The season finale of The Last of Us aired on Monday, bringing to a close Joel and Ellie’s treacherous journey across the post-apocalyptic United States. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, HBO’s hit drama – based on the 2013 video game of the same name – has received universal acclaim and attracted an impressive viewership in both the UK and US.
In the explosive finale – titled Look for the Light – Joel and Ellie finally make it to the Fireflies, who are in a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the hopes of using Ellie’s immunity to manufacture a vaccine. The series has for the most part been a faithful adaptation of the video game, with only some slight differences, including characters receiving more fleshed out development and backstories, or certain chapters of the game being skipped.
The game has been praised for its storytelling and its dialogue, which lends itself well to a live-action adaptation. It is no wonder then that the series has been so faithful given the source material is so highly regarded.
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But there are some slight differences. So here, we break down the main differences – and similarities – between The Last of Us season finale and the closing chapter of the video game:
Ellie’s mother, Anna
A new character introduced in the climactic episode of The Last of Us is Ellie’s mother, Anna. Played by original Ellie voice and motion-capture actress Ashley Johnson, a pregnant Anna is seen in a flashback being attacked and infected with the Cordyceps fungus which she then passes to Ellie as she is giving birth, explaining how Ellie was born with immunity to the infection.
When Marlene arrives to find Anna holding her newborn, she is forced to kill Anna to prevent her from turning, before which Anna reveals the pair have known each other their whole lives. Anna was not featured in the video game, with her backstory only hinted at.
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Early in the game, Ellie reveals to Joel that her mother, who died many years ago, was friends with Firefly leader Marlene. Later, players can read a letter from Ellie’s mother which is carried in her backpack, which gives further insight into Ellie’s origins and Anna and Marlene’s friendship.
The letter reads: “Ellie, I’m going to share a secret with you, I’m not a big fan of kids and I hate babies. And yet... I’m staring at you and I’m just awestruck.
“You’re not even a day old and holding you is the most incredible thing I’ve done in my life – a life that is about to get cut a little short. Marlene will look after you. There’s no one in this world I trust more than her.
“When the time comes she’ll tell you all about me. Don’t give her too much of a hard time. Try not to be as stubborn as me.
“I’m not going to lie, this is a pretty messed up world. It won’t be easy. The thing you always have to remember is that life is worth living! Find your purpose and fight for it.
“I see so much strength in you. I know you'll turn out to be the woman you're meant to be.
“Forever... your loving mother, Anna.”
Arrival in Salt Lake City
In The Last of Us video game, Joel and Ellie arrive in Salt Lake City, making their way to St. Mary’s Hospital via an underground tunnel. The area is filled with infected, and a large section of it is heavily flooded.
The pair attempt to navigate their way forward by climbing over several abandoned vehicles, but a partially sunken bus collapses and sends them both into violently fast-moving water. Ellie – who cannot swim – is knocked unconscious underwater, but Joel grabs her and brings her to the surface.
While he attempts to resuscitate her, Joel is held at gunpoint by two Firefly patrolmen, one of whom knocks him unconscious. He later wakes up in the hospital, where the doctors are preparing to operate on Ellie.
The series tackles this chapter differently. Their arrival in the city opens almost identically, with Joel scavenging several items from an abandoned RV on a desolate highway.
What is different is the pair’s approach to the hospital, with the underground tunnel section cut from the episode entirely. Instead, Joel and Ellie enter a building that appears to have been under construction when the infection hit twenty years prior.
In the game, this building is a former bus terminal. Joel and Ellie make their way through the building in the final episode to find a way to safely reach the hospital, and, although the setting is different, the latter part of this scene is almost identical to the game.
The Giraffe
As Joel gives Ellie a boost to a higher floor in the under-construction building, she drops a ladder down to him before spotting something and excitedly running off. As Joel gives chase, Ellie can be heard saying “You gotta see this.”
What follows is an almost identical recreation of one of the game’s most iconic moments, as the pair come across a large hole in the side of the building to find none other than a giraffe eating leaves that are growing up the building. After a moment spent interacting with the wild animal, it walks off with the rest of its small herd, leaving Joel and Ellie to admire the view.
Joel asks: “So, is it everything you hoped for?”
Ellie replies: “It’s got its ups and downs. But you can’t deny that view.”
This scene – including their ensuing conversation about finishing what they started – is lifted straight from the game, with almost identical dialogue and even the same score.
The Hospital
This section of the episode is also largely the same as the video game, only much shorter. In the series, Joel wakes up in a hospital after being knocked out by a Firefly, at which point Marlene admits that Ellie must be killed in order to use her immunity to create a vaccine. Joel is then led away by two guards, but manages to kill them.
In the game there is just one guard, but he kills him in the same way – including shooting him in the genitals. Joel then goes on a rampage through the various rooms and floors of the hospital while violently dispatching anyone who stands in his way.
After finding Ellie on the operating table surrounded by doctors Joel mercilessly kills the surgeon after he picks up a scalpel. Joel then takes an elevator down to the hospital’s underground parking garage before being stopped by Marlene.
After a conversation in which she tries to reason with Joel, he shoots her and escapes in a car with Ellie.
The Ending
In an interview with British GQ, Ramsey said that the show’s ending would “divide people massively.” But fans of the game know that the show’s ending is almost identical to that of the game.
After driving away from Salt Lake City with Ellie in the car’s backseat, they finally make it to Wyoming, where they plan to live with Joel’s brother, Tommy. After a short hike, they reach an overlook where Tommy’s walled town can be seen in the distance.
This final scene is the same as in the game, including Ellie’s admission about having to kill her friend Riley – seen in episode seven – and making Joel swear that his lies regarding the events in the hospital were true. Again, the dialogue in this scene is almost identical to the game, as is the final shot of Ellie’s face before she says “OK” and the screen cuts to black.
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