The Last of Us Already Made a Huge Change to Game Plot in Episode 2

There’s now no doubt The Last of Us didn’t hesitate to break its fans’ hearts with the most shocking (yet still expected) death of the entire season right away, and a major departure from its original source has made it all even more gut-wrenching.

The latest episode sees everyone arming up to fight with a whole army of the infected that somehow rose up from the dead once again, but far away from that Joel faces an even bigger threat after, well, saving Abby from the most certain death in the zombies’ hands.

Still, things were quite different in the video game, but it might be one of those few changes that fans liked better than the original.

Spoiler alert for The Last of Us season 2 episode 2!

The Last of Us Swaps Characters in the Patrol

In the second episode, Ellie goes out on patrol with Jesse after finding out that Joel has already gone on one with Dina; she then finds both of them in a remote mountain house where Abby carries out her revenge plan for Joel by beating him to death.

Even though it might not seem like a big deal, the show’s narrative drifts away from the original storyline in a significant way, swapping the characters in the patrol and replacing Tommy, who initially went with Joel, by Dina, also expanding her character’s arc.

“Swapping the patrol characters around made for an interesting change. I like that Dina has more stakes in going now. Overall I really like the narrative changes the show has done so far. I’m glad we can’t always expect what’s going to happen”, Redditor havanabrown wrote in a thread, also adding that the Jackson siege was just as epic as it was unexpected too.

The Last of Us Plot Change Makes Ellie’s Arc More Heartbreaking Than Ever Before

As many fans were quick to join the discussion of the so far most tragic plot twist in the entire series, many also admitted they’d felt like the show did good by introducing a big change in Ellie’s storyline too.

In the game, the latter sees Joel dying and then is left unconscious by Abby’s group. The show’s version, however, makes Ellie go through an even harsher experience of witnessing her father figure’s gruesome end without being able to change a thing.

“God that was f—king brutal. what a choice to not knock ellie out and have her crawl over to joel's corpse”, quintoast noted.

“One change I appreciated, though somewhat subtle, was Ellie hoping/planning to be the one going out on patrol with Joel and not getting the chance. Really adds layers to her desire to avenge him and her survivors guilt overall. The “if only he had waited for me/I had been there it would’ve been different/I could’ve stopped it” will probably eat at her even more”, roryroobean also put in.

When Is The Last of Us Next Episode Airing?

The show’s season 2 episode 3 will arrive on Max on April 27. The remaining episodes are also set to be released every Sunday until May 25.