As soon as the trailer for the second episode of “The Last of Us” was released, the fans started speculating about what they could witness and the kind of creative liberties, if any, the makers would take. We had witnessed in Episode 1 of the HBO series, “The Last of Us,” that Ellie was taken outside the quarantine zone by Joel and Tess. Joel still didn’t have a clue about the whereabouts of Tommy, and he was probably trying his best to not get attached to Ellie. When the FEDRA guard attacked Ellie, Joel got a flashback from when his daughter, Sarah, was killed by the military when the Cordyceps Brain Infection had just started to spread.
We get proof of the fact that Joel had never been able to move on from that incident. Joel killed the guard, and Ellie froze as she didn’t expect Joel to act in that manner. Ellie knew that no matter how aloof Joel might try to act, in reality, he cared for her and would protect her at all costs. Joel was in denial, and he was not ready to accept that Ellie reminded him of Sarah. Ellie asks about his broken watch, and Joel reminisces about the time when his daughter got his watch repaired as a birthday present. Joel and Tess weren’t aware of the song that was playing on the radio. As Ellie had figured out earlier, Joel used to communicate with Frank and Bill through the radio, and if a song from the 80s played, then it meant that there was danger of some sort. We still don’t know whether Bill and Frank were in danger themselves or if they were trying to warn Joel not to come out of the quarantine zone. Ellie, Joel, and Tess walked into the unknown even though they knew about the perils that existed in the post-apocalyptic world.
Through the trailer of the second episode, we come to know that the trio will face a lot more infected people, and for the first time, Ellie will witness what they are capable of. Ellie might have known about runners, stalkers, clickers, and bloaters, but she would come face to face with them now, as she has stepped out of the safe zone. Joel, Ellie, and Tess would also be on the hit list of FEDRA, as the military would come to know about their escape sooner rather than later. We had seen that in martial law, there was no scope for mercy, and even if they commiserate with the misfortune of others, they couldn’t go against the stringent laws. A FEDRA soldier had been killed, and moreover, a gross violation of the law had been committed. The threat was doubled as Joel, Ellie, and Tess would not only have to face the infected but also the army, which probably would have been given shoot-at-site orders.
Till the end of the first episode, we saw that Joel was adamant about making himself believe that Ellie was merely cargo for him and that he had nothing to do with her. He was focused on finding his brother, Tommy, and time and again; he was seen reassuring himself that his job was only escorting Ellie to the Fireflies’ base. But we believe that Tess had an intuition that they were a part of something bigger, and we might see her challenging the beliefs of her stubborn partner. Tess and Joel genuinely had the opportunity to save the world by finding a cure for the disease that threatened to bring about the extinction of human beings. In the second episode, we will surely get to witness conversations where Tess tries to bring Joel on the same page and make him accept that, for better or for worse, they had the power to determine the destinies of those who survived.
We might see the trio reach the settlement of Bill and Frank in Lincoln. Bill and Frank were the only survivors in their neighborhood, and they were able to stay alive because they had some rules that they always followed. It is possible that we witness Bill lashing out at Joel for compromising his safety and bringing a volatile asset like Ellie to his location. Obviously, there would be some creative liberties taken by HBO, and they would introduce some characters that were not originally a part of the game. In the trailer for the second episode of “The Last of Us,” we see Melanie Lynskey, who plays the character of Kathleen in the series. This character wasn’t part of the game, and that is why there is a lot of excitement, with fans already speculating about what impact she could have on the lives of Joel, Ellie, and Tess. Kathleen is the pragmatic and fierce leader of a rebel group in Kansas. We would see her crossing paths with Joel and others, and she could have a pivotal role to play in the larger scheme of things.
One more creative liberty that has been taken by HBO is that they have removed the possibility of getting infected by the fungal infection without contact. In the game, we saw that when an infected person died, their dead bodies released spores, which were extremely lethal, and apart from Ellie, who was immune, everybody else became infected as soon as they were exposed. Now, this would have been done because the makers would have realized that if they entertained the possibility of airborne infection, then their cast would have to cover their faces and wear masks at all times.
Fairly soon, we will see Joel reuniting with his brother Tommy. As per the game, after cutting all ties with the Fireflies, Tommy had started living in Wyoming with his wife, Maria. Tommy had built a settlement with Maria that was much more sustainable compared to FEDRA’s quarantine zones. We are pretty sure that, just like in the games, we would meet a more responsible and dependable Tommy, who would play a critical role in Joel’s journey. We are excited to find out what happens in the subsequent episodes of the series “The Last of Us” and if it is able to live up to the expectations of the fans.
