive inside another building to take refuge, Dina pulls out a gun on Ellie because she knows that she will turn into a zombie soon. Without thinking twice, Ellie tells her that she is "immune" to the Cordyceps infection and has been bitten previously as well. She asks Dina to wait, and if she turns into a zombie, she can shoot her. After a few hours, Ellie shows her that she hadn't changed, and that was the moment when an emotional Dina told Ellie that she was pregnant. In the morning, they both confess they love each other, and Ellie would love to have this baby with Dina. The episode ends with the duo trying to find Abby after they heard something happening at Lakehill. But when they saw what was happening out there, they realized they had to go cautiously. Ellie tells Dina that she can take a break if she wants to, but Dina notes that they'll do this together.

This week's episode of The Last of Us Season 2 delivers a gripping blend of action, emotion, and backstory. Introducing Isaac (Jeffrey Wright), the leader of the WLF, through a haunting flashback that shows his brutal origins. Meanwhile, Ellie and Dina continue their journey through a dangerous Seattle, encountering both the WLF and the terrifying Seraphites. The episode balances heartwarming moments, like Ellie playing guitar for Dina, with horror and violence, especially when Ellie gets bitten while saving Dina. The emotional core deepens as Dina reveals her pregnancy and Ellie confesses her immunity. This episode builds intense suspense, shows how love survives even in chaos, and keeps the momentum going in The Last of Us series.

The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming exclusively on MAX.