Why the heck were people following David anyway? ‘The Last of Us’ showrunners offer answers

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode eight, “When We Are In Need.”

The penultimate episode of HBO’s The Last of Us introduced its audience to potentially the most deplorable and vile character in the series so far in the form of David – played by Scott Shepherd. 

From the moment the episode begins, the less religiously inclined among the show’s viewership may have been questioning why all these people chose to follow this preacher. As the episode trudges along, pretty much everyone is surely wondering why there’s an entire community of people in thrall to this manipulative and child-abusing cannibal. 

Well, in the view of The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, it all boils down to his expert manipulation and use of scripture to keep his ‘flock’ reined in. In HBO’s The Last of Us Podcast, the pair dissect what drew David towards Ellie, which in turn leads to them dishing about how he gained his following: 

CM: I think he looks at this kid who is so far away from any of the people that he is currently the pastor for, and he is lit up. I think he is intensely attracted to her force of nature, her power, her confidence.

ND:  He has broken all the people around him, right? It’s like, sheep. And here, he sees a wolf – like him. 

CM: The people that came to him, came to him because they were sheep. So these sheep keep huddling towards David. 

ND: But Ellie is different.

CM: Yes, Ellie is different.

So there you have it – a quick dive into the psyche of arguably one of the most purely evil people in the world of The Last of Us. Later in the podcast, Mazin, Druckmann, and podcast host, Troy Baker, discuss how David has contempt for all of the people he leads, and that is one of the reasons he is so drawn to Ellie in particular.

Thankfully, he was dealt a pretty switch butcher’s knife to the head (repeatedly) by the time the credits rolled. Joel has called Ellie his baby girl, and now we sit and wait in anticipation of the grand finale of the first season of The Last of Us, coming next Sunday on HBO Max.