5 Huge Changes HBO Made to Game Ellie in The Last of Us Show
The HBO series has gone pretty far from The Last of Us’ original video game, provoking a major ongoing clash with the game’s diehard fans. With this, Bella Ramsey and her Ellie have become the most frequent targets — here’s what fans have complained about so far.
HBO’s The Last of Us has been facing pretty harsh criticism ever since its first season premiered back in 2023, but the ongoing second instalment had the video game fans seeing red even more clearly.
Even though The Last of Us is currently considered one of the best video game adaptations of all time, the series is also repeatedly slammed for its own version of Ellie.
To some fans, it’s nothing short of a betrayal — we picked some of the biggest differences between the show and the game’s Ellie that many are so furious about.
Ellie and Riley Face Much Lesser Danger in the HBO Series
One of the episodes in the show’s first season delves into Ellie’s life before she met Joel and her relationship with her best friend and eventual love interest Riley.
The two escape to an abandoned mall one night, having fun and exploring the emptied stores until an infected ambushes them, leading to Riley being beaten and Ellie having no other choice but to shoot her.
However, in the video game things are much more complicated, with Riley and Ellie facing a whole horde of the infected — which makes a lot of sense in the game, considering that killing just one infected wouldn’t be that much of a deal for the player.
Ellie’s Immunity Is a Mystery in The Last of Us Game
The TV adaptation has been pretty clear about Ellie’s special ability all along, dedicating an entire episode of season 1 to the explanation of how exactly she became immune to the infection.
In the meantime, the video game doesn’t really say anything explicitly about the matter, only revealing that Ellie was beaten during her and Riley’s outing in the mall, but somehow she managed to survive and not get infected.
Ellie Is Annoyingly Realistic in the Show
For The Last of Us players it’s no secret that Ellie appeals to everyone pretty much since the first minutes of her appearance in The Last of Us — to the point when she doesn’t seem like a teenager after all.
The HBO series gives a more realistic take on that, giving Ellie a rebellious teenager-ish character that causes her a lot of trouble and leads her to numerous confrontations even with those she deeply cares about, including Joel.
Ellie Didn’t Talk to Joel Before His Death — Yet
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Now that The Last of Us’ episode 5 did bring Pedro Pascal’s character back to life in a flashback final scene, it’s very likely the show will continue to do so in the future episodes, probably featuring Ellie and Joel’s last conversation before Abby got what she wanted all along.
So far, however, there’s no mention of Ellie staying in touch with Joel not long until his death whatsoever, though in the video game Ellie does find her father figure after that New Year dance, accusing him of not giving her life meaning by taking her from the hospital.
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Ellie then admits she doesn’t know whether she’ll be able to forgive him after all, but she would give it a try.
This conversation is one of the pivotal moments in Ellie and Joel’s flawed relationship which was on its way to being rebuilt until Abby came around.
Ellie’s Encounter With the Smart Infected Never Happened
Earlier in the show, Ellie faces another major threat when a smart infected gets in her way, behaving way more thoroughly than the infected of other kinds. This is also brought up in the second season’s episode 5 when Ellie and Dina meet yet another smart infected.
In the video game, however, nothing like this ever happens, with both Dina and Ellie having to deal with pretty usual infected on their way.
The new type’s introduction might serve for something bigger coming in the show’s next two episodes of season 2.
