The Last of Us - HBO *Spoilers* See warning in post #1

They played the game and within an hour Riley was bitten, dead not long after.

Associative memory is a powerful thing so the idea that she sees that game and doesn't immediately get reminded of Rileys death is just not believable for me. At best it is a bittersweet memory, one that raises a smile as she remembers the good thing she did with her friend just before she died. But seeing the game and being excited and happy?

Again, she may be thinking of Riley, rather than primarily about Riley's death. At that stage however, she was still incredibly guarded around Joel, and it might also go to explain why she stabs the infected in the head that is trapped in the basement. A form of cathartic revenge; stabbing the trapped infected in the same way she stabbed the one who bit her and Riley.

But as I say, all of that would actually have been interesting.

I said "died", but they weren't dying, they were infected and turning, and since Ellie didn't know she was immune they both would have expected to turn around the same time. (Both bitten on the arm/hand). So what happened when Riley turned but Ellie didn't? Did she attack Ellie? She should have, since Ellie was not infected? Is Riley still shuffling around down there?

Like I say, the handling of that core period would have been far more character development than what was presented, and might actually have had some relevance to the current day situation with Joel and the obvious fakeout about whether she was actually going to leave when he told her to. Show us Ellie leaving Riley behind at any point and character development becomes possible.

I more so meant it wasn't their intention at that start, either Riley's in bringing Ellie to the Mall or Ellie in going. It wasn't so much "teenage flirting" as it was something that just developed.

But Ellie wouldn't have left Riley behind. It's not about Ellie leaving Riley or Joel behind, it's Ellie's fears about being the one left behind because as she said in her argument with Joel; "...Anyone who I've cared about has either died or left me..." The character development point is Ellie's fears about the people she loves dying, compounded by the fact that she's immune to the infection that will kill everyone else. It's not about seeing exactly what happened when Riley died, if Ellie was there etc, it's just about Ellie's survivors guilt and making her feel alone.

What a great show !

Love Bella Ramsay and Pedro. I was so shocked when Tess was taken out so soon ( completely new to TLOU ) that I am worrying about him now. Why did they pull out the piece of the bat out ? He is just bleeding out now . And her stitching his skin will not sort the internal bleeding ...but I digress .

The character development from week to week is so good. We now know that Ellie will stay to the end with him , as with Riley . She is a great character . But she also does not want to be alone .

I love the humour , and the music . Anybody else get Just Like Heaven by The Cure on the carousel ? A tinselly kid's version? It was' just like heaven' for the two girls getting this time together of course .

And the book of silly jokes , the arcade games, perfect teen entertainment . Goes to how poignant it is that their lives now are about almost-children having to think about throwing bombs and making serious life or death choices when they should be free to enjoy the mall and games instead .

Think the point of the mall is to show the importance of such activity to developing independence while in a ' safe ' environment for younger's future teens , but also to emphasise the irrelevance of many of these outletsto others in a survivalist world. That is why Riley was left to guard it , nobody else was interested in it .

Each episode shows more views of the world and gives us more insight into the characters and their individual emotions and struggles.

And last week the older Indian couple who kept away from everyone and the community who kept themselves locked away, each thinking the others were monsters ?

I am not saying it's the best show ever because there are many that claim that accolade , but it is very, very engaging and very well produced and perfectly acted . Enjoying that it is the opposite of the soo drawn out and repetitive TWD with each episode succinct and completely different ..Loving it .

I have played the game, but I'm entirely answering based on what we saw in the episode and previous episodes. Yes, Ellie's pause on the stairs before the flashback to the Mall would give the impression that she might leave Joel behind, or that maybe she left Riley behind and the guilt of it is what makes her stay and not leave Joel behind, but I think seeing what the episode shows us demonstrates that Ellie likely didn't leave Riley behind, and so that's not the motivation behind Ellie's decision.

We haven't seen anything that would suggest Ellie would have left Riley behind, especially since Ellie was bitten too and didn't know she was immune, just would have thought she'd still being going to turn eventually, but then didn't. We don't know what happened between the last scene with Riley and Ellie being chained up by the Fireflies. We don't know if they were found before they turned, we don't know if Ellie was there when Riley started to turn, we don't know if Ellie was the one who had to take Riley out after she turned. We don't know that from the show and I don't think we're ever told that in the game either, so I have no more information than you.

I think what we do know, is that the exact circumstances of how/where Riley turned or if Ellie was there etc is not really the point of what this episode is trying to show us (otherwise the episode would have shown it to us, not to mention that this part of the story wasn't even in the original game but was added as extra content after). I think what this episode is trying to show us is why Ellie fears being alone above and beyond just people she loves dying. She's immune to the infection. She's worried that she'll always be the one left behind. Again, she says as much to Sam before he dies, and in her argument with Joel in last week's episode. I believe that's why she makes the decision she makes; it's not about not wanting to leave Joel behind, but that she doesn't want to be the one left behind again, just like how Riley died but Ellie survived. It's not about her leaving them behind to die, but about her not wanting to always be the one left behind to live, alone.

Yes.

She now knows she has survived her friend Riley, Tess, and may survive Joel if she doesn't help him .

She is the one Left Behind . And in danger of being left alone , last person standing .

Also while I would imagine they will deal with Riley's finale at some stage I am glad they did not include that in this episode . It would have been too obvious and gratuitous , and just to satisfy a need for 'tidying up ' at the expense of the loving and emotional picture of the two of them holding each other as they wait to turn .

We all have seen those scenes of people having to kill or end loved ones before , in this and more so in TWD . It was unnecessary in this episode imo.

Does anyone know if there is any significance to the masks they wore?

There's a great mid 80s Scottish film - Restless Natives with 2 lads dressing up as the Clown and the Wolfman to rob tourist coaches, was wondering if there's some connection?

In episode two didn't someone say to Joel they're working on a cure. And he says he's heard it before? I don't know if he means he's heard about general work on a cure, or about an infected survivor before. But maybe infection survivors are something the fireflies watch out for?

Interesting. I missed the fact that it was Marlene who had placed Ellie with Fedra. I obviously haven’t been paying enough attention !

There's the lines:

So maybe this was news to Marlene.

One thing I don't think the show has demonstrated well is why Joel and Ellie are continuing their journey past Jackson.

Ellie was kidnapped and held captive by the fireflies, then sent as cargo with two smugglers, it wasn't her crusade to begin with. Joel was only doing it because there was going to be a payoff at the end.

So when they find themselves welcome in a very nice community in the middle of nowhere the obvious thought would be to stay right where they are, not head back into the wilds after just one night.

I know people who played the game will say that Marlene sold Ellie on saving the world or something but as I say, I don't think the show has demonstrated that concept across very well. Remember, show, don't tell. Did I miss the part where Ellie herself showed why she wanted to put herself through all this?

And thats without getting into the fact that any "cure" would change very little for the world anyway.

not sure if it’s been mentioned but I find Ellie’s character has been totally miscast. The actress is very unlikeable, annoying.

I think Bella Ramsey is absolutely fantastic and has far exceeded my expectations. I was a bit apprehensive as I only knew them from Game of Thrones, but they've absolutely nailed every important scene, and the little details in their performance throughout have been spot on.

It's almost hard to compare Bella and Ashley because Ashely had to be a lot more animated both vocally and physically due to the limitations of motion capture (as good as it was), whereas Bella is able to be a bit more subtle but nuanced. Similar to Pedro and Troy Baker, Pedro has been playing Joel far more reserved than Troy did.

Generally seems to have been very well received as Ellie even by people like me who hated her girl boss GoT character.