Who is David in The Last of Us? As The Last of Us has gone on it’s become clearer and clearer that as dangerous as The Infected are the deadliest threat in the wasteland is, in fact, other survivors who are willing to do anything to survive.
We first saw this with Kathleen, but The Last of Us episode 8 brought us the scariest group of survivors yet, the Silver Lake community. When we first met them, the group seemed like desperate pacifists, but it quickly became clear the group’s leader David had some disturbing plans for Joel and Ellie. Warning spoilers for the horror series ahead.
Who is David in The Last of Us?
David is the leader of the Silver Lake community, a religious group sheltering in the Colorado mountains. When he’s first introduced, David seems like a compassionate and charismatic preacher, but it’s soon revealed he’s a cutthroat predator willing to do anything to survive.
Specifically, David, with the help of James and a small group of hunters, has been capturing and butchering survivors and feeding them to the unwitting people of Silver Lake. In the TV series, David has a strange attraction to Ellie, and he does his best to try and recruit her into the Silver Lake community.
David’s obsession with Ellie ultimately led to his death, however. When he had her at his mercy, he attempted to seduce her, which allowed her to injure him and escape his weird cannibal abattoir. In the end, Ellie got the better of David with a butcher’s knife, stabbing him multiple times and killing him.
Who plays David in The Last of Us?
Scott Shepherd plays David. Shepherd has previously appeared in the Steven Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies and the spy movie Jason Bourne.
Is David in The Last of Us a paedophile?
It certainly seems that David is a paedophile with an attraction to Ellie. While the episode never confirms it, David is very determined to bring Ellie back alive, despite the fact she helped kill members of his community.
When he finally does capture Ellie as well, he does his best to ‘seduce’ her, stroking her fingers and talking about all the great things they could do “together”.
Honestly, it’s the scariest part of the episode, and it’s made all the worse when she rebuffs his advances, and he attacks her, saying: “I thought you already knew… the fighting’s the part I like the most.”
If you want to know more about The Last of Us, then check out our guide to The Last of Us cast, where we explain who’s playing your favourite The Last of Us characters. We also have stories on FEDRA, The Fireflies, and the terrifying Clickers.
If you’re looking for more great TV, then we’ve also got guides on The Sandman season 2, Yellowjackets season 2, and House of the Dragon season 2.