the first of The Last of Us has made expansions and elaborated several moments of the classic PlayStation game on which it is based, but the episode 2, called “Infectados” which premiered this Sunday (22nd), is relatively contained as it changes the story of the game.
However, the episode still has a handful of deviations in the narrative that could affect the future of the production. From a completely original opening scene to a sudden change in the death of a main character, here are all the changes that Episode 2 of The Last of Us makes over games as Joel, Tess and Ellie make their way through Boston.
The beginning of the contagion
Just like the premiere, episode 2 of The Last of Us includes a completely original sequence. Set in Jakarta in 2003, the moment shows mycology professor Ibu Ratna being taken to a government building to examine a dead woman with a tendril in her mouth and a human bite on her foot.
This appears to be the show’s presentation of the beginning of the epidemic. Ratna realizes the gravity of the situation and suggests to the government official that the best course of action would be to bomb the city to stop the infection from spreading.
This appears to be the show that first outlines the origins of the outbreak, which has led to a fan theorizing that the flour is the root cause of the situation. Jakarta, for those wondering, is also home to the largest mill in the world. The plot thickens…
While The Last of Us refers to FEDRA and areas bombed by government units around QZs after Outbreak Day, HBO series explicitly references initial response. Not only does Ratna suggest an immediate bombing of Jakarta, but Tess also later reveals that the craters in Boston were the result of a similar strategy.
The infected are connected
While there are clearly dangerous uninfected characters present in the series, The Last of Us it seems to focus too much on the threat of the infected. In episode 1, we discovered that brain infection from Cordyceps it’s spread by tendrils, not spores like in the game, and in episode 2, Tess tells Ellie that the infected are actually connected.
“The mushroom also grows underground. Long fibers such as yarn; some of them extend over a kilometer. Step on a piece of Cordyceps in one spot, you could wake up a dozen infected elsewhere. Now they know where you are, now they come. You are not immune from being torn apart,” she tells the young woman menacingly. Although she hasn’t transformed, Ellie is technically infected. Could this new information mean anything in upcoming episodes?
The journey through destroyed Boston
Tess, Joel and Ellie’s journey through Boston is basically the same as in the game, from the streets to the museum and then to the Capitol. However, there are some minor changes to note.
In the game, the trio first encounter a clicker early in their journey, not just in the museum. The series also completely eliminates the presence of FEDRA, especially the section where you have to avoid the soldiers’ searchlights to escape QZ’s surroundings.
Among the few changes mentioned only veterans The Last of Us you’ll notice, it’s worth noting that much of your trip to Boston takes place at night in the game. In the series, everything happens during the day, with the episode starting after Ellie wakes up.
The HBO series also matches up with a number of later moments from the PlayStation title, most notably the flooded interiors that don’t surface until Joel and Ellie leave Bill at Lincoln.
In the series, Ellie also mentions being unable to swim before Tess’s death, while in the games, this is after. In a nod to the game’s reliance on aquatic puzzles, Ellie simply walks through waist-deep floodwaters rather than Joel fetching a wooden pallet to carry her through deeper bodies of water.
Tess’s death
In both the HBO series and the first game, Tess sacrifices herself in the Capitol after being bitten during the previous clicker attack at the museum. The end result may be the same, but the way she dies and the opposing forces she faces are very different in the series.
Instead of FEDRA soldiers rushing into the building, it’s a horde of clickers descending on the main entrance. Clickers also die in a fire after Tess doused the floor in oil and set it on fire. In the games, her death occurs off-screen in a flurry of gunfire.
Even Tess’ final moment is incredibly different. She ends up being connected to a clicker through the tendril, almost as if the mushroom is kissing Tess.
Tess tells Joel to go straight to Bill and Frank
In the game The Last of Us, Joel travels to Lincoln, Massachusetts, where his surviving “friend” Bill lives, because he and Ellie are in desperate need of a car. Walking west just isn’t doable on foot, and knowledgeable but surly Bill is usually pretty reliable when it comes to supplies.
After losing Tess at the Capitol, the game’s Joel finds a note near a dead body in the flooded subway. The letter reveals that the deceased, when alive, had been tasked with finding a smuggler who would smuggle him into the Boston QZ. Later, when Joel catches up with Bill and asks about a vehicle, he and Ellie discover the remains belong to Bill’s former partner Frank.
At the end of episode 2, however, just before he is about to sacrifice himself to a group of clickers, Tess asks Joel to take Ellie to Bill and Frank and even suggests that they get the two to escort the young man to the fireflies. her, as she continues to search for her missing brother, Tommy. This is a much more deliberate instruction for Joel rather than a mid-trip change of plans, and we’ll be curious to see how he plays out in the third Bill-and-Frank-focused chapter.
Just a new character
While episode 1 of The Last of Us introduced a handful of new characters who didn’t appear in the game, “Infected” is a much more streamlined effort centered predominantly on Ellie, Tess, and Joel.
With that, there’s not much time to welcome any new faces aside from the aforementioned Ibu Ratna (Christine Hakim). It’s not likely we’ll see her again, but she definitely makes an impact in the few scenes she’s in.
The third episode of The Last of Us premieres next Sunday (29th), at 11pm, on HBO and HBO Max.
The post The Last of Us: Major Changes Between Series and Game in Episode 2 first appeared on Olhar Digital.
Source: Olhar Digital
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
