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Ethan was a minor antagonist who appeared in The Last of Us Part I. He was a Firefly who was ordered by Marlene to escort and restrain Joel in the hospital while Ellie was being prepared for surgery to remove her brain.[1]
Biography[]
Events of The Last of Us Part I[]
On April 28, 2034,[2] Ethan was seen on patrol with another Firefly when he found Joel trying to resuscitate Ellie, who had nearly drowned. Ignoring Joel's pleas, Ethan ordered him to put his hands up, but Joel was too preoccupied with trying to save Ellie to comply. Ethan then knocked Joel out with the stock of his rifle.
He was present with Marlene when Joel woke up and stood by as Marlene explained Ellie's infection and that she must die in order for them to get the vaccine. When Joel resisted at the notion of Ellie having to die, Ethan knocked him to the floor but was stopped by Marlene from attacking again. After Marlene was done explaining to Joel, she told Ethan to escort Joel out of the hospital, but ordered him to shoot Joel should he attempt to prevent the surgery.
Ethan then led Joel into the ward while continuing to threaten him, almost begging for an excuse to kill him. Joel, spying his backpack, slowed down. Ethan pressed him to move on, forcing his pistol into Joel's back. Joel elbowed his gun upwards, just as the Firefly fired off a shot. Having gained the upper hand, Joel pinned him against the wall and took the pistol, proceeding to beat Ethan twice with the butt of the gun. Joel then jammed the gun into Ethan's stomach, demanding Ellie's location. Realizing that Ellie's time was short, Joel shot Ethan in the stomach twice to force the answer from him. Once Ethan revealed Ellie's whereabouts, Joel killed him with a bullet to the head.[1]
His body was later found by other Fireflies, alerting the others that "the smuggler killed Ethan".[3]
Relationships[]
Joel[]
Although he only knew Joel for a short period of time, he greatly disliked him, assaulting him whenever given the slightest reason. He seems to have a bloodlust for Joel, wanting to be "given an excuse" to "shoot him". Ethan's desire to harm Joel ended up backfiring on him though, as Joel shot him to get him to reveal where Ellie was being prepped for surgery, then killed him.[1]
Marlene[]
While the extent of the relationship between Ethan and Marlene is not shown, it can be gathered that Ethan greatly respected his leader, following her orders to march Joel out of the hospital and even displayed a gesture of protection when he knocked Joel to the ground to prevent him from going near her.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- Despite Joel taking his pistol in the cutscene, the player can still retrieve ammunition for the gun from Ethan's body after the level starts. On some occasions, the ammo drop is revolver ammo, on other occasions, it's 9mm pistol ammo.[3]
- In the cutscene Find someone else, Ethan wielded a semi-auto rifle, which is otherwise only seen in multiplayer.[1]
- Ethan was briefly depicted in The Last of Us: One Night Live, though was portrayed by Annie Wersching, who originally portrayed Tess, because Robin Atkin Downes was unable to appear.