Will the Upcoming Big Reveal in HBO's The Last of Us Retcon the Game Completely?
Fans are curious about how an addition of a certain character might turn the plot of the series upside down.
The first season of HBO's The Last of Us is drawing to a close, with just two episodes left to go. Adapted from the popular 2013 video game of the same name, the show has received rave reviews from both viewers and critics alike, proving that it lives up to its original source.
Most of the story arcs have been carefully lifted straight from the game, much to the delight of fans, with little to no changes, but there is one major ace up the writers' sleeve that has yet to be revealed. Warning: spoilers ahead.
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, one of the show's creators, Neil Druckmann (who is also responsible for the original video game and its sequel), talked about how the story can differentiate between the show and the game, pointing out that one of the most interesting ways of doing this was by actually showing Ellie's mother, Anna, on screen, portrayed by none other than Ashley Johnson, the actress who played Ellie's role in the video game.
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Prior to this, Anna was only vaguely referenced in the game through a few audio recordings and notes, as well as the American Dreams comic prequel, which clearly state that she died within a day of giving birth to her daughter.
What makes the situation potentially much, much more interesting is that Anna could still be alive in the show.
Given that the writers have already changed some of the characters' stories (the most notable example being Bill and Frank's radically different fates in the game, the other being the pregnancy of Joel's brother's wife, Maria), she could simply appear at the end of the season, possibly when Joel and Ellie finally reach the Fireflies' hospital in Salt Lake City.
This theory is supported by the fact that Ellie has never seen her mother in her life, so it is unlikely that she would appear in a flashback. On the other hand, this flashback sequence could be related to Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies who discovered Ellie's immunity in the first place, as she knew Anna personally.
Whatever the truth, fans are already excited about this development in Ellie's backstory, not to mention that a cameo from the original actress is always welcome. The final episodes of the show will premiere on March 5 and 12.