Story begins in medias res with treasure hunter brothers Nathan "Nate" Drake and Samuel "Sam" Drake driving toward an island in a storm while fighting off armed thugs in boats before their boat is scuttled. Years before, when Nate is living in the St. Francis orphanage, he's visited by Sam, who was kicked out for criminal activities. After helping him sneak out, Sam tells Nate he's leaving for a job that will keep him away for a few years, before cheering him up by telling him that he knows where their late mother's effects were sold.
Years later (before the events of the first movie), the two are on the trail of infamous pirate Henry Avery, who enacted the largest heist in history in the 1600s, with plunder worth 400 million dollars. Teaming up with wealthy treasure hunter Rafe Adler, the brothers sneak into a Panama jail where Avery's first mate, Burnes, was hanged. Aided by the corrupt Warden Vargas, Nate makes his way into the 300 year-old prison.
