It’s hard to upstage a cannibalistic predatory pastor. But that’s exactly what Alec did in The Last of Us Episode 8 without ever once appearing on screen. Alec’s murder prompts the events of “When We Are in Need” and raises a ton of uncomfortable questions in the process.
But who exactly was Alec? Did we ever meet him? And did anyone eat Alec? Here’s what we know.
Alec was a member of Pastor David’s (Scott Shepherd) congregation in Silver Lake. He was murdered by Joel (Pedro Pascal) outside of the University of Eastern Colorado. He’s the guy who stabbed Joel and is responsible for three episodes of fans panicking about our apocalypse dad. There’s also good reason to believe that Alec will one day become dinner.
“When We Are in Need” starts with David delivering a sermon in the wake of Alec’s death. Right as he’s about to leave, Alec’s daughter asks when they can bury the body. David says spring because the ground is too cold. That’s probably a half truth.
Later in the episode, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is captured by David and his righthand man James (Troy Baker). While trying to escape from her new prison she discovers something deeply disturbing: a severed human ear. Yep, these followers of God have been chopping up their dead and feeding them to people.
When Ellie confronts David about the cannibalism, he doesn’t deny anything but admits that only a few people know what’s really happening. Most of his followers are clueless cannibals. She calls him an animal, to which he responds, “Well yes, we all are. That’s sort of the point. It was a last resort. You think it doesn’t shame me? What was I supposed to do? Let them starve?”
Despite the fact that David is a cannibalistic child predator, we can likely take him at his word. The stew he served Ellie and presumably the rest of his congregation was likely made with venison. David is evil, but James wouldn’t let him cook up another pot of human soup when a freshly killed deer is right there. So no, Alec probably wasn’t dinner. But David was keeping his frozen body around just in case they needed another emergency meal.
Venison is the meat from any kind of deer. In the United States, it’s not often available at retail, so it’s more popular with hunters. Fun fact: in 2016, Arby’s sold a special edition venison sandwich during deer hunting season. So venison is a perfectly normal meat to eat, unlike your friend’s dad.