Deep thoughts, I like it. Fireflies indeed can’t unite the country, because the country has changed. I think at this point all people can do in USA is to endlessly create more and more factions. It’ll lead to a very interesting society, where every significant faction will have a very unique structure, due to lack of centralized government.
Yeah that’s probably how it’ll go, if one faction doesn’t get an extreme advantage of some sort and use it to force everyone under their boot or just kill everyone but them. Then the country probably could be unified, but let’s be real probably not even FEDRA could muster that strength.
Turns out that this is exactly what they went within TLoU2. Every city has its own ruling faction. Different factions are fighting over dominance. Factions have different ideologies. There are religious fundamentalists. Military-authoritarian types. Straight up slaveholders. But also relatively normal and humanistic communities like Jackson. Still, the fact that these factions compete over what remains means that other humans are just as, if not more dangerous, than the infected out there. I still think there is hope for uniting these people. Abby is still looking for the Fireflys and I think Ellie, deep down, is very idealistic as well.
Jackson seems to have achieved civilisation without unnecessary violence, basically achieved what the fireflies have been totally incapable of doing due to their violent and selfish nature. Society doesn't really need a government to thrive, but in the TLOU world it does need an armed force to protect it from infected and any attacks from one or more of the lesser civilised factions.
Jackson is basically in the middle of nowhere and citizens didn't have to fight off the government. One leader of Jackson(Tommy) was a former firefly. There just was no war to fight in Jackson.
@@byronmartin1840 That's the point. FORMER firefly. Even he realized they were full of bs, and him along side Maria were able to create a community without violence.
@@theprinceofbrazil Yes true but you're dismissing the fact that it's easier to not use violence with no one to fight. No other groups or no government has alot to do with it.
I'm glad that you pointed out the issues of infrastructure. Nobody ever seems to point that out when discussing the vaccine. Nobody considers how they would analyze the sample, manufacture several iterations and undergo trials to verify the efficacy of the vaccine, go on to mass produce and distribute it, or even whether the doctors they had were qualified and skilled enough to even make a trial vaccine.
I mean, there weren't even trials for the vaccine for this last pandemic. It was either take the jab or lose your job. Infrastructure means nothing if the human mind is drowning in paranoia and greed. Brought to you by Pfizer.
Probably team up with fedra? Since they are the only ones who have factories to produce things. I mean I think that for the greater good they could do it and then when the infected are dealt with they could continue their war to restore democracy or that.
Very much, I think FEDRA had a better chance of producing a vaccine than the Fireflies. As bad as FEDRA is, I think FEDRA is a lot better than what the fireflies have produced; most of the firefly liberated places have fallen into anarchy. FEDRA at least provided a semblance of society and safety.
Also, there has never been a vaccine - in the U.S. or abroad - to prevent fungal infections. We simply do not have the tech or knowledge to create one yet, as fungus is so different from bacteria and viruses. And thats in 2023, not in a world that collapsed in 2013. I doubt that the fireflies with limited scientists and equipment are going to be able create the first one.
Well my theory is: The CDC headquarters are located in Atlanta Georgia there seems to be a Quarantine zone set up there(going off by what the Pittsburgh notes from captain mastros when he was communicating with a high ranking military officer from FEDRA In Atlanta) FEDRA’s headquarters or head of the department is central command Considering all of that maybe both FEDRA central command and CDC along with a sizable military presence was stationed in Atlanta, the military would be used to protect the QZ while the CDC headquarters could have been a massive lab to study the infected for a cure but were not successful but continued to operate. what may could have happened is the fireflies knew of the lab and when they found a cure they would negotiate with FEDRA for the return of the previous government and use the massive lab to do whatever with vaccine, problems tho is the negotiations and vaccines stuff the lab may have had research capability but it did not have manufacturing capabilities which would be obvious, but it possibly could be where they can analyze the vaccine and see how effective it is maybe, also I don’t think FEDRA would be the nicest of people to negotiate with
I mean, as long as they don’t bother Fedra, I think their chances of survival would be much better. Fedra then have a larger workforce to be able to accomplish things faster, and possibly more efficient. Maybe with this larger workforce Fedra could also recruit more soldiers for defense purposes.
I'm just thinking about it. What if, Jackson was the restart of the old life? What if, it's in their hands to build life back up? Let's imagine it: With years, they expand their territory and clear infected and don't let them rot in a corner to continue infecting. But rather, find a smart way to burn the corpses and dispose of the spores in closed quarters. Then build homes and continue expanding. I know, it's easier said than done, but I don't have another solution.
I do agree. With how bleak the Last Of Us Universe has become, along with many real life scenarios of nihilism, it is easy to think negative in a world reduced to to a viral cesspit filled with savagery and violence where survival is the only common option.
The fireflies remind me of a combination of the NCR and the Followers of the apocalypse from Fallout. In my opinion, they weren’t sufficiently included into the game. They appear as a desperate militia in the beginning and as creepy zealots in the end, which doesn’t give them the proper credit. Just look at the medical equipment they have. Unfortunately we only get to see it during an antagonistic stealth sequence. Who else is still capable of complicated, medical procedures? Who could even be bothered to care about stuff like that? The fireflies are educated and knowledgeable with humanitarian tendencies (the followers) while simultaneously fighting for the reinstatement of old world systems and values (NCR) I think instead of being dropped in the beginning and then reappearing as villains in the end, they should’ve gotten waay more screen time. Investing the player into their cause and showing the good they can do. That would’ve made Ellie’s rescue more impactful. They wouldn’t have just been faceless evil scientists with guns. Wasted plotential!
Fireflies are not the bad guys, they just want a better world but maybe their desperation to find a cure made them go crazy and their ways weren't the best.
No they aren’t. They’re not really the good guys either, they seem to care only for their goals (which ultimately are good goals) and not who gets hurt in their pursuit of those goals.
TheiPadCat You're right, when Marlene decided to sacrifice Ellie puts you in a really moral situation. Personally, i don't agree with her but i can understand why she is doing that. Those are the fireflies ideologies. She decided to kill Ellie even knowing that Ellie was her daughter figure and swore to Anna that she will take care of her... wow, it's a really hard situation. What's good? What's wrong?
I’m kind of a “sacrifice for the greater good” guy in theory. Although if I was in that sort of situation in real life I don’t know what I would think or how I would act. The problem is, even though sacrificing Ellie could be seen as something for the greater good - how are the fireflies other actions for the greater good? They’ve presumably destroyed several quarantine zones which probably resulted in tons of people dying and for what? So that they could win over the military? What good did it do? It’s not like it helped them to research a vaccine. Thanks for commenting btw Alejandro :)
Another issue was they didn’t examine Ellie’s blood and use a sample to find out whether her white blood cells have antibodies. Not check the brain, the brain doesn’t tell you anything. I under stand it was to see if the fungus was there. But idk
In both games, there is a document detailing Ellie's red and white blood cell count, so the Fireflies did examine her blood, but still failed to realise they could have sampled her antibodies to make a vaccine. They were desperate, yet fatally naive.
Currently in the process of creating a tlou spinoff comic of sorts. These videos all incredibly useful for me to get into the world again. Thanks mate.
imo essentially guerilla warfare is best - taking out small sections of cities and slowly expanding until e.g salt lake city is completely free of infection and farming from there etc. over maybe 10 years or so you could clear an entire state
It would take atleast 10 years to clear a state of infected and even more to secure said state from infected and other survivors. My only thought is how do you clear an area of spores. Its probably easy to stop people from entering such areas but we know absolutely nothing about any attempt to clear spores before or during the game so yea. I guess our best bet would be to demolish the building with spores in but this is something I hope is explored more. How long an area stays infected with spores once you remove as many bodies and mushroom parts as possible. Or do you have to get some fans or something.
"Salt Lake City (Abandoned, formerly partially Firefly-controlled with the local hospital once serving as the main base of Firefly operations" hmmm doesnt sound like a lefti...err i mean Firefly utopia to me LOL
Seems the Fireflies are a group that absolutely needed to achieve their goals in a certain timeframe, the longer it takes for them to achieve their goals the more people lose faith, the more infrastructure deteriorates, and the more savage people become as supplies dwindle. As shown in the games they failed to do this and their goals become more of a pipe dream, but at least they tried.
You're criminally underrated, mate. It's a damn shame, really. Thank you for your fantastic work! 👍 PS: May I ask what language those subtitles in your gameplay footage are? Just being curious, looks like a pretty exotic language to me :)
Well priorities change. Ellie only got bit two weeks before the game starts, and the Fireflies were around years before she got bit. So they probably were there to oppose FEDRA and their possibly fascist ways.
The firefly and FEDRA war is supposed to come off as rebels vs the empire from THEIR perspective But I love that the game establishes that most common folk pretty much despise both sides because of how much destruction and drama it causes in their lives I feel like Marlene and the Fireflies are initially the good guys with good intentions, but if you think about it their plan was always destined to fail Even if they did secure the cure from Ellie, you can’t just go around finding random people (most of which are prolly raiders and pillagers) and offer them a cure and just expect them to accept it and take it without knowing who you are And even if the Fireflies did successfully rebuild a small society of cured or immune people, they’d just eventually turn into a new FEDRA by attempting to dominate the population and throwing the vaccine in their faces
I'm late but here goes. Joel’s decision was the right one. Humanity was not worth saving and even if he let Ellie die for the sake of a vaccine, there was absolutely no guarantee that it would work and be effectively distributed to everyone. Not to mention the Fireflies overall "fascist" behavior, just like any other faction in TLOU universe, except for Tommy’s. No one can judge Ellie's frustration towards Joel in Part II, but she eventually fully understands his actions - too bad it was after he died and after she went through hell.
@@jameslanier2510 There can be no anti-fascists in a post-apocalyptic world. A totalitarian police state, the only thing that can bring order and discipline in a world of complete anarchy. Firefly does not have anti-fascism, they are just terrorists who hide behind good ideas about saving the world. If they were really anti-fascists, they would have cities like Jackson, but they don't have any cities. firefly cannot offer people a decent alternative to the fascist state, they can only exist as a faction.
i agree with you. I think it's it's unfair to say the fireflies are monsters, but they're not saints either. They're complicated, thay're desperate, and desperate people can make some really shitty decisions based on emotion alone.
Have been watching your videos discussing lore after watching through part 2, your vids are really well done and I hope to see similar content from you now that part 2 is out
It was most likely from monkeys reallisticly in real life it would probably go from an animal to humans and others in real life it went from insects to big spiders
Other members of the fireflies : Alex Raymond Vincent Alex Rohner Ben Glueck Brent Pino Bryony Stewart-Seume Colby Reed David Michael Vigil Eddie Fuentes Erik Griggs Hope Pino Hui Wang Joe Warren Joseph Lenz Josh Scheffler Katerina Perich Kazden Risk Lucas Rios Matthew White Melinda Davidson Michael Kiper Natalie Hoo Nicole Hoo Paul D. Braun Peter Mrozik Philip Liu Robert Righetti Ryan Oliverio Sadie Pearle Hickman Shiyao Jiang Travis Kristof
This has probably been brought up before but the Fireflies remind me a lot of a radical communist vanguard militia. They have essentially a global/internationalist goal (delivering the vaccine to all of humanity) and are probably willing to use any means, up to and including terrorism, child murder, and setting up a(n ostensibly temporary) dictatorship (should they ever seize power on a large scale), in order to reach that end; very much like how, for example, the Bolsheviks created a brutal (and also ostensibly temporary) dictatorship that was meant to be the forefront of a worldwide workers’ revolution to create a classless paradise for all of humanity. The Fireflies either out of incompetence or overzealousness (often both) keep manufacturing the trolley problem where it really doesn’t exist, leading to Joel massacring a huge number of them, much like the USSR’s reliance on the junk science of lysenkoism led to disastrous famines and the Party’s ideological paranoia led to millions of imprisonments and executions. If the political compass is at all still applicable to that world, the Fireflies would probably be on the far left (while the Pittsburgh Hunters and maybe Seraphites might be far right). I actually think that the ending of the first game was a condemnation of all groups that attempt to act on an international/global or humanity-wide scale in that world (such as the Fireflies) since sooner or later their allegiance to “the human race” in the abstract would cause them to discard their more primal human obligations (to friends and kin) and their fundamental sense of human decency. In the words of that Matt Damon character in Interstellar, in order to save the human race they would have to discard their humanity. Simultaneously I think the ending of TLOU1 was a vindication of very localized communities like Jackson, the closest thing in that world to nation-states. The real hope for humanity really lay with these small settlements with strong walls and borders whose populations fall well within Dunbar’s number; they only cautiously let in outsiders after they have demonstrated their trustworthiness and willingness to assimilate and contribute; they can rely on networks of family units for cohesion and patiently ride out the infection for as long it takes while leaving the outside world to sort out their own problems
I know this is an old video and pretty irrelevant at this point. But the fact that people continue in going on living is known as the hedonistic treadmill, if I'm wording that right. Basically, it shows that no matter what changes things will return to a point of normalcy. For example, the covid virus of now. We more or less have returned to a form of normalcy, whether we want to or not. Again I could be working this wrong as I remember this term from somewhere that involves post-apocalyptic society. 🤷♂️
It's no wonder the fireflies couldn't find a way to make a vaccine for a fungus. We in civil society haven't even found a way to make vaccines for fungus. 🤦♂️
Alot of people fail to understand this. It's literally impossible to make one and the fireflies killed many immune people trying to make one. Their plan was doomed to fail from the start. Instead they should of focused on trying to find immune people so they could possibly give birth to others that could be immune as well. That would be the only way to outlast it long enough for the fungus die off from lack of viable hosts. Yea that's a long road but it's better then killing immune people in the process of trying to make vaccine that is (currently) impossible to make.
Excellent video, you put in lots of work..Assumption 1)seems most likely, a leader doesnt need to inform every single subordinate soldier/ worker EVERY single mission, joel didnt need to know or be part of ALL firefly major missions. Secondly i feel your argument that finding vaccine would have minimal impact on the world...ACTUALLY i pad cat finding vaccine wouldve been crucial to restoring order even at regional level. In 90s pharmaceutical companies were against making advanced hiv retro virals cheaplyavailable to masses in third world countries for similar logic. When pharmas lost n hiv drugs bombarded Africa, Asia etc Hiv virus pandemic mortality diminished and rural African economies flourished
Thank you Mo! I agree that a vaccine could help restore and stabilise things at a regional level. I mean SLC would probably be the safest place in the world had they succeeded in producing it. However the issue with how they’d mass produce it and distribute it all over the world to everyone still remains. And like I said, I’m not sure they’d even want to. I doubt they’d give any to FEDRA or the Hunters - or any other group that they’ve clashed with in the past. Sure the fireflies want a vaccine but they were hardly philanthropists.
@@Void_from_Abyss true, in Pitsburgh the fireflies started the fire then last control which I imagine happened a few times. Also if they weren't distracted by fireflies they may not have had to be so harsh
Another possible solution and somewhat of an ouccams razor sort of situation is that a vaccine would help restore a democracy. More people alive means more people alive to vote in a democracy.
How can we get Naughty Dog to make up for LOU2 and give us a prequel of Tommy and Joel with in the first 20 years. They can atleast make two or 3 games just based on that. Love your videos!!
Interesting and relaxing Video, Emil. The Fireflies: ''The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions...'' ?? I see you announced the Discord server in the video also now: Pussy-Squad Unite ;-) !
Exactly! The fireflies may be good in theory but they let nothing stand in between them and their goals which results in people getting hurt. Thanks for watching trebuchet and pussy squad unite!
I agree... I play Hunter in Factions also... I might try out the Fireflies one day, but I really don't like the militairy aspect in The Fireflies... but to each their own... ;-)
Nahhh fireflies for the win! Hunters are cool too tho. I actually made a firefly arm thingy of my own and I ordered a pendant with my name on it from Etsy.
Reminds me of Communists and most far left wing ideologies which have an internationalist (as opposed to local or nationalist) orientation and claim to uplift all of humanity in the abstract
With regard to what you ask at the end of your vid. All I can say is where would we be today, in real life, it there were not visionaries, dreamers and the doers of what seemed impossible throughout the ages?
There may be a point in fighting becuase you can either live and endure some bad things or cease to exsist and never endure good things so it evens out. This theory assumes theres no heaven.
The Wolves were mentioned as ex-military that turned against FEDRA After Joel took Elli from the Fireflies at the hospital and killed the surgeon (supposedly the only person left they knew of that was qualified to create a vaccine and perform the required surgery) the Fireflies fell apart and disbanded...with many joining the Wolves.
Why Not just make your own firefly qz s and live as a society make it happen from nothing like the real world society came from ,just go form your own qzs, cities maybe even countries .
Well humans will never be short on disagreements or hate. With the resources the fireflies had they could probably have done so. But instead they chose to spend it all fighting against FEDRA and other groups
infrastructures destroyed? people mass murdered? how can you come back to normal life?? well...what happened in europe (especially some areas of the east) after WW2..... without the infections life COULD come to normal..... of course requiring years and the willing of restoring things.....but possible
Well this time around there would be no “new deal” to help anyone. No economy at all and no other major force to assist in building up again. Even though infrastructure was destroyed after the war, there were still countries, centralised power and unity. In the last of us? None of that exists anymore. It’s not impossible, just way more improbable
The difference is there is no structure at all no economy at all no foreign powers to assist its complete lawlessness even European nations after WW2 had some structure left and support to rebuild by foreign powers in better positions it’s not impossible but it will be 100 times harder and since all infrastructure is so old and forgotten about odds are what you could reconstruct would not be comparable to the old government and way of life because a lot of that knowledge will be lost so it is possible just very hard so it’s not exactly the same situation as it would be after WW2 in Europe
Yes eventually things would go back, but only if humanity wins, there's no foreign aid or help coming, if you go by lore the infected age turn them into the tougher forms, inside of 10 years you'd expect there are at least twice as many bloaters, and clickers are a dime a dozen
The Fireflies were doomed. Joel did the right thing, saving Ellie. Even if a vaccine was made, it's only going to cure runners and maybe, MAYBE stalkers. Clickers, Shamblers and Bloaters are done for, for good. Id rather live in the fungal apocalypse instead of the modern day. The 9 to 5, paying bills, driving... fuckin' hate driving... Id rather deal with fungus face, even though I'd probably get bitten if i alerted any of em while trying to sneak past
I know that this is a year late, but I also want to add that they didn’t seem to have any way, let alone a plan, to distribute a cure that they might not have even been able to feasibly make. Because they were stationed in a hospital that had been in a state of disrepair for around 20 years, I highly doubt there was much in the way of useable equipment. And, synthesizing a vaccine would’ve taken quite a while, not sure how long exactly, but seeing as how they had what appeared to be, a grand total of three doctors, it would’ve been a while. Especially in their state. I’m not sure a vaccine was ever a realistic possibility for them tbh. Seems more like wishful thinking at this point.
I’m 2 years late but here’s my 2 cents: • I’d rather have the 9-5 because I don’t have to worry about getting my neck muscles ripped out my clickers or become a passenger in my own body • I don’t think the fireflies had any intention on distributing it to anyone who wasn’t a firefly
No you would'nt . You think that you would be Joel or Bill. Most likely you would be dead or doing backbreaking work for ration cards. Di not assume that you would be the protagonist during the apocalyps.
My 16 year old brother got the jab, and booster. Now he has heart problems, and got covid twice anyway. People like you pressured him into it because he didn't want to be ostracized and blamed. Look at him now. Stfu.
No offense, but in a case like this, I’d think very few people would refuse it. This disease literally turns you into a mushroom zombie. The anti-vaxx movement would die REAL fast after seeing a clicker. I’d be like “I’ll take a vaccine that “might” give me cancer in like ten years, over a freaking zombie plague.” I’m stabbing this into my neck if I have to.
@@ForrestFox626 That was Fedra who bombed the Downtown and the military did it because it was literally swarming and only infected, infact they even sent news to whoever was in the Downtown as a warning to get away from the Downtown during bombing.
Deep thoughts, I like it. Fireflies indeed can’t unite the country, because the country has changed. I think at this point all people can do in USA is to endlessly create more and more factions. It’ll lead to a very interesting society, where every significant faction will have a very unique structure, due to lack of centralized government.
Yeah that’s probably how it’ll go, if one faction doesn’t get an extreme advantage of some sort and use it to force everyone under their boot or just kill everyone but them. Then the country probably could be unified, but let’s be real probably not even FEDRA could muster that strength.
Turns out that this is exactly what they went within TLoU2.
Every city has its own ruling faction. Different factions are fighting over dominance.
Factions have different ideologies. There are religious fundamentalists. Military-authoritarian types. Straight up slaveholders. But also relatively normal and humanistic communities like Jackson.
Still, the fact that these factions compete over what remains means that other humans are just as, if not more dangerous, than the infected out there.
I still think there is hope for uniting these people. Abby is still looking for the Fireflys and I think Ellie, deep down, is very idealistic as well.
Yes they can. Humanity has been through worse and has been controlled
Tribal time for the win again
“The more things change, the more they stay the same”
Humanity got set back in more ways than one, I suppose
Jackson seems to have achieved civilisation without unnecessary violence, basically achieved what the fireflies have been totally incapable of doing due to their violent and selfish nature. Society doesn't really need a government to thrive, but in the TLOU world it does need an armed force to protect it from infected and any attacks from one or more of the lesser civilised factions.
Jackson is basically in the middle of nowhere and citizens didn't have to fight off the government. One leader of Jackson(Tommy) was a former firefly. There just was no war to fight in Jackson.
@@byronmartin1840 That's the point. FORMER firefly. Even he realized they were full of bs, and him along side Maria were able to create a community without violence.
@@theprinceofbrazil Yes true but you're dismissing the fact that it's easier to not use violence with no one to fight. No other groups or no government has alot to do with it.
Jackson has a growing population 10-20k rn
@@theprinceofbrazil They weren't bs. They were correct revolutionaries
I'm glad that you pointed out the issues of infrastructure. Nobody ever seems to point that out when discussing the vaccine. Nobody considers how they would analyze the sample, manufacture several iterations and undergo trials to verify the efficacy of the vaccine, go on to mass produce and distribute it, or even whether the doctors they had were qualified and skilled enough to even make a trial vaccine.
I mean, there weren't even trials for the vaccine for this last pandemic. It was either take the jab or lose your job. Infrastructure means nothing if the human mind is drowning in paranoia and greed. Brought to you by Pfizer.
Probably team up with fedra? Since they are the only ones who have factories to produce things. I mean I think that for the greater good they could do it and then when the infected are dealt with they could continue their war to restore democracy or that.
Very much, I think FEDRA had a better chance of producing a vaccine than the Fireflies. As bad as FEDRA is, I think FEDRA is a lot better than what the fireflies have produced; most of the firefly liberated places have fallen into anarchy. FEDRA at least provided a semblance of society and safety.
Also, there has never been a vaccine - in the U.S. or abroad - to prevent fungal infections. We simply do not have the tech or knowledge to create one yet, as fungus is so different from bacteria and viruses. And thats in 2023, not in a world that collapsed in 2013. I doubt that the fireflies with limited scientists and equipment are going to be able create the first one.
Well my theory is:
The CDC headquarters are located in Atlanta Georgia there seems to be a Quarantine zone set up there(going off by what the Pittsburgh notes from captain mastros when he was communicating with a high ranking military officer from FEDRA In Atlanta) FEDRA’s headquarters or head of the department is central command
Considering all of that maybe both FEDRA central command and CDC along with a sizable military presence was stationed in Atlanta, the military would be used to protect the QZ while the CDC headquarters could have been a massive lab to study the infected for a cure but were not successful but continued to operate.
what may could have happened is the fireflies knew of the lab and when they found a cure they would negotiate with FEDRA for the return of the previous government and use the massive lab to do whatever with vaccine, problems tho is the negotiations and vaccines stuff the lab may have had research capability but it did not have manufacturing capabilities which would be obvious, but it possibly could be where they can analyze the vaccine and see how effective it is maybe, also I don’t think FEDRA would be the nicest of people to negotiate with
The Firefiles should just group up and create their own little civilization. Its not like anything would stop them.
I mean, as long as they don’t bother Fedra, I think their chances of survival would be much better. Fedra then have a larger workforce to be able to accomplish things faster, and possibly more efficient. Maybe with this larger workforce Fedra could also recruit more soldiers for defense purposes.
I mean aside from Hunters, Infected, Fedra, Bandits, possibly Scars and WLF and maybe the Rattlers along with the Cannibals they are pretty much fine.
@@mremerald2224 I mean that’s a lot of things to be worrying about as it is
They don’t want to. They just want to kill people and destroy stuff.
@@mremerald2224worst of all Joel
I'm just thinking about it. What if, Jackson was the restart of the old life? What if, it's in their hands to build life back up?
Let's imagine it: With years, they expand their territory and clear infected and don't let them rot in a corner to continue infecting. But rather, find a smart way to burn the corpses and dispose of the spores in closed quarters. Then build homes and continue expanding. I know, it's easier said than done, but I don't have another solution.
I do agree. With how bleak the Last Of Us Universe has become, along with many real life scenarios of nihilism, it is easy to think negative in a world reduced to to a viral cesspit filled with savagery and violence where survival is the only common option.
"Violent revolutionaries blinded by their vision of a utopia"
We're looking at you Dutch
The fireflies remind me of a combination of the NCR and the Followers of the apocalypse from Fallout. In my opinion, they weren’t sufficiently included into the game. They appear as a desperate militia in the beginning and as creepy zealots in the end, which doesn’t give them the proper credit.
Just look at the medical equipment they have. Unfortunately we only get to see it during an antagonistic stealth sequence. Who else is still capable of complicated, medical procedures? Who could even be bothered to care about stuff like that? The fireflies are educated and knowledgeable with humanitarian tendencies (the followers) while simultaneously fighting for the reinstatement of old world systems and values (NCR)
I think instead of being dropped in the beginning and then reappearing as villains in the end, they should’ve gotten waay more screen time. Investing the player into their cause and showing the good they can do. That would’ve made Ellie’s rescue more impactful. They wouldn’t have just been faceless evil scientists with guns. Wasted plotential!
Tbh I support the Enclave
@@_poseidon175 The Enclave are disgusting and the evil things they do cast their shadow over the good.
@@_poseidon175 based and true, also ave, true to Caesar
Fireflies are not the bad guys, they just want a better world but maybe their desperation to find a cure made them go crazy and their ways weren't the best.
No they aren’t. They’re not really the good guys either, they seem to care only for their goals (which ultimately are good goals) and not who gets hurt in their pursuit of those goals.
TheiPadCat You're right, when Marlene decided to sacrifice Ellie puts you in a really moral situation. Personally, i don't agree with her but i can understand why she is doing that. Those are the fireflies ideologies. She decided to kill Ellie even knowing that Ellie was her daughter figure and swore to Anna that she will take care of her... wow, it's a really hard situation. What's good? What's wrong?
I’m kind of a “sacrifice for the greater good” guy in theory. Although if I was in that sort of situation in real life I don’t know what I would think or how I would act. The problem is, even though sacrificing Ellie could be seen as something for the greater good - how are the fireflies other actions for the greater good? They’ve presumably destroyed several quarantine zones which probably resulted in tons of people dying and for what? So that they could win over the military? What good did it do? It’s not like it helped them to research a vaccine. Thanks for commenting btw Alejandro :)
yeah!
Interesting points
Another issue was they didn’t examine Ellie’s blood and use a sample to find out whether her white blood cells have antibodies. Not check the brain, the brain doesn’t tell you anything. I under stand it was to see if the fungus was there. But idk
In both games, there is a document detailing Ellie's red and white blood cell count, so the Fireflies did examine her blood, but still failed to realise they could have sampled her antibodies to make a vaccine. They were desperate, yet fatally naive.
Currently in the process of creating a tlou spinoff comic of sorts. These videos all incredibly useful for me to get into the world again. Thanks mate.
Let me know when you finish it!
imo essentially guerilla warfare is best - taking out small sections of cities and slowly expanding until e.g salt lake city is completely free of infection and farming from there etc.
over maybe 10 years or so you could clear an entire state
It would take atleast 10 years to clear a state of infected and even more to secure said state from infected and other survivors. My only thought is how do you clear an area of spores. Its probably easy to stop people from entering such areas but we know absolutely nothing about any attempt to clear spores before or during the game so yea. I guess our best bet would be to demolish the building with spores in but this is something I hope is explored more. How long an area stays infected with spores once you remove as many bodies and mushroom parts as possible. Or do you have to get some fans or something.
@@coraldiamond1922 i mean a small state eg vermont or nj, obvs they dont respect borders but if you had a decent like group you could clear towns out
Torching most of it should be enough to clear it out.
"Salt Lake City (Abandoned, formerly partially Firefly-controlled with the local hospital once serving as the main base of Firefly operations" hmmm doesnt sound like a lefti...err i mean Firefly utopia to me LOL
I mean some states were secured
Seems the Fireflies are a group that absolutely needed to achieve their goals in a certain timeframe, the longer it takes for them to achieve their goals the more people lose faith, the more infrastructure deteriorates, and the more savage people become as supplies dwindle. As shown in the games they failed to do this and their goals become more of a pipe dream, but at least they tried.
You're criminally underrated, mate. It's a damn shame, really. Thank you for your fantastic work! 👍
PS: May I ask what language those subtitles in your gameplay footage are? Just being curious, looks like a pretty exotic language to me :)
Thank you SacredSecrecy! I really do appreciate the support :) och det där språket är svenska! Or in English: that language is Swedish :)
Not really he is overrated for spreading misinformation about the game and then receiving praise for it
@@Lilhajxjk274 it’s all just theories no one is saying it’s fact lol
Well priorities change. Ellie only got bit two weeks before the game starts, and the Fireflies were around years before she got bit. So they probably were there to oppose FEDRA and their possibly fascist ways.
That was there main and original goal
The firefly and FEDRA war is supposed to come off as rebels vs the empire from THEIR perspective
But I love that the game establishes that most common folk pretty much despise both sides because of how much destruction and drama it causes in their lives
I feel like Marlene and the Fireflies are initially the good guys with good intentions, but if you think about it their plan was always destined to fail
Even if they did secure the cure from Ellie, you can’t just go around finding random people (most of which are prolly raiders and pillagers) and offer them a cure and just expect them to accept it and take it without knowing who you are
And even if the Fireflies did successfully rebuild a small society of cured or immune people, they’d just eventually turn into a new FEDRA by attempting to dominate the population and throwing the vaccine in their faces
I'm late but here goes. Joel’s decision was the right one. Humanity was not worth saving and even if he let Ellie die for the sake of a vaccine, there was absolutely no guarantee that it would work and be effectively distributed to everyone. Not to mention the Fireflies overall "fascist" behavior, just like any other faction in TLOU universe, except for Tommy’s. No one can judge Ellie's frustration towards Joel in Part II, but she eventually fully understands his actions - too bad it was after he died and after she went through hell.
The Fireflies are antifascist for the most part considering how they fight FEDRA.
@@jameslanier2510 well, I guess you can say that, but TLOU 2 gave hints that the Fireflies weren’t exactly “good guys” either.
@@jameslanier2510 There can be no anti-fascists in a post-apocalyptic world. A totalitarian police state, the only thing that can bring order and discipline in a world of complete anarchy. Firefly does not have anti-fascism, they are just terrorists who hide behind good ideas about saving the world. If they were really anti-fascists, they would have cities like Jackson, but they don't have any cities. firefly cannot offer people a decent alternative to the fascist state, they can only exist as a faction.
It’s been confirmed that the vaccine wouldn’t have worked
youre one hell of a narcissist
That’s the same question that can be asked in every post apocalyptic game/movie/tv series.
i agree with you. I think it's it's unfair to say the fireflies are monsters, but they're not saints either. They're complicated, thay're desperate, and desperate people can make some really shitty decisions based on emotion alone.
Have been watching your videos discussing lore after watching through part 2, your vids are really well done and I hope to see similar content from you now that part 2 is out
Dang he got deep there for a minute at the end.
9:25 not to mention, all the criminals and people who have just gotten used to living with no rules that would fight to KEEP it the way it was
I think the fireflies started focusing on a vaccine after the second outbreak had occured ( from the monkeys in UEC)
It was most likely from monkeys reallisticly in real life it would probably go from an animal to humans and others in real life it went from insects to big spiders
Other members of the fireflies :
Alex Raymond Vincent
Alex Rohner
Ben Glueck
Brent Pino
Bryony Stewart-Seume
Colby Reed
David Michael Vigil
Eddie Fuentes
Erik Griggs
Hope Pino
Hui Wang
Joe Warren
Joseph Lenz
Josh Scheffler
Katerina Perich
Kazden Risk
Lucas Rios
Matthew White
Melinda Davidson
Michael Kiper
Natalie Hoo
Nicole Hoo
Paul D. Braun
Peter Mrozik
Philip Liu
Robert Righetti
Ryan Oliverio
Sadie Pearle Hickman
Shiyao Jiang
Travis Kristof
You forgot :
Mike Hunt
Hugh Janus
Ben Dover
Som ting Wong
Ligma Bolls
Wilma Nutsfitinyamouth
@@calmdownbeavis7039 Who Are Those Guys Anyway
@@pandegaarkanrauf8413 fireflies
@@calmdownbeavis7039 Wait This Is a Pun Name Right
@@pandegaarkanrauf8413 .....yes my friend
I believe 1 is correct.
we do see that the fireflies are worried about how attacks are being done at random instead of targeted
This has probably been brought up before but the Fireflies remind me a lot of a radical communist vanguard militia. They have essentially a global/internationalist goal (delivering the vaccine to all of humanity) and are probably willing to use any means, up to and including terrorism, child murder, and setting up a(n ostensibly temporary) dictatorship (should they ever seize power on a large scale), in order to reach that end; very much like how, for example, the Bolsheviks created a brutal (and also ostensibly temporary) dictatorship that was meant to be the forefront of a worldwide workers’ revolution to create a classless paradise for all of humanity. The Fireflies either out of incompetence or overzealousness (often both) keep manufacturing the trolley problem where it really doesn’t exist, leading to Joel massacring a huge number of them, much like the USSR’s reliance on the junk science of lysenkoism led to disastrous famines and the Party’s ideological paranoia led to millions of imprisonments and executions. If the political compass is at all still applicable to that world, the Fireflies would probably be on the far left (while the Pittsburgh Hunters and maybe Seraphites might be far right).
I actually think that the ending of the first game was a condemnation of all groups that attempt to act on an international/global or humanity-wide scale in that world (such as the Fireflies) since sooner or later their allegiance to “the human race” in the abstract would cause them to discard their more primal human obligations (to friends and kin) and their fundamental sense of human decency. In the words of that Matt Damon character in Interstellar, in order to save the human race they would have to discard their humanity.
Simultaneously I think the ending of TLOU1 was a vindication of very localized communities like Jackson, the closest thing in that world to nation-states. The real hope for humanity really lay with these small settlements with strong walls and borders whose populations fall well within Dunbar’s number; they only cautiously let in outsiders after they have demonstrated their trustworthiness and willingness to assimilate and contribute; they can rely on networks of family units for cohesion and patiently ride out the infection for as long it takes while leaving the outside world to sort out their own problems
you not only is one of the dumbest humans ive ever heard but also cringe ass fuck, i hope baby jesus have mercy on your wretched and villanous soul.
I know this is an old video and pretty irrelevant at this point. But the fact that people continue in going on living is known as the hedonistic treadmill, if I'm wording that right.
Basically, it shows that no matter what changes things will return to a point of normalcy. For example, the covid virus of now. We more or less have returned to a form of normalcy, whether we want to or not.
Again I could be working this wrong as I remember this term from somewhere that involves post-apocalyptic society. 🤷♂️
It's no wonder the fireflies couldn't find a way to make a vaccine for a fungus. We in civil society haven't even found a way to make vaccines for fungus. 🤦♂️
Alot of people fail to understand this. It's literally impossible to make one and the fireflies killed many immune people trying to make one. Their plan was doomed to fail from the start. Instead they should of focused on trying to find immune people so they could possibly give birth to others that could be immune as well. That would be the only way to outlast it long enough for the fungus die off from lack of viable hosts. Yea that's a long road but it's better then killing immune people in the process of trying to make vaccine that is (currently) impossible to make.
Excellent video, you put in lots of work..Assumption 1)seems most likely, a leader doesnt need to inform every single subordinate soldier/ worker EVERY single mission, joel didnt need to know or be part of ALL firefly major missions. Secondly i feel your argument that finding vaccine would have minimal impact on the world...ACTUALLY i pad cat finding vaccine wouldve been crucial to restoring order even at regional level. In 90s pharmaceutical companies were against making advanced hiv retro virals cheaplyavailable to masses in third world countries for similar logic. When pharmas lost n hiv drugs bombarded Africa, Asia etc Hiv virus pandemic mortality diminished and rural African economies flourished
Thank you Mo! I agree that a vaccine could help restore and stabilise things at a regional level. I mean SLC would probably be the safest place in the world had they succeeded in producing it. However the issue with how they’d mass produce it and distribute it all over the world to everyone still remains. And like I said, I’m not sure they’d even want to. I doubt they’d give any to FEDRA or the Hunters - or any other group that they’ve clashed with in the past. Sure the fireflies want a vaccine but they were hardly philanthropists.
That makes sense
Imagine how many teenagers would join the Fireflies
I wonder what would happen if the fireflies never formed, and just stayed loyal to Fedra.
Probably a slightly better world
@@TimesFM4532 WLF and ratlers: lets us to introduce ourselfs
@@Void_from_Abyss true, in Pitsburgh the fireflies started the fire then last control which I imagine happened a few times. Also if they weren't distracted by fireflies they may not have had to be so harsh
Because they found something to fight for
I see what you did there ;)
because they have nothing left to lose or what to fight for, then they try to fulfill the big dreams of others
What is the music at 11:15? It’s so... Perfect for the moment, it’s so empty, but sentimental. I love it
Another possible solution and somewhat of an ouccams razor sort of situation is that a vaccine would help restore a democracy. More people alive means more people alive to vote in a democracy.
How can we get Naughty Dog to make up for LOU2 and give us a prequel of Tommy and Joel with in the first 20 years. They can atleast make two or 3 games just based on that.
Love your videos!!
Love love love your videos mate keep up the good work you deserve more subscribers
Thank you rhino! I’ll do my best :)
The Fireflies are super interesting
Interesting and relaxing Video, Emil.
The Fireflies: ''The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions...'' ??
I see you announced the Discord server in the video also now:
Pussy-Squad Unite ;-) !
Exactly! The fireflies may be good in theory but they let nothing stand in between them and their goals which results in people getting hurt. Thanks for watching trebuchet and pussy squad unite!
I agree... I play Hunter in Factions also...
I might try out the Fireflies one day, but I really don't like the militairy aspect in The Fireflies... but to each their own... ;-)
Nahhh fireflies for the win! Hunters are cool too tho. I actually made a firefly arm thingy of my own and I ordered a pendant with my name on it from Etsy.
Reminds me of Communists and most far left wing ideologies which have an internationalist (as opposed to local or nationalist) orientation and claim to uplift all of humanity in the abstract
With regard to what you ask at the end of your vid.
All I can say is where would we be today, in real life, it there were not visionaries, dreamers and the doers of what seemed impossible throughout the ages?
like joel said to ellie there is no cure and nothing can help these savage peoples anymore
So they can have a second part
There may be a point in fighting becuase you can either live and endure some bad things or cease to exsist and never endure good things so it evens out. This theory assumes theres no heaven.
Good attempt!
who are the wolf and are they fireflies ? cause the game I got confused smh
The Wolves were mentioned as ex-military that turned against FEDRA
After Joel took Elli from the Fireflies at the hospital and killed the surgeon (supposedly the only person left they knew of that was qualified to create a vaccine and perform the required surgery)
the Fireflies fell apart and disbanded...with many joining the Wolves.
I can't wait for the last of us part 2
That makes two of us :)
Lmao
انا Me little do they know...
Hahah
Came out
Why Not just make your own firefly qz s and live as a society make it happen from nothing like the real world society came from ,just go form your own qzs, cities maybe even countries .
Well humans will never be short on disagreements or hate. With the resources the fireflies had they could probably have done so. But instead they chose to spend it all fighting against FEDRA and other groups
Jackson did that
While the Fireflies goals are what most or some would say just dumb or stupid. But they are fighting with a purpose in mind albeit in a skewered way.
You can fight for a purpose and still do more harm than good.
'The road to hell is lined with good intentions.'
infrastructures destroyed? people mass murdered? how can you come back to normal life?? well...what happened in europe (especially some areas of the east) after WW2..... without the infections life COULD come to normal..... of course requiring years and the willing of restoring things.....but possible
Well this time around there would be no “new deal” to help anyone. No economy at all and no other major force to assist in building up again. Even though infrastructure was destroyed after the war, there were still countries, centralised power and unity. In the last of us? None of that exists anymore. It’s not impossible, just way more improbable
Europe only rebuilt because it was bankrolled by the US and USSR to do so.
Black Death killed 60% approximately and ppl went back to normal
The difference is there is no structure at all no economy at all no foreign powers to assist its complete lawlessness even European nations after WW2 had some structure left and support to rebuild by foreign powers in better positions it’s not impossible but it will be 100 times harder and since all infrastructure is so old and forgotten about odds are what you could reconstruct would not be comparable to the old government and way of life because a lot of that knowledge will be lost so it is possible just very hard so it’s not exactly the same situation as it would be after WW2 in Europe
Yes eventually things would go back, but only if humanity wins, there's no foreign aid or help coming, if you go by lore the infected age turn them into the tougher forms, inside of 10 years you'd expect there are at least twice as many bloaters, and clickers are a dime a dozen
A Little channel but a good analysis
3d audio in good in the clip.
People: *don’t want military and start rebelling against them*
Infected: *takes over most of the country*
People: *surprised pikachu face*
What are the "two attacks" in the intro?
Terrorist attacks of some kind, likely on government/military installations like we see at the beginning of the game in Boston.
@@baneofbanes yeah that's one of the attacks, what is the second one?
Fireflies pissed me off. I almost hated Riley for being a firefly. They really are just terrorists.
['[|| [Hope] is Eternal. ||]'.]
I really want to joint the discord can you please re send the link
I am the 1000th like.
Even if there is a vaccine clickers and bloaters could rip you to shreds
There’s 0.000001% for a bloater so they’re extremely rare they die at either stalker or clicker stages
@@fedra5873 Then Joel and Ellie must be lucky then. Even if there was no boaters, clickers can still rip you to shreds
1000th like
The Fireflies were doomed. Joel did the right thing, saving Ellie.
Even if a vaccine was made, it's only going to cure runners and maybe, MAYBE stalkers. Clickers, Shamblers and Bloaters are done for, for good.
Id rather live in the fungal apocalypse instead of the modern day. The 9 to 5, paying bills, driving... fuckin' hate driving...
Id rather deal with fungus face, even though I'd probably get bitten if i alerted any of em while trying to sneak past
I know that this is a year late, but I also want to add that they didn’t seem to have any way, let alone a plan, to distribute a cure that they might not have even been able to feasibly make. Because they were stationed in a hospital that had been in a state of disrepair for around 20 years, I highly doubt there was much in the way of useable equipment. And, synthesizing a vaccine would’ve taken quite a while, not sure how long exactly, but seeing as how they had what appeared to be, a grand total of three doctors, it would’ve been a while. Especially in their state. I’m not sure a vaccine was ever a realistic possibility for them tbh. Seems more like wishful thinking at this point.
I’m 2 years late but here’s my 2 cents:
• I’d rather have the 9-5 because I don’t have to worry about getting my neck muscles ripped out my clickers or become a passenger in my own body
• I don’t think the fireflies had any intention on distributing it to anyone who wasn’t a firefly
Vaccine doesn't cure people it prevents people from getting sick in the first place.
No you would'nt . You think that you would be Joel or Bill. Most likely you would be dead or doing backbreaking work for ration cards. Di not assume that you would be the protagonist during the apocalyps.
Svensk?
Ja
@@TheiPadCat 🕶
It says Fart 0:04
Thank you president Obama, that was pretty epic
They will have to worry about antivaxxer.
My 16 year old brother got the jab, and booster. Now he has heart problems, and got covid twice anyway. People like you pressured him into it because he didn't want to be ostracized and blamed. Look at him now. Stfu.
No offense, but in a case like this, I’d think very few people would refuse it. This disease literally turns you into a mushroom zombie. The anti-vaxx movement would die REAL fast after seeing a clicker. I’d be like “I’ll take a vaccine that “might” give me cancer in like ten years, over a freaking zombie plague.” I’m stabbing this into my neck if I have to.
@@calmdownbeavis7039 he made his choice. Could've just ignored it but didn't.
Nah these points make literally 0 sense 💀💀💀
The Fireflies could have saved the world, had Joel not rescued Ellie
How is bombing safe zones helping the world!?
@@ForrestFox626 Those weren't the only things they did
@@DoratTheKiller Name the good then.
Na not really the infection was dying out anyway
@@ForrestFox626 That was Fedra who bombed the Downtown and the military did it because it was literally swarming and only infected, infact they even sent news to whoever was in the Downtown as a warning to get away from the Downtown during bombing.
Liars
0:05 fart
Just putting this factoid out there
America is a constitutional republic not a democracy .
But its still a representative democracy.
Republics are a type of democracy. We vote for representatives who vote on issues for us.
Yes but by definition not a democracy
@@stevefielding2349 by definition a representative democracy. We vote for our leaders when then in turn vote for the bills and laws that get passed.
@@jack727dave5
Your one of those weirdos who is going to argue on semantics right ?
Dude just wants fascism
This was awesome, big hug!