‘The Last of Us’ star addresses the fandom’s concern over non-game characters

Warning: Spoilers for The Last of Us to follow.

The Last of Us may hold the popular distinction of being one of the greatest video game adaptations in the history of television and film – even if the source material itself was more film than game – but we’d be remiss to forget that HBO Max’s live-action take on this beloved story has every intention on crafting its own identity unique from the games.

We got a delectable taste of that in the third episode, with Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett driving home a love story for the ages, but episode four looks ready to take it a step further.

The fourth installment introduced us to Kathleen, played by Melanie Lynskey, an original character who looks set to be the next antagonist faced by Joel and Ellie. The leader of a group of civilian revolutionaries, Kathleen ruthlessly leads the charge against a man named Henry, who we learn was responsible for the death of her brother. And with Joel and Ellie having killed members of her group in self-defense, it seems like a matter of time before the duo will be squaring off against Kathleen and her forces.

Any and all divergences from the game are bound to be met with skepticism, and that’s especially true in the case of Kathleen, given that she’s a completely original creation. Lynskey fears no scrutiny, revealing in an interview with Variety that showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are deserving of all the faith in the world when it comes to telling this particular story.

“I guess there’s a different level of scrutiny where people are like, ‘We don’t need this character. We played the game without this character. Why is she here?’ But also, none of that is my responsibility. I’m there because I trust Craig. And Neil is also so brilliant, and was the creator of the game, and he’s on board and signing off on every decision.”

We only got a taste of Lynskey’s character this week, and she looks to be the most intimidating challenge that Joel and Ellie will have to face yet. There’s no telling how this particular conflict is going to unfold, but we’ll be tuning in in record time to find out.