Summary
- HBO's The Last of Us adaptation takes liberties with characters, like Ellie encountering a single infected instead of a horde.
- The show adds a voting scene and explains Ellie's immunity, providing more backstory compared to the game.
- Ellie's personality is portrayed as more confrontational and obnoxious in the show, a departure from her likable game counterpart.
When you think about some of the best and most important games ever made, you need to talk about The Last of Us at one point or another, whether you’re a fan or not. The games’ quality and narrative impact are simply undeniable.
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Posts By Dante AlbarelliThe same thing can be said with the live-action adaptation by HBO. It’s highly regarded as one of the best video game adaptations in the world. It's loyal and faithful to the source material, but that doesn’t mean it takes some liberties now and then, especially with some characters.
8 Ellie And Riley’s Attack At The Mall
Single Infected Vs. An Entire Horde
During the first season of HBO’s The Last of Us, Ellie and her friend and first romantic interest, Riley, escape to visit an old mall, and they start having a lot of fun with the lights, costumes and arcade machines, when they are attacked by a single infected.
The video game's DLC, Left Behind, on the other hand, has them attacked by an entire horde. This is obviously made from a mechanical standpoint, since it’s fairly easy to kill a single infected, and it wouldn’t pose much of a threat to the player-controlled Ellie.
7 Ellie Leaving Jackson First
In The Game, She Leaves After Tommy
After Joel’s untimely death, his family at Jackson, understandably, want revenge. In the games, it’s Tommy Miller, Joel’s brother, who sets out first in a hot-headed moment. That’s a big change in itself, because HBO's Tommy is much calmer and more passive than Naughty Dog’s.
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Posts By Lucas OlahThis affects Ellie as well, as now it’s Tommy himself who tells her to leave and seek out Joel’s killers by herself, while he stays in Jackson. So, Ellie and Dina eventually set out to find Abby and the rest of the WLFs, with some help from Seth.
6 Big Voting Speech
There’s No Such Voting In The Game
A completely new addition to the live-action is a big voting scene where most of Jackson gathers to vote on whether they should send a group to look for Joel’s killers or not. Many people get their chance to speak their minds, and then the council votes in favor or against the motion.
One of the people who gets to speak is, of course, Ellie, giving a pretty inspirational and emotional speech about her motives and not actually seeking revenge. This is a moment of growth for her, since we don’t really see this opening-up in the games.
5 Ellie’s Immunity
It’s Explained In The Show
During the events of the games, Ellie’s immunity is never really explained. All we know is that she was bitten during the attack at the mall, and she somehow did not become infected. This adds a sense of mystery and weight to Ellie’s character.
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Posts By Suhaib AdeelThe TV show, on the other hand, gives us a clear explanation of her immunity to the infection. Ellie’s mother, Anna, played by Ellie’s voice actress in the games, Ashley Johnson, is bitten by and infected while giving birth to her. This obviously solves a great doubt we’ve all had, and is a much clearer motive for the Fireflies to want to use Ellie as a cure.
4 She’s Really Obnoxious In The Show
But Very Likable In The Games
Naughty Dog’s version of Ellie is one of the most likable characters in all video game history. You’re immediately drawn to her, because of both her near-flawless writing and Ashley Johnson’s incredible performance. In the series, though, Ellie's personality is quite different.
HBO’s Ellie is much more confrontational and obnoxious, more akin to what a real teenager would be, not to mention a teenager who has gone through what Ellie has. This is a more realistic take, less fantastical. It’s a decision based on a TV character, and not a video game escort-mission-character.
3 Ellie’s Last Conversation With Joel
It’s Completely Removed From The Show
After the party, when Ellie and Dina have their first kiss and Joel attacks Seth for his homophobic comments, Joel leaves and Ellie later finds him playing guitar outside his house. She confronts him about not letting her die at the hospital, which would’ve given meaning to her life, but Joel took that from her.
Ellie then admits she doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to forgive Joel, but she’d like to try. It’s a very deep and emotional moment, one that’s completely removed from the show. Ellie just ignores Joel and goes on her way. It’s obviously done this way to give more weight and regret to Ellie’s decision.
2 Ellie’s Encounter With The Smart Infected
It Doesn’t Happen In The Games
During the show, Ellie and Dina enter an old abandoned store or warehouse to investigate some infected. Ellie falls through some unstable flooring to the story below. There, she finds a smart infected that hides, keeps quiet, and lures Ellie in to attack her, much different from regular, mindless infected behavior. Ellie even gets bitten.
In the game, both Ellie and Dina fall together, and they just encounter regular infected, with no sign of higher intellect or behavior. This change might give room for some development that strays away from the game, with infected possibly 'evolving' in some way.
1 Ellie’s Romantic Moment With Dina
It Hasn't Happened On The Show
Ellie and Dina go out on patrol and find Eugene’s marihuana stash during a heavy snow storm, so they take shelter there, and begin smoking and talking about their first kiss. The situation turns intimate very quickly, with them sharing a very passionate kiss on one of the couches.
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Posts By Dennis MoiseyevHowever, during the show, this doesn’t happen at all. Some of the dialogue is spread out into other scenes, but there’s no passionate kiss. In fact, Ellie and Dina don’t go together on their patrols, and Ellie finds Eugene’s stash with Jesse. This was probably made to create more tension between Ellie and Dina, setting up an eventual romantic relationship.
The Last Of Us Like Follow Followed TV-MA Drama Action Horror Release Date January 15, 2023 Network HBO Showrunner Craig Mazin Directors Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado Writers Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin 3 Images Custom Image By Yailin ChaconGabriel Luna as Tommy looking to the side next to Bella Ramsey looking shocked in The Last of UsCustom Image By Yailin ChaconCloseCast
See All- Pedro Pascal Joel Miller
- Bella Ramsey Ellie Williams
