Yellowjackets royalty Melanie Lynskey has made her grand entrance in The Final of Us, and she or he’s already killing it — actually. She straight-up murders a physician this episode, so if you happen to weren’t terrified of her character earlier than, you undoubtedly must be now.

Lynskey performs Kathleen, the chief of a revolutionary group in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. She spends a lot of episode 4, titled “Please Maintain My Hand,” looking for Henry (Lamar Johnson) and interrogating those that may know the place he’s. Whereas the identify Henry will probably be acquainted to those that have performed by way of The Final of Us, Kathleen presents extra of a thriller.

Is Kathleen in The Final of Us video games?

Credit score: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Kathleen is a wholly new character created for The Final of Us TV present. Nonetheless, she nonetheless has roots within the recreation’s Pittsburgh part, which the present has transposed to Kansas Metropolis.

When Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) attain Pittsburgh within the recreation, they encounter a bunch of violent Hunters — individuals who ambush and kill vacationers with a view to steal their provides. Whereas on the run from the Hunters, Joel and Ellie meet fellow survivors Sam (Keivonn Woodard) and Henry, they usually workforce up. They overhear the Pittsburgh Hunters point out that they’ve a frontrunner, however we by no means really meet that individual. Kathleen takes on the position of that chief within the present.

Kathleen’s Hunters share a number of similarities with the sport’s Hunters. Each teams overthrew FEDRA’s militaristic rule of their metropolis’s quarantine zone and have since turned to looking outsiders. Aesthetically, the present even recreates the Hunters’ notorious “Run” Humvee from the sport. Different automobiles belonging to the present’s Hunters have phrases, too — like “We the folks” scrawled throughout one to emphasise the group’s revolutionary roots.

With a personality like Kathleen, the present is ready to give us a bit extra of a way of the Hunters’ interior workings. We all know they’re looking down FEDRA collaborators — doubtless QZ civilians who knowledgeable FEDRA about revolutionary exercise. We additionally know that Kathleen significantly desires to search out Henry, believing he performed a key position in FEDRA’s seize and subsequent homicide of her brother.

This storyline marks a departure from the sport. There, Henry was a survivor from Hartford touring by way of Pittsburgh. Within the present, it looks like he lived within the Kansas Metropolis QZ earlier than the Hunters took over. Since we solely meet him and his brother Sam on the very finish of the episode, we’ll have to attend till episode 5 to search out out extra about their lives within the QZ — and what they did to make Kathleen so hell-bent on discovering them.

What does Kathleen add to the world of The Final of Us?

Credit score: Liane Hentscher/HBO

The Final of Us co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have stated that they solely deviate from the sport when the deviation is best. We have seen the rewards of that deviation within the Invoice (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) storyline, and now we’re primed to see it with Kathleen and the Hunters.

Having Kathleen round does allow us to be taught extra in regards to the Hunters and their motivations. It additionally permits us to see one other approach during which love manifests itself in The Final of Us‘s apocalypse. Mazin and Druckmann focus on the position of affection within the present very often on HBO’s official Final of Us podcast: How does love push us to behave in instances of disaster? Invoice and Frank’s love for one another provides them hope. Joel’s love for his deceased daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) distances him from a lot of the world. In Kathleen’s case, her love for her brother drives her want for revenge — and this comes with some scary penalties.

The Kansas Metropolis Hunters could have liberated their QZ, however their very own ambushes and pursuit of collaborators are harking back to FEDRA’s brutality. Is Kathleen’s quest for vengeance merely persevering with a cycle of violence that is develop into all too frequent on this world? Will there ever be a second when she believes she’s gone too far? Or is the value of revenge value it it doesn’t matter what?

We’ll have to attend till episode 5 to see how the battle between Kathleen and Henry shakes out (and what position Joel and Ellie must play). The unhealthy information? Our heroes are up towards a militia in a metropolis they are not aware of. The excellent news? We’ll get extra Melanie Lynskey. All people wins! (Apart from FEDRA.)

The Final of Us is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a brand new tab) New episodes air each Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.