**Fan DLC Concept: The Last of Us — Bloodlines**
**What if we played as Tommy before the events of Part I?**
I’ve been thinking about a possible story DLC for The Last of Us, and I’d love to hear what other fans think.
My idea is called **The Last of Us: Bloodlines — The Miller Brothers**.
Instead of playing as Joel again, we would play as Tommy and experience the years following the outbreak in 2013, discovering how the Miller brothers became the people we meet in the first game.
**1. The beginning — 2013**
The story would begin shortly after Sarah’s death.
Joel and Tommy would try to save their loved ones and survive the collapse of society. But they would repeatedly fail, not only because of the infected, but also because of human cruelty: the military, raiders, and even people fighting for causes they believe are right.
These experiences would gradually change both brothers.
Joel would begin building an emotional wall around himself. He would become more ruthless and distrustful, eventually believing that trusting people only leads to suffering.
Tommy would also be deeply affected, but he would struggle to accept that survival is all that matters.
**2. The hunters — 2016**
Years later, the brothers would have become experienced survivors, participating in increasingly brutal acts to obtain food, weapons, and other resources.
Tommy would use his skills as a marksman to cover Joel from a distance. This could give the gameplay its own identity, with more emphasis on precision shooting, observation, and cooperation.
However, Tommy would gradually become uncomfortable with the people they rob and kill. Some of their victims would be innocent survivors who simply happened to cross their path.
Joel would see these actions as necessary for survival. Tommy would begin questioning what they had become.
**3. The Fireflies — 2018**
Tommy would eventually encounter the Fireflies and meet Marlene, discovering a movement that claims to be fighting for a better future.
The Fireflies wouldn’t be portrayed as perfect heroes. They would have their own contradictions, questionable decisions, and moral compromises.
Through Marlene, Tommy could also meet Anna, Ellie’s mother and Marlene’s close friend.
Anna would be a strong and hopeful character who, despite everything she had endured, still believed that humanity could build something better. Her perspective would help Tommy realize that survival doesn’t have to mean abandoning every moral principle.
For the first time in years, Tommy would begin to believe in something beyond simply staying alive.
**4. The breaking point — 2019**
The emotional climax would come after Joel commits an especially brutal act of violence to obtain resources.
Tommy would realize that his brother no longer sees any limits to what he is willing to do. He would decide that he cannot continue living this way and announce that he intends to join the Fireflies.
Their separation wouldn’t be quiet or peaceful. It would be a brutal argument between two brothers who still love each other but can no longer accept each other’s choices.
Tommy would accuse Joel of using survival as an excuse for his cruelty. Joel would accuse Tommy of being naive and trusting people who would eventually get him killed.
Tommy would finally tell Joel that he refuses to become the same kind of person.
Joel would refuse to change and tell Tommy to leave.
**Tommy wouldn’t lose his brother because he stopped loving him, but because love alone couldn’t convince Joel to choose a different path.**
**5. Anna and Marlene — A connection to Ellie**
The story could conclude with Tommy learning more about Anna and her relationship with Marlene.
A final sequence could connect the DLC to Ellie’s birth and the promise Marlene made to her dying friend.
Tommy’s presence during these events would be a creative addition to the story rather than an established part of the official timeline, but it could provide an emotional connection to the main games.
It would show that the histories of Tommy, Joel, Ellie, and Marlene were already connected long before the events of Part I.
**6. Watching the outbreak evolve**
One of the things I’d love most is seeing the world change over several years.
We could witness the collapse of society, the rise and fall of quarantine zones, the growth of different factions, the spread of infected, and nature gradually reclaiming abandoned cities.
The environments, weapons, resources, and communities would evolve as time passed.
The outbreak wouldn’t just be a backdrop. It would actively shape the brothers and influence the choices they make.
**7. Why I think this could work**
For me, the heart of this DLC would be the relationship between Tommy and Joel.
They would experience the same tragedies, lose many of the same people, and face the same cruel world. Yet they would reach opposite conclusions about what it means to survive.
Tommy would continue searching for a better future, while Joel would build an emotional wall so strong that he would eventually reject the possibility of changing.
This could add another layer to the trilogy:
**Part I:** Joel finds something worth loving again through Ellie.
**Part II:** We witness the consequences of his choices and the cycle of violence.
**Bloodlines:** We discover how Joel became the man we know, through the eyes of his brother, who ultimately chose a different path.
I wouldn’t want this to be a collection of disconnected flashbacks. I’d want a complete narrative DLC with its own central storyline, meaningful character development, and a painful conclusion.
To me, *Bloodlines* would be a story about two brothers who survive the same apocalypse but are changed by it in completely different ways.
Sometimes, losing someone doesn’t mean they have died. It means they have become someone you can no longer follow.
**This is just a fan-made concept, not a leak or an official project.**
**Would you play this DLC? What would you change or add to the story?**
