Has life felt hopeful lately? Exceptional. The last of us is here to change that. From its first episode, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin’s HBO drama has been both addictive and depressing. That’s what you get when you start your big budget HBO drama with a child death. But as sad as the last six episodes have been, nothing is quite as upsetting as the foreboding “Left Behind.” Spoiler ahead.
When we last saw Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), Joel had barely survived a brutal injury. Somehow, Eli was able to drag his unconscious body into the basement of an abandoned house, and that’s where episode 7 begins. But for once, we don’t delve into the past of Joel, Bill (Nick Offerman) or Kathleen (Melanie Lynsky). We dive into Ellie’s.
“Left Behind” tells the story of how Ellie got her first bite from an infected. Long before she met Joel, Ellie was just another kid raised by the Boston branch of FEDRA (Federal Disaster Relief Agency). In this flashback, Ellie is just as angry and impulsive as she is throughout the rest of this show. A fight with a bully leads to Elli blacking out and the other girl needing 15 stitches. But as unstable as Ellie is, she has a future at FEDRA. The captain tells her that she has two choices: she can commit to FEDRA’s program and become a leader, or she can continue to rebel and become a whiner.
Well, unbeknownst to Ellie, her best friend has already chosen a secret third path. Riley (Storm Reid) chose Option C, betrayed FEDRA and joined the Fireflies. After abandoning Ellie without a word, Riley bursts into her room one night and tells Ellie to come with her. Ellie initially refuses, but quickly relents – just as Riley predicted.
Riley’s big surprise is every teenage girl’s dream since the 2000s: a fully functional mall just for them. Riley knows that her disappearing act has cost Ellie loyalty, so she promises to show her best friend the Four Wonders of the Mall. Well, five, if you count the escalator that Ellie loves so much.
As Riley guides Ellie through consumer paradise, it’s clear that their relationship runs deeper than just friendship. When they ride the carousel (Wonder #2), Ellie can’t stop looking at Riley. A trip to the photo booth (Wonder #3) ends with Riley putting her arms around Ellie for far too long. When Riley finally teaches Ellie how to do a final move Mortal Kombat II (Wonder #4), they beam at each other. Written by Neil Druckmann and directed by Liza Johnson, “Left Behind” beautifully captures the innocence and emotion of young, budding love, as well as the original DLC the episode is based on. This is what makes what happens next so tragic.
At one point Ellie tries to get back to FEDRA because it’s getting late. That’s when Riley gives her the greatest gift of all — No pun intended: Vol too. Yep, that’s the stupid pun she’s been reading to Joel all season. They exchange some terrible jokes, but their joy is short-lived when Eli finds Riley’s bombs. Riley promises that the Fireflies would never use them to attack Ellie, which Ellie doesn’t believe. Desperate to win her friend back, Riley tells her the truth — Riley is being reassigned to a Firefly base in Atlanta. Tonight is her last night in Boston.
Enraged, Ellie runs away from her best friend. But her anger dissipates as soon as she hears a woman scream. Ellie runs back only to find Riley at the Halloween store — Wonder #5. He takes the book from Riley and the two make out. It takes some scary masks and “I Got You” by Etta James, but they slowly become friends again. Overcome with emotion, Ellie takes off her werewolf mask and asks Riley to stay. Riley agrees, even though it might mean doing detailed work on the sewage.
Is Ellie in love with Riley? She is Elli Lesvia The last of us?
If Elli isn’t in love with Riley, then she’s definitely on her way to falling for her. After Riley says she’ll stay, Ellie kisses her. He immediately apologizes, prompting Riley to ask “For what?” They both smile and look at each other lovingly.
This is not a one-off moment. Ellie is a lesbian in both the game and the HBO show. Not only does she kiss Riley in the Stay back DLC, but her partner inside The Last of Us Part II iit’s her eventual girlfriend, Dina. The two even share a dance that is one of the most romantic moments in a video game.
Riley dies inside The last of us on HBO?
You know how nobody can have anything nice in this universe? This is especially true of young love. Ellie and Riley’s antics at the mall accidentally wake up an infected. He attacks them while they are in the Halloween store. At first Ellie thinks they managed to kill him without a scratch, but a teary-eyed Riley reveals they were both bitten.
Riley describes their two choices: They can either kill themselves or wait it out and enjoy whatever time they have left together. “We can all be poets and shit and lose our minds together,” Riley says on the verge of a breakdown.
The last of us it doesn’t show what happens next, but it doesn’t really need to. In “Kin”, Ellie told Joel that everyone she’s ever loved has either left her or is dead. We can assume Riley was in the latter category, meaning Ellie had to watch her first friend turn infected. The best case scenario? Ellie ran away from an infected Riley. Worst case? Ellis has previously revealed (in episode 4) that she’s had to hurt someone before. That someone is probably Riley, and it’s a fair bet that she had to kill her first love herself.
Now we also know how Marlene (Merle Dandridge) and the Fireflies found Ellie. Since the mall was a Firefly base, it makes sense that they would visit it in search of Riley. Marlene or her people probably found Ellie alive and captured her immediately to see if she would change.
Riley dies inside The last of us Game?
She is doing. For the most part, The last of us it was faithful to the plot of the original game. But “Left Behind” is almost identical to the DLC. Most of the differences between the two are minor. For example, the game features a toy gun fight between Riley and Ellie, and all the video games in the arcade have different titles. This is more of a licensing change than anything else. Also, the DLC shows how Ellie was able to move and take care of Joel. Talking about…
Is Joel dying? The last of us Episode 7?
Don’t worry, Pascal Pals. Fungus Daddy is still alive, though not exactly well. The end of episode 7 returns to the present timeline. Ellie manages to find a needle and thread in the house and uses them to sew up Joel’s wound. He will live to see another day.
