‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, Episode 5: Who is Leon?

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We're delving deeper into new characters and storylines in The Last of Us Season 2, with a dramatic basement situation unfolding in episode 5. A name that comes up during the opening scene is Leon. But who is he, how does he relate to the storyline, and does he appear in Naughty Dog's game? Let's go through the details.

        <h2>When is Leon mentioned in The Last of Us Season 2?</h2>

In the opening scene of episode 5, Hanrahan (Alanna Ubach) interrogates Washington Liberation Front (WLF) commanding officer Elise Park (Hettienne Park) about a mission that went terribly wrong in Seattle's Lakehill Hospital. During their conversation, Elise mentions she sent her team into the hospital basement to secure it after clearing the floors above of Infected — orders Hanrahan gave her. Elise states that a soldier named Leon was put in charge of the unit for the mission "because he's my best," revealing that Leon is her son.

        <h2>What happened to Leon in The Last of Us?</h2>

It was always a risky mission, as Elise mentions the hospital basement is where doctors brought the first Cordyceps patients for treatment in 2003. After finding the first floor strangely empty, Elise sent her unit to the second, with Leon leading the way. "Few minutes in, he radios back, 'There's Cordyceps on the walls, the floor.' Chances are they'll find Infected next, but that's what they were down there for, so I told them to proceed," Elise explains. "Five minutes later, he radios again — this time he was struggling to breathe."

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It's here Leon reveals his team discovered not only the dangerous fungi, Cordyceps, on the walls but also spores floating in the air. In a tragic moment of heroism, he instructs his mother to seal the unit on the basement's second floor.

        <h2>L. Park</h2>

"We did what Leon said. We sealed them in," she recalls. Later in the episode, when Ellie (Bella Ramsey) pursues Nora (Tati Gabrielle) into the hospital basement, she discovers the area overrun with Cordyceps — and spores not only floating in the air but also being emitted by people infested with the fungi and sealed against the walls. One of these unfortunate individuals is wearing a name patch, L. Park, confirming him as the ill-fated Leon (Cheonguk Park), doomed to emit spores in a half-alive state.

        <h2>Is Leon in The Last of Us games?</h2>

The name Leon is mentioned only in environmental storytelling in The Last of Us Part II, referencing another character. However, there is some ironic overlap. Ellie and Dina find a note in the abandoned Westlake Bank in Seattle beside a gym bag of cash, describing a bank robbery gone awry at the outbreak of the Cordyceps pandemic. In the letter, written by a frustrated participant in the heist, it’s revealed that he was attacked by Infected and sealed in the bank by his accomplices, one of whom is Leon Travis. While it could be coincidence, if this is a deliberate reference, it suggests an unfortunate parallel in The Last of Us universe, with both Leon and the bank robber being sealed away due to the threat of Infected.

The Last of Us Season 2 is now streaming on its platform, with new episodes airing weekly on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.

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