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It’s been two patience-testing years, but we’ve finally reunited with Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us season 2 – and it’s safe to say that the show has thrown us back in at the deep end.
Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann pre-warned us that they’d played fast and loose with the game’s chronology, which is told deliberately out of sync in order to pack the hardest emotional punch, when adapting it for the small screen. From the trailer, we already know that Westworld star Jeffrey Wright is set to show up at some point as Isaac, a character he voiced in the game who doesn’t show up until quite a ways in. Naturally, though, it’s not just the timeline the showrunners have tweaked in the process of bringing it to life…
With that, you might be wondering how much each episode differs from the source material? To spare you trawling through Wikipedia while simultaneously watching 15 hours of gameplay on YouTube, we’ve broken down the biggest differences between the second season’s opener and the game below (and we’ll be doing so up to the finale, too, so you’d better keep your eyes peeled).
Unsurprisingly, this article contains major spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 1, so proceed with caution if you’ve yet to watch the premiere and don’t want to know exactly what happens. All up to date? Well, let’s get into it…
Season 2 opens on Abby, not Tommy and Joel
The TV show opens on characters we’ve never seen before: Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby, Tati Gabrielle’s Nora, Danny Ramirez’s Manny, Ariela Barer’s Mel, and Spencer Lord’s Owen. Though you’d only know their names if you’re a casting nerd, because the HBO series has only divulged Abby’s at this point.
Standing by a makeshift graveyard on the outskirts of a city, one of the group asks, “Why would he do this?” Another replies, “I heard rumors. It was some kid he took that was supposedly…” before getting cut off by a third: “That wasn’t true. It isn’t possible.”
“No, probably not. And even if it were, it doesn’t f***ing matter anyway. Not without…” Tati Gabrielle’s character says, gesturing towards one of the crosses in the ground. As the sequence goes on, it’s revealed the “he” they’re talking about is Joel and, well, whatever he did… Dever’s Abby wants to “slowly” kill him for it.
In the games, Part II kicks off with Joel filling his brother Tommy in on what went down at the Fireflies hospital base; explaining that Marlene and co were going to try to make a cure using Ellie’s immunity, and that it would’ve killed her had they tried.
“Jesus Christ, Joel. What did you do?” Tommy asks. “I saved her,” Joel replies with a stony expression, as the game cuts to the bloodied bodies he left in his wake at Salt Lake City. “What does Ellie know?” Tommy wonders aloud. “I told her they ran some tests. I told her immunity meant nothin’,” Joel recalls.
“And she believed you?” says Tommy, before Joel whispers, “Didn’t say otherwise.” Will he come to regret underestimating Ellie’s ignorance?
We don’t see Joel give Ellie the guitar
Near the very beginning of the game, Joel gives Ellie a guitar, but not before he has a peaceful strum on it himself. In the TV show, however, Ellie already has the guitar – identifiable by the moth on its neck, which Ellie had tattooed on her arm at some point – when Joel awkwardly tries to make conversation with her about her patrols with Tommy. When he notices the strings aren’t up to scratch, he offers to take it back to his and fit a new set onto it.
Judging from the shot above, which features in the official trailer, though, we’ll likely see the original gifting scene in a flashback in a later episode. The characters’ guitar-playing is a key emotional thread throughout Part 2 so we can’t see them cutting it out completely.
Gustavo Santaolalla cameo
The games’ composer Gustavo Santaolalla, who we should all be thanking for its incredible themes, has a cameo as a banjo player in Jackson in Part 2, as well as a brief blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in the show. But they happen at slightly different times.
In the source material, Ellie stumbles across the musician while he’s plucking away outside a corner building one evening; his German Shepherd sitting obediently at his side. In HBO’s version, he’s glimpsed at the barn dance instead – with the same dog in tow, of course.
Joel is in therapy
Eagle-eyed players of the game spotted a bottle of anti-anxiety tablets on Joel’s bedside table in the remake of The Last of Us Part 1, and the show honored the nod to the character’s mental health struggles by depicting him suffering from panic attacks in season 1. In season 2, episode 1, Joel pays a visit to Jackson’s resident therapist Gail, which looks to be further exploration.
“It was something that we had talked about for season 1 because I kept thinking, who has utility in the apocalypse? Obviously tough guys like Joel do, smugglers, doctors, you would imagine, would be very important,” Mazin previously told GamesRadar+. “And then I was like… wouldn’t everyone need a therapist? If you’ve made it through, you have lost family members, you’ve watched the world fall apart, you are under terrible stress. There are monsters. Yeah, therapy would be an incredibly valuable thing.”
Predominantly set in 2029, while Part 2 covers 2038 to 2039
In the first game, which was released in 2013, the majority of the storyline takes place in 2033, 20 years after the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak. The main events – Joel escorting Ellie west – in the show, however, were set in 2023, 10 years prior. With the five-year time jump in season 2, we’re now in 2028, while Part 2 played out across 2038 and 2039.
The shift doesn’t really mean all that much in regards to the series itself, mind you; due to the apocalypse stunting societal advancements, 2033 hardly looked futuristic.
Dad jokes
In the first hour or so of the game, Joel makes Ellie chuckle with a lame pun (“What’s the downside to eating a clock? It’s time-consuming”), but in the show, it seems to be Dina who’s the one whacking out the dad jokes.
“What do you call a grizzly’s ribs?” she poses to Ellie while they’re out doing the alpine run in episode 1. “Bear-becue.”
Ellie teases her about it but later writes it down in her journal, revealing that she found it a lot funnier than she let on at the time.
The barn party is shown much later on in the game
The barn party scene plays out almost exactly as it does in the game. Ellie shares some small talk with Jesse, suggesting that he and Dina are sure to get back together for the umpteenth time any day now, before he shoots her theory down and an inebriated Dina drags Ellie onto the dancefloor.
“Every guy in this room is staring at you right now,” Ellie whispers into the crook of Dina’s neck. “Maybe they’re staring at you. Maybe they’re jealous of you,” Dina proposes. “No reason to be, I’m not a threat,” says Ellie, to which Dina replies: “Oh, Ellie, I think they should be terrified of you.” Cue that kiss.
The intimate moment is rudely interrupted by Seth, who berates them for smooching at “a family event” and calls them a homophobic slur. Ellie threatens him back, as Joel rams into Seth from out of nowhere and tells him to “get out”.
“What is wrong with you?! I don’t need your f***ing help,” Ellie growls, before storming out.
In the game, though, this scene is shown via flashback towards the end of the story, which gives it a little more weight – though mentions of a first kiss and an incident with Seth are teased early. While we won’t go into any details here, by that point, Ellie has done some regrettable, terrible things, providing “terrified” with all sorts of interpretations. We’ve also spent much more time with Ellie and Dina, and have a deeper understanding of their bond and yearning for one another. Ugh, our hearts!
The Last of Us airs on Sundays in the US on HBO and Max, before landing on Sky and NOW in the UK the following day. Ensure you don’t miss an episode with our guide to The Last of Us season 2 release schedule.