Marlene
Marlene is the leader of the Fireflies, the militia fighting the military in the quarantine zones. Wounded in Boston, she hires Joel and Tess to smuggle Ellie out of the city in The Quarantine Zone, and you meet her again at the Fireflies' hospital in Salt Lake City near the end of the game.
- Role
- Supporting
- Affiliation
- Fireflies
Appears in
The Quarantine ZoneThe Quarantine Zone starts the story proper 20 years after the outbreak, inside Boston's military-run zone in August 2033. As Joel, now a smuggler, you and his partner Tess slip outside the wall to track down Robert, a dealer who owes them guns, and end up taking a new job from the Fireflies.- The Firefly LabThe Firefly Lab is the second-to-last chapter, set inside Saint Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City, where the Fireflies have their base. It is a single section played as Joel, and its five collectibles include the recordings that explain what the Fireflies have learned from Ellie.
Found in
- BostonBoston, Massachusetts is the first region after the time skip and the city where Ellie grew up. You play The Quarantine Zone and The Outskirts here, and Left Behind's flashbacks with Riley take place in the same city. FEDRA holds the North End as one of the last working quarantine zones in the country.
- Saint Mary's HospitalSaint Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City is the Fireflies' main base and lab, the destination of Joel and Ellie's whole journey. You fight through it in The Firefly Lab, the last full chapter, which has one section, The Hospital, and 5 collectibles.
- Salt Lake CitySalt Lake City, Utah is the last stop on Joel and Ellie's search for the Fireflies. It is an abandoned quarantine zone where the Fireflies hold Saint Mary's Hospital, and you play the Bus Depot and The Firefly Lab chapters here in spring 2034.
Good to know
- Voiced and performed by Merle Dandridge.
- A close friend of Ellie's mother Anna since before the outbreak, and promised her she would watch over Ellie.
- Gave Ellie her mother's switchblade and a letter from Anna.
- Once recruited Tommy into the Fireflies, and on his word chooses Joel for the job.
- Joel nicknames her the queen Firefly.
- Takes a gunshot wound in the side during a clash with soldiers while trying to close her gun deal with Robert.
- Leads Joel and Tess past military patrols to her hideout, mourning dead Fireflies on the way.
Who she is
Marlene is a committed revolutionary who has watched the Fireflies thin out under the military crackdown. She is calm under pressure and pragmatic about the cost of her cause. Her bond with Ellie comes from her promise to Anna rather than from any time spent raising her.
The deal in Boston
Marlene originally hired Robert to move Ellie out of Boston and bought guns from him. After the military wipes out her squad, she finds Joel and Tess standing over Robert's body and offers them double the guns he owed them if they deliver her cargo to Fireflies waiting at the Capitol Building. Ellie wants to stay with her; Marlene tells her this is her only chance to get out.
Her recordingsSpoilerShow
In the hospital you can find recordings Marlene made addressed to Anna. In them she wrestles with what the doctors have asked of her, admits how exhausted she is, and accepts that Ellie will not survive what comes next.
The hospitalSpoilerShow
Marlene approves the surgery that would extract the infection from Ellie's brain, knowing it will kill her. She thanks Joel, explains the plan and tells the guard Ethan to escort him out and shoot him only if he tries to stop it. When Joel fights his way to Ellie, Marlene corners him in the parking garage and begs him to hand Ellie over. He shoots her, then kills her as she pleads for her life so she cannot come after them.
Related characters
- Antagonist
Ethan
Ethan is a Firefly soldier at Saint Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City. In The Firefly Lab he finds Joel and Ellie after they arrive, and Marlene later puts him in charge of walking Joel out of the building.
- Minor
Jerry Anderson
Jerry Anderson is the lead doctor of the Fireflies at St. Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City, the man in charge of their research into a cure. You only meet him near the end of the game, in the chapter The Firefly Lab, and his part in the story is best discovered by playing it.
- Minor
Kari
Kari is a Firefly surgical assistant at Saint Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City. You meet her in the operating room at the end of The Firefly Lab, where she is helping the surgeon Jerry Anderson.
- Protagonist
Ellie Williams
Ellie Williams is the 14-year-old girl Joel is hired to smuggle out of Boston, and your companion for most of The Last of Us Part I. She was bitten weeks earlier and never turned, so the Fireflies believe her immunity could lead to a vaccine. You play as her in the winter chapter and in the Left Behind DLC.