Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 1, episode 9.The Last of Us season 1, episode 9 rounded off the series in climactic fashion with only a handful of changes to the original game’s ending. Much like most of The Last of Us season 1 thus far, episode 9’s fidelity to the source material was admirable. Given that the creator of both original Last of Us games, Neil Druckmann, is the co-creator of HBO’s adaptation, it was always expected that the TV show would be essentially unchanged in terms of characters, themes, and overall story.
However, that is not to say that HBO’s The Last of Us remained entirely faithful to the original game. As was the case with every episode of the show up to this point, The Last of Us episode 9 and its ending differed from the source material in some ways. While not massive, groundbreaking changes to the overall story and spirit of the game, The Last of Us episode 9 continued in its predecessor’s footsteps in that the majority of the differences from the original Last of Us were more additions, simply improving on the already fantastic story of the source material.
Ellie’s Mom’s Scene Is Not In The Last Of Us Game
The first major addition to The Last of Us episode 9 comes with its opening scene. The scene centers on the character of Anna, Ellie’s mother, who is played by original Ellie actress Ashley Johnson. The scene shows a pregnant Anna running through the forest before entering an abandoned house. In the home, she is attacked by an infected before giving birth to Ellie. With Ellie’s mother being in The Last of Us show comes the first major change found in the finale of season 1.
While Anna is mentioned in the game, the scene of her giving birth to Ellie is not shown. Marlene simply mentions she used to be close with Anna, and Ellie has her switchblade to remember her by in the original game. Also, in The Last of Us game, Ellie has a letter written by Anna. Instead, HBO’s adaptation decided to include the scene of Ellie’s birth, both as a way of fleshing out Ellie’s character and delving deeper into her Last of Us immunity.
The Reveal Of Joel’s Scar Is An Original Scene For HBO’s Last Of Us
The next crucial change to the original Last of Us game is the reveal of how Joel got his scar. In The Last of Us episode 3, Joel mentions that he received his scar when someone shot at him and missed. In The Last of Us episode 9, Joel reveals that the person who shot at him was himself shortly after Sarah’s death. This entire scene and the concept of Joel’s attempted suicide are not found in the original game. This reveal goes a long way to truly show how Sarah’s death affected Joel and how his relationship with Ellie healed his heart.
Ellie’s Immunity Is Explained More Thoroughly In HBO’s Last Of Us
Linking back to the inclusion of Ashley Johnson as Ellie’s mother, Anna, The Last of Us episode 9 goes into greater depth about Ellie’s immunity. In the original game, the only details about Ellie’s immunity come from Marlene stating that the Cordyceps inside her have mutated, and they will remove it to create a vaccine. However, with the inclusion of Anna getting bitten during childbirth, HBO’s The Last of Us explains Ellie’s infection immunity comes from the Cordyceps that was transferred to her body by the umbilical cord.
The Cordyceps in her body since birth did not infect her, instead acting as somewhat of a barrier. This means that whenever Cordyceps entered her body again, such as in The Last of Us episode 2 and episode 7 in the Riley flashback, the fungi already thought she was infected due to the Cordyceps already in her body acting as a chemical messenger. So the Fireflies intended to remove those messengers, multiply the cells, and put them in a vaccine to give to the wider population. This explanation is much deeper than in the original The Last of Us game and stems from Ellie’s mother.
Last Of Us Episode 9 Has More Season 2 Set Up Than The Original Game Did
Due to the nature of how the first Last of Us game was created, that being that there were only early ideas for a sequel at the time, the ending of the first game did not include any overt hints to The Last of Us Part II. However, The Last of Us season 1, episode 9, features a big hint about the upcoming season 2. The focused shot of the dead surgeon at the end of the hospital sequence is vital to the future story of The Last of Us, as the doctor’s daughter Abby will be crucial to season 2.
With The Last of Us Part II, it was more a case of Abby being retroactively added to the ending of The Last of Us Part I. With HBO’s version, though, the doctor’s death is intentionally left on the screen to subliminally alert the audience to the ramifications of Joel’s actions. This will only be compounded in The Last of Us season 2 when Abby will undoubtedly come for revenge against Joel.
