Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode seven. Every few episodes, HBO’s The Last of Us pauses the current-day narrative to give the characters more history. Flashbacks would not have worked for the linear Naughty Dog video game on which the show is based—but with regards to what happened to Riley in The Last of Us, her story is fleshed out in The Last of Us prequel DLC (downloadable content), The Last of Us: Left Behind.
For the uninitiated, The Last of Us is set 20 years after a devastating pandemic that wiped out most of humankind. The disease, a parasitic fungus known as Cordyceps, quickly overtakes the host’s body and mind. Horribly mutated and aggressive, they become what’s known as “the infected”. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the US and depend on each other for survival. Ellie, born after the pandemic, knows no other world—and what happens between her and Riley in episode seven is a big influence on her.
What happens to Riley in The Last of Us?
What happens to Riley in The Last of Us? Sadly, Ellie and Riley (Storm Reid) get attacked by Infected while exploring the ruins outside the Boston QZ (quarantine zone). They meet while at a FEDRA-operated military school; Riley’s parents have both died as have Ellie’s. Adventurous and daring; they explore an abandoned mall outside the QZ and other pre-apocalypse relics like arcades.
Riley, Ellie, The Last of Us. Courtesy of HBO Max
While exploring the world outside the QZ, Riley and Ellie enjoy arcade games like Mortal Kombat and eventually share a kiss in a decrepit Halloween store, as in the DLC which was released in 2014. Riley tells Ellie she’s joined the Fireflies—a group of resistance fighters—and she’s been assigned another QZ by Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies.
As in the game, they dance around to Etta James’ “I Got You Babe”. A runner awakens and two are attacked. Ellie discovers she’s been bitten, then Riley reveals her bite. “The way I see it, we got two options,” Riley takes out her gun. “Option one. We take the easy way out. It’s quick and painless. I’m not a fan of option one,” she puts the gun down. “Two. We fight.” Ellie responds: “Fight for what? We’re gonna turn into one of those things.”
In a speech almost word for word from the game, Riley says: “There’s a million ways we should’ve died before today. And a million ways we can die before tomorrow. But we fight… for every second we get to spend with each other. Whether it’s two minutes. Or two days. We don’t give that up… I don’t want to give that up. My vote. Let’s just wait it out. You know, we can…be all poetic and just lose our minds together.” As Bloody Disgusting notes, it’s a really faithful adaptation of the Left Behind DLC.
Does Riley die in The Last of Us?
Does Riley die in The Last of Us? In the show, we don’t see what happens to Riley, but we assume she quickly succumbs to the infection as all people who get bitten. We cut back to Ellie who’s nursing Joel after he got stabbed in the stomach in episode six. Ellie, of course, is immune to infection—it’s the whole reason Joel is smuggling her across the country to doctors who may be able to find a cure. You can still see evidence of the bite on her forearm, but it hasn’t spread as it does in others.
There’s not much of an explanation as to how or why Ellie is immune, but one fan theory points to Ellie’s mother Anna and the cause of her death. In “The Note from Mom” artifact that you collect in the video game while wandering the wilds as Ellie, Anna reveals she’s dying. Many fans believe Anna was bitten merely hours before Ellie’s birth and the infection that ultimately takes Anna grants her daughter immunity. The note reads:
“Ellie, I’m going to share a secret with you, I’m not a big fan of kids and I hate babies. And yet… I’m staring at you and I’m just awestruck. You’re not even a day old and holding you is the most incredible thing I’ve done in my life—a life that is about to get cut a little short. Marlene will look after you.
Riley, Ellie, The Last of Us. Courtesy of HBO Max
She continues: “There’s no one in this world I trust more than her. When the time comes, she’ll tell you all about me. Don’t give her too much of a hard time. Try not to be as stubborn as me. I’m not going to lie, this is a pretty messed up world. It won’t be easy. The thing you always have to remember is that life is worth living! Find your purpose and fight for it. I see so much strength in you. I know you’ll turn out to be the woman you’re meant to be. Forever… your loving mother, Anna. Make me proud, Ellie!”
This fan theory seems unlikely, however, given that Ellie would’ve been full-term by the time Anna was infected, which doesn’t give enough time for immunity to be passed down to a newborn. A far more likely explanation is quite simply that Ellie was born immune. Given the outbreak was less than two decades prior to her birth, this likely means Ellie is an exceedingly rare person with natural immunity and a mutation that allows her to sidestep infection.
There may be others out there like her, but given how treacherous the post-apocalyptic world is, they may have died in a myriad of other ways, including violent attacks or just lacking basic medical care. Whether HBO’s show will delve more into the how or why of Ellie’s immunity remains to be seen. You’ll have to watch to find out!
The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes are released Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. Here’s how to watch it for free
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