The Last of Us Episode 5: Danny and Ish explained

Who are Danny and Ish in The Last of Us? In Episode 5, Joel glances at a drawing of two men named Danny and Ish – but who are they, and are they in the games?

In our review, we said Episode 5 is “emotional and action-packed, speaking to the bluntness of mankind’s fury and desperation in the face of tragedy – even if you didn’t know what to expect, it’ll shatter you.”

It follows Joel and Ellie as they team up with Henry and Sam, two brothers on the run from Kathleen’s Hunters, in a bid to escape Kansas City.

As they navigate the city’s underground tunnels, they stumble into a bunker transformed into a classroom, with a drawing of Danny and Ish, “our protectors.” This is their story.

Who are Danny and Ish in The Last of Us?

Danny and Ish were two “protectors” of a small underground community. While they’re never seen in person in The Last of Us, their tragic story was detailed in notes throughout the game.

The drawing that Joel finds underground is exactly the same as the one seen in the game. It refers to them as “our protectors”, but the episode doesn’t explain who they are or what happened there.

(For context, Henry and Sam’s storyline has been moved from Pittsburgh to Kansas City in the show, but Danny and Ish’s story as we know it is specific to Pittsburgh)

Sony

In the immediate wake of the outbreak, Ish headed out to see on his trawler, but eventually set up a safe house inside a sewer in Pittsburgh. It doesn’t sound pleasant, but there were worse ways to live, given he was warm enough and had a fence for protection.

When he needed supplies, he headed to the nearby suburbs, where he met a family: Susan, Kyle, and their children. However, they didn’t shoot him. Instead, they offered to trade, and Ish eventually invited them to stay with him in the sewers.

Their relationship built the foundation of a new community, complete with a school, beds, and working showers.

Soon, a man named Danny arrived. He hit it off with Ish, and the pair decided to become the protectors of this small community, spending their time salvaging supplies, weapons, and ammunition.

Unfortunately, disaster struck when somebody left one of the doors to the safe house open. A horde of infected flooded in, and Danny and Ish were separated.

While Ish managed to escape with Susan and some of the children – none of whom were her own – Danny’s fate remains unconfirmed, but it’s presumed he was killed.

Kyle found himself locked in a room with the rest of the children, with infected clawing to get in. In the game, it’s implied he shot all of them to protect them from the infected, before turning the gun on himself.

Ish and Susan found a home in the suburbs, where they lived out the remainder of their days with their adopted children. In his last note, he wrote: “One open door. That’s all it took. One of us forgot to close a door and a horde of those monsters entered our camp. We shut them in there and wrote a warning on the outside.

“Susan and a couple of the kids are with me. As far as I know, we’re the only survivors. I had to hold Susan so she wouldn’t run back in there — go back for the bodies. It’s just too dangerous. She lost her children, and I have no clue what to say to her.

“Every part of my being just wants to give up. It’d be so easy to surrender to this world. I can’t do that, though. I have too much faith in humanity.

“I’ve seen that we’re still capable of good. We can make it. I have to stay strong… for her.”

The Last of Us Episode 6 will be available to stream on February 19 in the US and February 20 in the UK. You can check out the rest of our coverage here and check out the trailer for the weeks ahead here.