The Last of Us 2 fan spots some foreshadowing at the start of Abby’s half of the game

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We see what you did there, Druckmann

The Last of Us Part 2
(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

A The Last of Us 2 fan has spotted some subtle foreshadowing at the start of Abby’s portion of the game. 

As pointed out on Reddit, Abby can be seen holding a copy of City of Thieves by Game of Thrones' creator David Benioff when she is awoken by Manny in the WLF stadium headquarters. This book is significant due to the connection it shares with another character in the game Lev - who shares a name with the main character in City of Thieves. 

Although potentially coincidental, this isn’t the first time the name Lev has been used in the game as supposedly, according to a comment left below the Reddit post, “City of Thieves was actually one of Neil Druckmann's inspirations when writing the original TLOU.” 

According to The Last of Us Wiki, the name Lev Benioff - which is a combination of the character's name in the novel as well as its author - can also be spotted in a newspaper clipping that reports on the Cordyceps virus outbreak in the first game, which is found by Joel when traveling through the University of Colorado. 

How this is foreshadowing comes down to the person holding the book. Be warned the rest of this story will contain spoilers about The Last of Us 2. 

In The Last of Us 2, Lev, along with his sister Yara, becomes entangled in Abby’s story and he eventually goes on to become a very important person in Abby’s life. The pair meet when Abby is attacked by a group of Seraphites (also known as Scars), a cult that the two siblings are also a part of. After helping to free her, Abby returns the favor by getting Lev and Yara help when she discovers that Yara’s arm is in desperate need of some medical attention. 

Those of you who have already played The Last of Us 2 will also know that Lev later goes on to join Abby at the end of the game in search of fellow Fireflies, however, the pair get ambushed in California by a group who slaves owners known as The Rattlers. This is the last we see of the two and after being reluctantly freed by main protagonist Ellie, it is assumed that they go on to continue searching for the Fireflies together. 

Want to know about the other hidden references in the game? Take a look at our The Last of Us 2 Easter eggs list. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.