author: Kristian Smoszna
Deep Dive: HBO's The Last of Us vs. The Game - Tidbits, Details, Similarities and Differences
HBO's The Last of Us is filled to the brim with references and easter eggs from the game. Still, there are also differences between the two, which in many ways, however, make sense.
Table of Contents
- Deep Dive: HBO's The Last of Us vs. The Game - Tidbits, Details, Similarities and Differences
- Joel's age and date of birth
- Signs of impeding epidemic
- Movie for Joel
- Joel and Tess' relationship
- Mirror reflection
- Mortal Kombat 2
- Bill and Frank's storyline
Mirror reflection
An interesting theory is that the show is a mirror image of the game. If you look closely, this is indeed the case. When Sarah gives Joel a present, he's seated on the right instead of the left, as depicted in the game. The burning building from the prologue is on the left side of the road, while in the game, it's the opposite.
Even the photo of Joel and Sarah, which is only in the background in the series, has been placed differently. Actress Nico Parker shared a close-up of it on Instagram. The photo is confusingly similar to the one shown in the game, only that, once again, we're dealing with a mirror image.
The theory is not officially confirmed, but evidence is surely not lacking.
Traffic jam
In the series, during the escape, the heroes see a line of cars from a distance trying to get out of the city. They decide to get off the road and drive across the field to their destination. In the game, they're stuck in this traffic jam with others. Then, a driver in front of them gets out of the car trying to hurry the others, and immediately gets attacked by the infected, while the Millers turn around and flee. Then, they enter a side street where an accident happens.
Ellie can't swim
In the second episode, Ellie tells Joel and Tess that she can't swim, so she's not particularly happy about having to cross a flooded hallway. Fortunately, there's not much water there, so she doesn't have to dive, but the fact that such a dialogue even appears in the show is an interesting case.
Why? Ellie also can't swim in the game, at least the first one, so whenever the heroes have to get across some flooded spaces, the girl has to be assisted by Joel, who transports her from place to place. The authors of the TV show apparently decided that such actions would not work well for the drama, so they decided to get rid of them. Nevertheless, they also decided to somehow emphasize that Ellie, just like in the game, can't swim, and that's why a natural discussion about this was featured in the second episode.
The obvious source of the epidemic
In the HBO series, we get an explanation of what can happen and how the cordyceps fungus works. There's no full explanation in the game, we only get an intro with information from TV and radio about the events that came with the epidemic.
However, there's an easter egg in the game, which at the time strongly indicates the source of the plague. To learn this secret, you must reload the game after reaching the checkpoint at the bottom of the stairs in the Millers' house. You can then return to Joel's room, and a picture of an ant will appear on the TV where Sarah was watching the news – a reference to the real fungus that attacks these insects.
