When you're playing The Last of Us Part 2, it's easy to get tunnel vision. You're hunting the big names—Abby, Owen, maybe Nora. But then there’s Leah in The Last of Us 2. She isn't a boss fight. She doesn't even have a single line of dialogue with Ellie. Honestly, by the time you actually catch up to her at the Channel 13 TV station, she’s already a corpse.
It feels like a letdown at first. You spend hours tracking her, only to find her pinned to a wall with arrows. But if you look closer, Leah is one of the most important "minor" characters in the entire game. She is the bridge that connects Ellie to the rest of the Salt Lake crew, and her death is the moment the game's tone shifts from a "revenge quest" to a full-blown descent into madness.
Who Was Leah in The Last of Us 2?
Leah was a member of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), but before that, she was a Firefly. Like Abby and the others, she traveled from Salt Lake City to Jackson to find Joel.
She wasn't a front-line soldier in the same way Manny or Jordan were. In fact, most of what we know about her comes from environmental storytelling. She was Jordan’s girlfriend. If you pay attention during the early Seattle chapters, you’ll find letters and photos that paint a picture of a woman who was deeply loved by her peers.
The Girl in the Photos
One of the most iconic items in Ellie’s backpack is a collection of photos of the "Salt Lake Crew." Leah is in those photos. This is how Ellie identifies her targets. While Ellie is searching for her, the game does something clever: it makes you feel like you're getting to know Leah through the eyes of the people who miss her.
Jordan, specifically, is devastated by her absence. When Ellie and Dina find the WLF hideout at the Serevena Hotel, they find a letter Leah wrote to Jordan. It’s personal. It's mundane. It makes her feel like a human being instead of just a target on a map.
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What Happened at the TV Station?
The hunt for Leah in The Last of Us 2 leads Ellie and Dina to the Channel 13 TV station. This is a massive, eerie set-piece. You expect a shootout. You expect to finally corner her and get some answers.
Instead, the station is a tomb.
The Seraphites (Scars) got there first. They didn't just kill the WLF soldiers; they staged them. When Ellie finds Leah, she’s been executed. The "Scars" left her hanging as a warning.
This is a huge narrative pivot. Up until this point, Ellie (and the player) feels like the apex predator. We’re the ones doing the hunting. But seeing Leah’s body proves that there are other, more terrifying forces at play in Seattle. It’s the first real introduction to the brutality of the Seraphites, and it robs Ellie of her "justice." She wanted to be the one to kill Leah. Finding her already dead feels like being cheated.
The Loot You Can't Miss
Even in death, Leah provides the most important intel in the game. On her body, Ellie finds:
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- Photos of the crew: This confirms the faces of everyone involved in Joel's death.
- Letters: These reveal the names and locations of the other members, like Nora at the hospital.
Without Leah’s corpse, Ellie’s journey would have probably ended at that TV station. She would have had no lead, no map, and no way to track the others. It’s morbid, but Leah's death is the fuel that keeps Ellie's fire burning for the rest of Seattle Day 1 and Day 2.
The Connection Between Leah and Jordan
The relationship between Leah and Jordan is one of the few glimpses of "normalcy" we see within the WLF. Jordan is generally portrayed as a jerk—he’s the one who slashed Ellie’s face in Jackson. But his letters to Leah show a different side.
He actually cared about her.
When you play as Abby later in the game, you see the WLF stadium. It’s a community. People are eating, training, and living lives. Leah wasn't just a "bad guy" to them; she was a friend, a sister, and a partner. This is where Naughty Dog really twists the knife. By making us track Leah through Ellie’s eyes as a monster, and then showing the aftermath of her loss through the WLF's eyes, the game forces you to reckon with the "cycle of violence" theme.
Why Leah Still Matters to Fans
People still talk about Leah in The Last of Us 2 because she represents the "ghosts" of the game. The Last of Us is famous for characters who impact the plot without being present. Think of Ish from the first game’s sewers. Leah is the Part 2 version of that.
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She’s a reminder that every NPC you kill or find has a history. She had a life in Salt Lake City. She probably believed in the Fireflies' mission to save the world. Then, she got caught up in a cycle of revenge that she didn't even start.
Was She at the Chalet?
Yes, Leah was present when Joel was killed in Jackson. While she didn't strike the final blow—that was Abby—she was part of the group that facilitated it. She stood in that room. She watched. In Ellie’s mind, that makes her just as guilty as the rest.
Key Takeaways for Your Next Playthrough
If you’re hopping back into the game, keep an eye out for these specific details regarding Leah:
- Check the Serevena Hotel: Don't just rush through the combat. Read the letters in the drawers. You'll find the correspondence between her and Jordan that adds so much weight to the TV station scene.
- Look at the Photos: When Ellie pulls out the photos to cross off names, look at how Leah is positioned. She’s often in the center or laughing. It makes the discovery of her body at the station much more jarring.
- The Seraphite Environmental Storytelling: Look at how Leah was killed compared to the other soldiers. The Seraphites use specific rituals. Understanding their "why" starts with Leah.
The story of Leah isn't one of grand heroics or villainy. It’s a tragedy about a girl who followed her friends into a war zone and paid the ultimate price before she could even say goodbye. She’s the proof that in the world of The Last of Us, sometimes the most important people are the ones who are already gone.
To get the most out of this storyline, make sure you've collected every artifact in the "Seattle Day 1" chapter. These notes provide the necessary context to turn Leah from a random body into a tragic figure. Focus on the letters found in the Serevena and the TV station to see the full scope of her role in the Salt Lake crew.