The Last of Us Episode 4 briefly showed two new characters who caught Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsay) by surprise at the end of the installment, in addition to introducing a brand-new character created exclusively for the show. Here’s a closer look at them, including some background stories whenever possible.
Who Are Henry and Sam?
“Please Hold to My Hand” officially introduced The Last of Us characters Henry and Sam to new audiences. In the live-action adaptation, Henry is portrayed by Lamar Johnson, while Sam is portrayed by Keivonn Woodard. The pair met (or perhaps followed?) Joel and Ellie during the protagonists’ run through Kansas City as they escaped from the people who took over the local Quarantine Zone. Joel and Ellie entered a tall building and climbed 33 floors before the 56-year-old Joel felt too exhausted to continue, deciding to spend the night in one of the rooms.
Before they went to sleep, Joel broke some glass and spread it near the door so that he would hear any intruders over the night. Too bad his plan didn’t work, and he and Ellie awoke to guns in their face. The episode showed a boy with a drawn-on orange superhero mask before the credits rolled. The boy is Sam, while his companion is his older brother, Henry.
Who Is Kathleen?
One of the new The Last of Us characters introduced in Episode 4 is Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey), the leader of the people who took out FEDRA in Kansas City. As she explained while interrogating an old doctor, Kathleen hates Henry because he is one of the responsible for her brother’s fate, beaten to death in a FEDRA lockup. According to Kathleen, Henry snitched on her brother to FEDRA, causing his arrest and subsequent death. Kathleen was looking for Henry’s current whereabouts, but the doctor refused to say anything and Kathleen eventually shot him.
Kathleen then ordered her men to search for signs of Henry before they found a crawlspace filled with crayon drawings of superheroes and empty cans of food. The story implied that the place was one of Henry and Sam’s hideouts, proof is Sam had the same superhero mask painted on his face.
What Happened to Henry and Sam in the Game?
Henry and Sam’s encounter with Joel and Ellie in the Naughty Dog video game was pretty heated too. Henry was a survivor from Hartford who traveled with his brother to Pittsburgh, where they ended up in an ambush from hostile survivors. After escaping the sticky situation, they hid in an apartment as the hunters were looking for them.
When Joel and Ellie entered that same apartment, Henry attacked Joel as he thought Joel was one of the hunters. Joel eventually countered the attack and knocked down his opponent before noticing Sam with a gun pointed at him. The situation de-escalated after Joel told Sam to lower his weapon, explaining he and Ellie were not the bad guys. The four people then worked together to get out of Pittsburgh.
