Who are Ish and Danny in The Last of Us?

The TV adaptation of The Last of Us has been faithful to the game’s emotional journey, with a few tweaks here and there. Inspired by the countless notes that were scattered around the story, director Craig Mazin and his team enriched the show with Easter eggs, one of which features Ish and Danny.

Viewers were introduced to Ish and Danny by a drawing in the fifth episode of the Last of Us season one. The pair didn’t get a backstory like Bill and Frank in the show, but the lore notes from the game should be enough to briefly introduce the two characters.

Related: All major differences between The Last of Us HBO show and video game

Who were Ish and Danny in the Last of Us?

Ish and Danny were two survivors who lived in an underground community located in Pittsburgh in the Last of Us.

The two were considered the “protectors” of this underground community. Despite playing an essential role within their society, Ish and Danny never received actual screen time in the game or the TV series.

In the show, Joel and Ellie stumbled upon the iconic drawing in Kansas City, but that was because the show took the liberty of moving the Pittsburgh storyline there.

According to the notes in the game, Ish was working on a ship out in the sea as the outbreak started. Eventually, Ish set foot on land, near a sewer entrance in Pittsburgh. It didn’t take long for Ish to turn the sewer into a safe house since it had a metal door and a fence. As Ish traveled to nearby residences for food and other supplies, his underground community grew in numbers.

With time, the underground sewer community had its own school, showers, and rain catchers. Danny walks into the sewers later in the story and finds Ish’s flourishing community. Ish and Danny hit it off rather quickly and became the “protectors” of the community. The two would go to supply runs, retrieving gear and guns from fallen soldiers.

The group’s pleasant story eventually got interrupted by a horde of infected. One of the group members left the door to the community’s safe house open, causing the infected to corner them. During the commotion, group members Ish, Sudan, and some children found a way to escape the sewers.

Though Ish was able to escape with some members of the community, Danny’s fate remained a mystery as the notes didn’t cover what happened to him during or after the horde attack.