We’ve learned so much about Joel and Ellie in such a short period of time. Since HBO’s The Last of Us premiered on Jan. 15, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey have taken us on a journey like no other. The Game of Thrones alumni star as smuggler Joel and teenager Ellie, an unlikely pair who must venture across a treacherous post-apocalyptic America in order to meet a resistance group known as the Fireflies during an outbreak of the Cordyceps fungal infection. As a result of Cordyceps, most of America have either been killed or become Infected, resulting in a world-wide pandemic that forces survivors to ration food, supplies and weaponry.
Ellie Williams, played by Bella Ramsey, meets Joel in the Boston QZ (Quarantine Zone) after the outbreak, revealing herself to be an orphan who was raised by FEDRA, the ruling authorities of the QZs. She met and befriended Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies and a friend of her mother’s, at 13 years old. Ellie had a limited knowledge of the world before the Cordyceps outbreak, as she’d never lived outside of the Boston QZ. Ramsey’s Ellie might share similarities with in-game Ellie, but there’s a lot about HBO’s rendition that we’re still unsure about. In fact, we’re more privy to Ellie’s life through Ashley Johnson’s portrayal than we are Ramsey’s… and there are a lot of unanswered questions concerning her past.
How is Ellie immune?
Early on, just like in Naughty Dog’s video game franchise, we learn that Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps infection. Although we’re informed of Ellie’s infection through Naughty Dog’s DLC Left Behind, it hasn’t been explicitly stated on the show how Ellie is immune — we just know she is immune. For those who have played Left Behind, they’ll know that Ellie and her friend Riley (who we’ll discuss later) encounter some runners and, well, the rest is history. As far as Ramsey’s Ellie, we hear Marlene briefly mention the incident in the debut episode, but other than that, anyone who hasn’t played the game will be none the wiser as to how Ellie got infected in the first place. Neither Joel nor Tess care to press Ellie for the details, they’re just flabbergasted that someone could be immune — and that’s all that matters to them. We’re bound to get an explanation sooner or later, especially since Storm Reid will be playing Riley in the series, so we know we’ll be seeing her.
What happened to Ellie’s parents?
Any diehard The Last of Us fans will be familiar with Ashley Johnson, the voice and motion capture artist behind Naughty Dog’s iteration of Ellie. It was announced soon after The Last of Us started its promotional campaign that Johnson, along with Joel’s voice and motion capture actor, Troy Baker, would be appearing in HBO’s adaptation in a cameo role. Not long after, we discovered that she would be portraying none other than Ellie’s mother, Anna, whom we see briefly in the official trailer. Such a fitting role for Johnson, considering her ties to the video game franchise, but how much will we really see of her? Ellie makes it known to Joel and Tess that she’s an orphan, meaning her parents either abandoned her or passed away when she was a child. It’s heavily implied that the latter would be the case, but we’ve yet to have any confirmation of that fact. Gamers will be more clued-in on what happens to Anna and how she fits into the story, but HBO might take Anna’s story in an entirely different direction, so who really knows for sure? She could have died… or she could be infected. As for Ellie’s father, neither the video game crowd nor the TV fanatics are too sure who he is or where he is, and it’s looking like that’ll remain a mystery.
Who is Ellie’s friend Riley?
When we first meet Marlene, she’s keeping Ellie captive at the Firefly base. We quickly learn that Marlene has history with Ellie, despite pretending not to know her. During a brief conversation, Marlene mentions Riley by name, whom we’ve yet to meet thus far. Again, anyone who’s played The Last of Us — and especially the DLC Left Behind — will know exactly who Riley is and how significant she is to Ellie’s growth and development. As for first-timers who’re going into HBO’s The Last of Us blind, there’s understandably some confusion. Since we haven’t met Riley yet, we’ll keep this a spoiler-free zone. All we’ll say is that Riley is an old friend of Ellie’s whom she meets during her time in the QZ. Riley aspires to become a Firefly, much to Ellie’s dismay. Their dynamic is difficult to define sometimes, but it’s clear that they’re the best of friends. One might say that she’s Ellie’s only friend until later in life. When Storm Reid makes her debut as Riley, all will be revealed as we learn about Ellie’s past. In fact, we might get all three of these questions answered in one flashback sequence.
The Last of Us airs weekly at on HBO at 8PM ET/5PM PT. Catch up on every episode on HBO Max.
