Kathleen Coghlan is a supporting character and antagonist in the first season of HBO's The Last of Us. She was the ruthless leader of a local resistance group in Kansas City, Missouri.[1]
Biography[]
Background[]
Kathleen lived in Kansas City with her mother and her older brother, Michael. When they were children, Kathleen was fearful and would have nightmares. Michael would comfort her, teaching her to imagine their room was a box secure and safe from dangers in the outside world.[2]
In 2003, Kathleen survived the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak and lived in the FEDRA controlled quarantine zone in Kansas City. However, Kathleen grew angry with FEDRA and the military's rule in the city.[3] Her brother agreed that their oppression was unjust she and joined him in his attempts to fight against FEDRA's totalitarian rule as part of an underground resistance movement. Kathleen was inspired by Michael's actions, especially his idyllic vision of a peaceful community in the post-apocalypse free from FEDRA's control.
However, Henry Burrell eventually collaborated with FEDRA to have Michael arrested in return for treatment for his brother Sam Burrell. Kathleen was enraged by Henry's betrayal. She managed to visit Michael in a FEDRA detention center. Finding him beaten and tortured, she professed her plan to have Henry killed as revenge for his actions harming Michael. Her brother, instead, begged her to forgive Henry, citing FEDRA were the true criminals and allowing vengeance to consume her would prevent his peaceful vision from occurring. Soon after, FEDRA tried and executed Michael. Giving in to rage, Kathleen rallied Michael's closest allies - notably Perry and his underground militia - to fight against FEDRA in open warfare.
By 2023, she was successful in overthrowing FEDRA in the zone, allowing her group to control the city with her as its leader. However, she took a ruthless position in the group, permitting and even promoting members to torture and mercilessly kill all known FEDRA members and even collaborators in the city. These killings ranged from shooting, to immolation and even public hangings. She also permitted Perry's militia to ambush and kill travelers who wandered into the city to steal their supplies. On the night after their successful victory, Kathleen turned the detention center into her own headquarters.
Kathleen then turned her attention to finding and killing Henry. She had Perry capture the known FEDRA collaborators and imprison them in the detention center. She then confronted and interrogated them about Henry's whereabouts. When the group remained silent, she ordered Perry to kill them all. This order prompted one member to confess that Doctor Edelstein was working with Henry. Kathleen admitted she believed the man, citing he was a rat. She then insisted Perry have the collaborators killed anyway and ordered a witch hunt commence to find Henry.[2]
Events of HBO's The Last of Us[]
Ten days later, Perry brought a captured Edelstein to Kathleen. She then interrogated him regarding the whereabouts of Henry Burrell. Edelstein appealed to her humanity, telling her she was taking things too far, which she brushed off, demanding the whereabouts of Henry and other FEDRA collaborators.
An alarm sounded, signaling the arrival of the bodies of her men who attempted to ambush Joel and Ellie, including Bryan, the son of one of the group's senior members. Perry explained he thought the killers were outsiders, but likely not FEDRA, given the presence of a well-equipped but unmarked truck. Kathleen speculated they must have been mercenaries Henry radioed for help. Furious, she returned to the detention block and killed Edelstein before instructing the militia to find the "FEDRA collaborators" and kill them. Her men spread out across the city, conducting raids on the remaining population in order to find them.
Kathleen later arrived at the scene of the ambush and inspected the crashed truck. Perry returned and informed her that he found something in one of the nearby buildings, showing her an attic crawlspace covered in handmade drawings of Henry and Sam, and littered with the remains of canned meals. She deduced that Henry must have run out of food, and knowing that he would not let Sam starve, stated that they must be out in the city and to redouble their search. Perry acknowledged her but indicated they have another problem.
In the basement of the building they encountered a sinkhole that moved when sound was made. Kathleen and Perry realized that - with FEDRA defeated - the infected trapped beneath the city were no longer being contained and were making their way back to the surface. Perry urged her to tell the others, but Kathleen dismissed him, stating they should focus on finding Henry first and to seal off the building in the interim.[3]
The next day, Kathleen visited her childhood home. She went in to her old room that she shared with Michael and remembered their childhood together. Perry then arrived and Kathleen opened up to him about her past and how she didn't believe herself as strong as Michael or as wonderful. However, she insisted she was passionate about avenging him, even if Perry wasn't. Perry assured her that he was and would ensure his soldiers would support her whatever the cost. Content, Kathleen left the house with Perry.
That night, Kathleen received a radio transmission from Anthony, a resistance sniper in the suburbs, informing her he had spotted Henry and Joel. Emboldened, Kathleen led Perry's militia group into the suburbs. Despite Joel managing to shoot the driver of the first truck - causing it to crash into a house and explode into flames - Kathleen and the others reached them. She exited her vehicle with Perry and called out for Henry to reveal himself. Eventually, Henry called back, asking her to spare his brother and Ellie. Kathleen insisted she would not, stating even children had to suffer. Henry then revealed himself, causing Kathleen to draw her sidearm and prepare to shoot him.
However, an eruption occurred beneath the ground, causing Kathleen to turn towards the burning truck. A horde of infected then emerged from the ground beneath the truck, causing it to collapse below the surface. Perry jumped in front of Kathleen, protecting her and he and his group tried to kill the horde. However, there were too many of them - the group gradually overrun by the infected. Perry kept Kathleen safe until a large fungal-armored infected climbed from the abyss and charged at them. Perry sacrificed himself so Kathleen could escape. She chased Henry, cornering him at the end of the street. Before she could shoot, a child clicker leapt on her, punching and devouring her to death.[2]
Appearance[]
Kathleen was a woman with long dark hair, tied into a plate. She wore a white-buttoned shirt with a large navy overcoat and boots.[3][2]
Personality[]
Kathleen had an extremely brutal worldview and was willing to go to great lengths to achieve her goals. She was a capable leader, inspiring her late brother's followers to fight a successful insurrection against the Kansas City FEDRA garrison.[3] After her brother's death, she developed an extremely unforgiving and tenacious nature, focusing only on avenging his death rather than care for her people and cementing her authority. She became incredibly callous, abhorring the idea of forgiveness in favor of her twisted interpretation of "justice." She was not above killing innocent people and even dismissing a child's right to life if it came between her goals.
Despite her ruthlessness, she deeply valued her comrades and subordinates, always treating them with respect and cordiality. After Joel killed Bryan, one of the members of the resistance, she immediately ordered her followers to search every corner in the city until they could find the ones responsible for his death. Kathleen also passionately hated FEDRA for torturing and killing people, hypocritically viewing their methods as disgusting even as she ordered actions that were as bad or even worse, such as when she promised to spare all the people who had cooperated with FEDRA as long as they cooperated with her, only moments later to give the order to kill all of them and burn their bodies.
Kathleen also had a twisted view of fate and its consequences, telling Henry that he made a mistake saving his brother from his disease, stating that "fate" wanted Sam to die at that moment and he should've let him go, but he selfishly jumped in the middle and acted, leading to their final confrontation.
Her personal vendetta to find and kill Henry, and inability to see beyond her all-consuming bloodlust for revenge, eventually led to her downfall and the demise of her group.[2]
Relationships[]
Michael Coghlan[]
Kathleen and Michael were brother and sister. Kathleen knew him all of her life, forming a close bond with him during her childhood. She viewed him as a respectable and wonderful brother, grateful to him for caring for her while growing up. When they were adults, he protected her under FEDRA's tyranny and even inspired her to join his resistance movement fighting against them.[2] However, when he was tortured and killed, his death left her vengeful. She became fixated on avenging his death, first by defeating FEDRA and then finding and killing Henry Burrell.[3] However, she was conflicted because her brother had begged her to seek peace when she spoke with him in jail, his final words to her still affecting her in the weeks after their successful rebellion.[2]
Perry[]
Perry was Kathleen's most loyal follower. Kathleen admired him a great deal, trusting him to lead their militia and fight against FEDRA's rule in the Kansas City QZ.[3] She was insistent with him to follow her orders though, challenging him when the man tried to convince her to be more pragmatic in her search for Henry rather than halting securing their own control in the city. Despite this, she trusted him a great deal, enough that she allowed him to personally protect her during the infected horde attack in the suburbs.[2]
Henry Burrell[]
Kathleen hated Henry, the woman blaming him entirely for her brother's death. She once trusted him as the man was a passive supporter for her brother's resistance efforts against FEDRA. However, upon learning he sold her brother out to them, she wanted him to suffer. Her hatred towards Henry made Kathleen immoral and aggressive, the woman seeking to kill any who sided with Henry over her.[3] However, when faced with the chance to kill him, she found herself hesitating, because her hatred for Henry contrasted with her brother Michael's wish for her to forgive the man. This hesitation led to her death, as a child clicker was able to jump on and kill her soon after.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
- Kathleen is portrayed by New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey.[1]
- Kathleen's quest for vengeance against Henry for getting her brother killed is similar to Tess's original story in the game. Joel was going to be responsible for the death of Tess's brother, and Tess would have spent the majority of the game hunting Joel down.
Quotes[]
- Kathleen: "You know Perry, I used to be so scared of these people. Now look at them. Did it feel good? Betraying your neighbours to FEDRA? Watching us get thrown in prison? Watching us hang, so that you could get medicine, alcohol, fucking apples? Did it make you feel better? Did it make you feel safe? How does it make you feel now?
- Kathleen: "Okay, I want our people going door to door until we find him."
- Perry: "Now?"
- Kathleen: "Oh, I'm sorry. How long do you think we should wait? Should we wait a day or two? Should we wait a week? Oh, fuck it, lets give him a month."
- Perry: "I'm not saying we do nothing. We already got a perimeter around the city, we can wait him out. Door to door will take a lot of men and we got a long of things that-"
- Kathleen: "He's not my seventh priority Perry. Is that what he is to you?"
- Perry: "No."
- Kathleen: "When Michael and I were little, this room seemed so big. I was really scared of thunder so when there was a storm, Michael told me that this wasn't a room at all. This was actually, just a big wooden box. A big wooden box that nothing could get inside of and it didn't matter that there was lightning or tornadoes or gunfire. He said as long as we were together in our perfect box, we would be safe. He did that for me. He did stuff like that all the time"
- Kathleen: "Dead end Henry. You gonna step out? Save us some time? No? That's alright, doesn't matter."
- Henry: "I'll come out. Just let the kids go."
- Kathleen: "No. Sorry. The girl was with the man who killed Bryan and Sam, well Sam's with you."
- Henry: "You don't understand."
- Kathleen: "But I do. I know why you did what you did. But did you ever stop to think that maybe he was supposed to die?"
- Henry: "He's just a fucking kid!"
- Kathleen: "Well kids die Henry. They die all the time. You think this whole world revolves around him? That he's worth everything? Well, this is what happens when you fuck with fate."
Gallery[]
Official stills[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Romano, Nick (September 26, 2022). "Clicker bait: The Last of Us trailer reveals Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey and the infected". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 HBO's The Last of Us episode 5: "Endure and Survive"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 HBO's The Last of Us episode 4: "Please Hold to My Hand"
