Is the newest addition to ‘The Last of Us’ cast deaf?

Two new members joined the main Last of Us cast on Sunday, giving viewers their first glimpse at HBO’s Henry and Sam.

Henry and Sam, like many of the vital side characters scattered throughout The Last of Us‘ Cordyceps-ridden world, will get a richer backstory and fleshed out purpose in HBO’s adaptation. The characters were already important elements of Ellie and Joel’s journey, but it seems HBO is hoping to level them up even more.

The conclusion of episode four, “Please Hold My Hand,” saw Ellie and Joel confronted by a pair of unfamiliar faces. These faces belong to brothers Henry and Sam, who appear to be affiliated with a group of people with a strong foothold in Kansas City. The group is led by Melanie Lynskey’s Kathleen, a character who’s current trajectory appears to mirror the tone and direction of Ellie’s character arc in The Last of Us Part II.

Henry and Sam have yet to utter a word in HBO’s adaptation, but early casting calls — leaked online more than a year ago — indicate that Sam’s character is deaf. The casting call describes the character as “male, Black, deaf” and between “8-14 years old.”

It appears that HBO is departing once again from the source material, and we’re not complaining. The story in The Last of Us will always be there for gamers to enjoy, and its a nice change of pace to see HBO shifting up and enhancing some of the details. Sam’s deafness is certainly a danger in a world filled with revenge-bent humans, raging infected, and lurking clickers sporting acute hearing. This should add an enticing and tense element to the HBO series as it pushes onward, and add some much-needed — and far too rarely seen — representation in the process.

Sam’s character is not deaf in Naughty Dog’s games, but it’s not an alteration that should drastically change the relevancy of his role in Ellie and Joel’s journey. The brothers’ introduction has already seen numerous changes from game to show, from their affiliation with Kathleen’s group to how they stumbled across the series leads.

The character of Sam is played by Keivonn Woodard, who himself is a member of the deaf community. He made history in his hometown several times over, first as Bowie, Maryland’s first deaf Black hockey player — at only 9 years old — and then as the latest addition to the Last of Us cast.

Situating Sam as a deaf character in a deadly world will certainly shake things up, and could make for some deliciously tense scenes in episode five. It could also contribute to the story in ways viewers have yet to ascertain, but all will become clear when episode five drops a few days early on Friday, Feb. 10.