Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode 9 and The Last of Us Part II.The Last of Us episode 9’s opening scene continues one specific trend the show has employed to set up season 2, this time through Ellie’s mother, Anna. At the beginning of The Last of Us season 1’s finale, Anna’s trials and tribulations throughout Ellie’s birth are shown. Explaining the nature of Ellie’s immunity and exploring the core theme of a parent’s love for their child, The Last of Us episode 9’s cold opening is equally heartwarming and tragic.
Outside of providing more context for Ellie’s past, however, The Last of Us episode 9 also continues a subtle setup trend for The Last of Us season 2. Linking to the previous episode centering on Ellie’s backstory, The Last of Us episode 7, a specific song choice in episode 9 hints at the future of Ellie’s story. With the ending of The Last of Us season 1 leaving a lot open-ended, this particular song from Anna’s scene has an important connection to The Last of Us Part II.
Anna Singing A-ha Links To Last Of Us Episode 7’s “Take On Me” (& Season 2)
The scene in question comes just after the title sequence when Marlene enters an abandoned house to find Anna. When climbing the stairs, Anna can be faintly heard singing a specific song. That song is “The Sun Always Shines On TV” by A-ha, in an obvious link to the other uses of the iconic band throughout the show.
The most overt was The Last of Us episode 7, when A-ha’s “Take On Me” played over Ellie and Riley’s elevator scene in the mall. The Last of Us episode 7’s “Take On Me” massively set up season 2, with the song featuring in an iconic scene of The Last of Us Part II. The song was used as a way to link Ellie both to Joel and to her love interests, giving the song a deeper, more story-related meaning than it first appeared. In using A-ha once again in The Last of Us episode 9, HBO is subliminally linking the two episodes, continuing the setup for season 2.
“The Sun Always Shines On TV” Lyrics Link To Ellie’s Season 2 Journey
However, the choice of this specific A-ha song for Anna also links to The Last of Us season 2 through its lyrics. Words such as “I reached inside myself and found nothing there” and “I fear the crazed and lonely looks the mirror’s sending me” link to Ellie’s emotional state that was shown throughout The Last of Us Part II. Much of the sequel focused on how Ellie’s quest for revenge numbed her emotionally, linking to the former lyrics, and also how the cycle of revenge ended up with Ellie alone, linking to the latter.
Another section of the song states, “Please don’t ask me to defend the shameful lowlands of the way I’m drifting.” This also links to Ellie’s revenge quest in that she can never truly justify the things she does in The Last of Us Part II. The entire story is about how revenge makes people do awful things, hence the “shameful lowlands.” All of these details subtly link to The Last of Us Part II in a masterful way, all stemming from the words of Ellie’s mother in The Last of Us episode 9.
