In "The Last of Us," nothing ushers in more devastation than desperate acts of love — not even mushroom zombies or government rebels.
Ellie spared her best friend, Riley, from life as a zombie with a single bullet in Episode 7. Henry did the same for his brother Sam, only to end his own life shortly afterward. Then there were Bill and Frank, who ended their love story on their terms.
These heartbreaking compromises drive "The Last of Us." In Sunday's season finale, viewers learned that Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) grim cross-country journey began with a mother's dying plea to keep her child safe.
"The decision that Anna makes — well knowing that she could not cut the umbilical cord in time — it is another one of those decisions (you make when) you're caring more for the person or thing that you love most and will burn the world for it," said Ashley Johnson, who portrayed Anna, Ellie's mother.
Johnson originated the role of Ellie in 2013, performing the motion capture and voice for the character in the video game franchise. A decade later, Johnson said she feels "really lucky" to return to the post-apocalyptic world she helped create.
Before the HBO series was officially announced in 2020, the actor, also known for the "Critical Role" web series and Amazon Prime Video's "The Legend of Vox Machina," thought there was "no way" she would have a hand in an adaptation. Then Neil Druckmann, who created the video game franchise, reached out.
"(Johnson) had been such a part of this journey alongside me … that I knew (she) had to be in there somehow and this felt perfect for her," Druckmann said in a recent phone call. "She gave birth to Ellie, figuratively with the game, and here she literally does it in the show."
In the finale, Anna stumbles through an overgrown forest while running from an infected hot on her trail. Tripping on roots and cradling her baby bump, Anna eventually finds safety in a rundown farmhouse. While in labor, Anna is attacked by the infected, whom she manages to kill.
According to Druckmann, the blueprint for Anna's story was an animated short meant to promote the first "Last of Us" game. Johnson was set to play Anna in the clip, but it fell apart and that performance never materialized until Sunday's episode.
"He told me the story of how Ellie is born and I was like, 'Oh we're doing that. We're doing that for sure,'" said Craig Mazin, the series co-creator. "The next day he and I both have this like hive-mind, calling each other at the same time, saying, 'You know who should be Anna is Ashley.'"
At first, Mazin said he felt there was a risk that Johnson's casting might feel a little too cheeky or meta, especially for video game fans. Ultimately, he said, "it just seemed instinctively correct" to cast Johnson.
Ali Abbasi, who directed the final two episodes of the season, said he was initially skeptical about hiring actors from the video game. Troy Baker — who plays Joel in the video game franchise — also makes an appearance in Episode 8. Abbasi was concerned their appearances would be too gimmicky and more about fan service, but he said they brought an aura of authenticity to their episodes.
"I felt like I was dealing with the mythology behind all this," he said.
Abbasi praised Johnson for her fearless and willing attitude.
"When we're trying the costumes on, (Johnson) was like, 'Yeah do whatever you want. You can do this, you can do that' and … I felt like, 'OK, this is someone who's an ally here,'" Abbasi said. "There's so much going on. So it was actually a comfort to see she was not afraid of getting her hands dirty."
While Abbasi said he tried to distance himself from Johnson's embodied experience as Ellie, Johnson said that portraying Anna brought her back to her days on the video game.
"Because I have such a history with this game — I've been a part of it for 13 years now — it's such a part of me anyway. Slipping into this post-apocalyptic world [was] like, 'Oh yeah, this is just fun time.' I know how to get into this real quick," she said.
Johnson said for her on-screen battle with an infected, she tapped into the movements she performed for Ellie's combat style. She also watched videos of natural births to prepare for the role. For Mazin, seeing Johnson's character give birth to Ellie was meaningful.
"I think because Ashley had already kind of given birth to Ellie once before (for the games), when she holds that baby up and she says hi, it's like she's saying hi to somebody she's been waiting for," he said. "And it's just beautiful."
Viewers come to know and root for Anna, only to lose her moments later. Anna becomes infected in the attack and urges her best friend, Marlene — played by Merle Dandridge, who originated the role in the video game — to take Ellie into her care.
"Then you kill me," she says.
"There's so many emotions that are happening at once. It's 'Oh my God, I have a baby. She's here finally. But I'm not going to be able to experience life with her,' " Johnson said. "It's experiencing life and death in the same exact moment. Also an intense amount of grief and anguish and just frustration."
The season finale showed Anna and Joel taking different, but equally desperate attempts to save Ellie. Johnson said it demonstrates a constant for Ellie in this dystopian world: "Somebody was choosing and rooting for her."
Mazin said Anna's sacrifice and Joel's violent hospital rampage show "the two sides of the coin of love" that is at the center of the series.
"(Anna's) holding a knife to her own neck to make sure she does not hurt this child and is desperate for this child to be raised and nurtured. She's not out there, murdering anybody for her kid," Mazin said. "Joel is definitely more paternal, and that paternal aspect of protection, vengeance and punishment to save your child can both be beautiful and rewarding and also terrifying."
Lying also plays a part in their attempts to save Ellie, Druckmann said. Anna lies about cutting the umbilical cord before she was bitten, and Joel lies to Ellie about there being other immune people.
Facing the immediate fallout of these critical decisions is Marlene, Druckmann said. Like Anna and Joel, Marlene was pushed to desperate measures — like placing Ellie in the care of FEDRA — in order to fulfill her friend's dying wish.
"That's how much she loved Anna," Druckmann said. "There's this idea that the love that (Anna) had for her kid has grown beyond her own life and has now, like the cordyceps, infected Marlene and by extension eventually infects Joel."
The HBO series featured several other artists from the video game franchise, including Jeffrey Pierce, who plays Tommy, the concept artist Hyoung Taek Nam and the composer Gustavo Santaolalla. Their work in "The Last of Us" is a way to honor the creative contributions that led to the adaptation.
"They are why we're here," Mazin said.
Johnson said "The Last of Us" remains one of the most creatively fulfilling projects she's ever been a part of and that her scene, though brief, "really was a full circle moment."
"Now that people are having such a wonderful response to it still — that's all you can ask for," she said.
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