| “ | It has to be all of them.
|
” |
Isaac Dixon was a character in The Last of Us Part II. He was the leader of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) and the secondary antagonist of Abby Anderson's story.[2]
Biography[]
Background and early life[]
Little is known about Isaac's early life, other than that he came to live in Seattle at some point, and that he served in the United States Marine Corps.[1]
Events of The Last of Us Part II[]
Joining the WLF and war against FEDRA[]
After the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak, Isaac lived under FEDRA's control of the Seattle quarantine zone. Within the city, the residents grew bitter grew towards the military and its control over their lives. Isaac was one of the countless enraged by the banishments, food shortages, and executions conducted.[3] By the mid-2020s, he became one of the first members of the WLF, nicknamed "Wolves", initially serving under leaders Emma and Jason Patterson. He primarily dealt with distributing anti-FEDRA propaganda and stealing the military's supplies.[4]
Eventually, the Pattersons were eliminated by the military, along with most of the other top officials of the Wolves, leaving Isaac as one of the last remaining leaders of the rebellion.[4] This led to the initial WLF members voting him in as their new commander on Saturday, March 29. He organized attacks at checkpoints, hit convoys, and sacrificed countless people just to get a lead over FEDRA. While his decision to escalate the WLF's efforts from striking in the city to killing FEDRA soldiers was deemed controversial, his ruthless leadership led to increasing success for the WLF, leading to more civilians joining the group, including FEDRA defectors, by April.[5] Isaac's actions, particularly his public execution of three FEDRA soldiers, led to Sergeant Ward declaring him the number one wanted terrorist in Seattle.[4]
By the summer time, Lieutenant Carmelo Torres, commanding officer of the Seattle QZ, decided to pull out of the city, concluding that it was hopeless to fight against the Wolves.[6] One final attack on FEDRA led to the Wolves massacring Torres, Ward, and the bulk of the remaining staff still at the courthouse.[7][8] By September, the WLF had successfully cleared all known FEDRA checkpoints in the city, leaving Isaac and the Wolves in primary control of the QZ.[9]
However, now in charge of thousands of survivors across Seattle, the problems that the military had been dealing with were now thrust upon the Wolves. Notably, the military's claim that mass numbers of infected blocked several supply lines in the city was in fact true,[3] meaning Isaac and the WLF struggled to transport food to every civilian in the city. In the face of growing civilian resistance to WLF rule, Isaac ordered the mass transportation of Seattle's population to SoundView Stadium to contain everyone and centralize the supply distribution. Isaac further demanded the WLF find and kill all known associates and members of the military and FEDRA hiding throughout the city, including Hillcrest, deciding they were forbidden from living in the city.[10][11][8] Isaac also ordered civilians who resisted moving to the stadium to leave or face execution, leading many to conclude that the Wolves were no better than FEDRA.[12][13][14] His order to take their supplies as well only further established the civilian's belief that his dictatorial rule was no different to FEDRA's.[15] However, many still joined the WLF for fear Isaac would evict them from the city, or execute them.[16] Those who lived in the city had to swear their loyalty to serve the WLF, with Isaac deeming loyalty important for the community's long-term survival.[17][18]
Isaac's efforts ultimately proved to be beneficial for the survivors of Seattle. Many were grateful for Isaac allowing them to join the community, mainly for securing their children's safety and providing working medical bays for the sick.[19][20] In the coming years, Isaac helped transform SoundView Stadium into a safe haven and community for the WLF and the civilians, with solar panels and wind turbines installed to provide power and a farm complete with livestock to feed the survivors.[2]
War against the Seraphites[]
However, Isaac remained extremely ruthless and uncompromising, showing aggression to most outsiders and their neighbors, the Seraphites, referred to as "Scars" by the WLF, who considered the group a death cult. As violence between the two groups grew, Isaac led the WLF in a new war against the Seraphites, with atrocities committed by both sides. Isaac initially had the WLF capture known Seraphites living in the city for containment but changed his mind and permitted his soldiers to kill them, leading to numerous nightly raids of people's living quarters and more public executions.[21][22] This bitter feud eventually reached a breaking point, leading to all out war between the groups. Isaac turned a hotel into a military barracks and an interrogation facility, torturing and killing countless Scar prisoners for information.[23] He dubbed the area their forward operating base (FOB).[2]
However, Isaac eventually agreed to a ceasefire with the Seraphite's leader, known as the Prophet, agreeing to leave the Seraphites living on their island alone so long as their patrols did not interfere with WLF supply routes. Co-existence now occurred between the the groups, though resentment was still apparent.[24]
When some Seraphite teenagers attacked a WLF patrol and were gunned down, the treaty broke, and frequent and brutal skirmishes resulted in countless Wolves dying.[25][26] Isaac's soldiers eventually managed to capture the Seraphite Prophet and imprisoned her. However, the Prophet began to preach to the WLF soldiers guarding her, leading some WLF soldiers to question the conflict against the Seraphites.[27] The growing defections to the Seraphites led Isaac to decide to have the Prophet killed instead.[28] However, this decision back fired as it turned the Prophet into a martyr, and led to a massive skirmish at the site of her death. This location was eventually won by the Seraphites, who forced Isaac's WLF forces out. They proceeded to turn the area into a shrine for the prophet, declaring it the "Martyr's Gate" as a sign of defiance to Isaac's brutality.[2]
Isaac on the Seraphite island.
Around 2034, Isaac accepted former Fireflies Abby Anderson, Manny Alvarez, Owen Moore, Nora Harris, Mel, Jordan, Nick and Leah into the WLF.[2] Isaac took a particular liking to Abby and Manny, putting them in charge of one of his companies. Abby especially became Isaac's best soldier. In the winter of 2037, Isaac allowed Abby to take her group—which he dubbed as the "Salt Lake crew"—to Jackson, Wyoming to track down Joel Miller, who killed Abby's father, Jerry Anderson, while rescuing Ellie from St. Mary's Hospital.[29] They proceeded to do so by March, 2038.[30]
In April, 2038, Isaac found a WLF soldier (Danny) collapsed at a gate. He stayed with the man while he died, learning Abby's friend Owen shot him to protect a Scar soldier. Isaac told Nora about the incident, telling her to keep it a secret for Owen's safety.[2] He also received contact from WLF officer Mike that two trespassers (Ellie and Dina) were found near the local school.[31] Not wishing them to prove a distraction, Isaac ordered Mike to kill them, and expanded the order to all soldiers to kill all trespassers on sight.[32] He also learned Ji-So Huang had fled the stadium with Andre Dominguez, Chris Marsh and Adam Peters, with Ji-So declaring she believed he was a mentally unstable fanatic.[33] In response, Isaac called for her execution, along with the other three deserters.[34]
Isaac confronts Abby.
Later that day, he called a meeting with Manny and Abby at his apartment in the FOB. There, he revealed that he believed the frequent skirmishes with the Scars would ultimately lead to the Wolves losing the war in the long run and decided that the total annihilation of their enemies was the only way to bring true peace to Seattle. He began mobilizing the Wolves for one final assault against the Seraphites, this time taking the fight to their home on an island a short boat ride from Seattle's coast.[2] By this point, he had already sent scouting teams to the Seraphites island to determine the best area to land on and had been interrogating Scar prisoners for similar information for over three days.[23][35] He asked Manny and Abby to lead the army in three days time. However, Abby refused unless Isaac allowed her to bring Owen back into the WLF, as he had ran away after killing Danny. Isaac refused, angered that Abby would think Danny would have spent his dying moments to lie to him. Not giving in, Abby fled the WLF with Manny's help to find Owen.[2] Once he found out, Isaac interrogated all of Abby's friends, being especially harsh on Mel.[29]
Isaac prepares to kill Abby.
Two days later, Isaac decided to put Manny in command of the army instead and sent him to secure the boats at the marina with his platoon. However, Tommy Miller was there searching for Abby and killed Manny and his platoon. That night, Isaac launched the invasion himself. The assault was initially successful, with the army securing the beachhead and Isaac's company pushed deep into the island's interior. There, he stumbled upon Abby protecting a Scar soldier, Lev. Confused by her actions, he decided to spare her if she rejoined the WLF and helped him win the invasion. Abby refused, leading Isaac to threaten to shoot her. Abby, undeterred, refused to move. As Isaac moved to fire, Lev's sister Yara shot him through the back, enabling Abby and Lev to escape.[36]
A radio broadcast that Abby and Lev later listen in on revealed that Isaac died from the gunshot wound, with his army ultimately retreating from the island, the invasion having failed.[36]
Personality and traits[]
Issac displayed a calm and collected but cruel and intimidating personality to those around him, especially his soldiers. He was also extremely xenophobic to both Seraphites and trespassers.[2] Isaac took loyalty from his own people seriously and reacted harshly when that trust was betrayed.[17][18][29] Conversely, he reacted positively to those who assisted him, notably promising to allow an informant to live comfortably in the QZ as a reward for helping bring down Torres and also took a liking to WLF soldier Rue for her capture of Seraphites at the coast.[7][37]
Isaac had a twisted sense of justice as he allowed Abby and the former Fireflies to leave to seek revenge on Joel, and wanted to exterminate the entire Scar population to prevent them from attacking ever again. Isaac was not above killing children, like when he commanded Abby to get away from Lev so he could shoot the boy and also had soldiers kill Sofia Legasov, who resisted WLF rule.[36][14] He had also grown pessimistic, believing the WLF would lose the war to the Seraphites and that effort to make peace with them were futile as members in the communities were driven to cause conflict between one another.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
- Jeffrey Wright, Isaac's motion-capture actor, and Shannon Woodward, Dina's actress, were both previously in the HBO series Westworld together. Halley Gross, who was the narrative leader for Part II, was a prominent writer for the show.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Art of The Last of Us Part II, Naughty Dog and Dark Horse Books, 2020, p.53
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 "Seattle Day 1"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 FEDRA census document
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 List of known WLF agitators
- ↑ WLF recruiter journal
- ↑ Lt. Torres' final memorandum
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note to informant
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Plea to a friend letter
- ↑ Lone FEDRA soldier journal 1
- ↑ Yolanda's note
- ↑ Rebecca's tip off
- ↑ Need a plan note
- ↑ Boris' confession
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Condolence note
- ↑ Jasmine Bakery safe
- ↑ Turn in Boris note
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Isaac's orders
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Letter from Isaac
- ↑ Dale's combo
- ↑ Note in Hillcrest tattoo parlor
- ↑ Fran's refusal
- ↑ Raul's account
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 WLF interrogator letter
- ↑ Seraphite truce
- ↑ Seraphite orders
- ↑ WLF gun cache note
- ↑ WLF soldier meets Prophet letter
- ↑ Failed truce
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 "Seattle Day 2"
- ↑ "Jackson"
- ↑ "Seattle Day 1 (Ellie)"
- ↑ Isaac's mandate
- ↑ WLF deserter letter
- ↑ WLF target list
- ↑ WLF scout journal
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 "Seattle Day 3"
- ↑ Dad's pep talk
