Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show I’m your host Paul and this video we’re breaking down the episode 7 trailer for The Last of Us. We’re finally getting the Riley episode and throughout this video we’re gonna be breaking down the game similarities and also giving our thoughts on where we’re gonna be going.
Full spoilers ahead for what happens to Riley but…if you’ve watched any scene where Ellie is talking about her friend then you probably already know. Anyway, I don’t wanna waste anymore of your time so let’s play that trailer.
What is Left Behind in The Last of Us?
Ok so this entire episode seems like it’s gonna be based heavily on the Left Behind DLC that was put out after the game’s release. This took place in the timeline right after Joel fell off the horse and we followed Ellie as she scrounged for supplies in an abandoned mall during the winter. On the flip side of this we also got a flashback of her last night with Riley in which the pair went to an abandoned mall which is where they had an impromptu date. It ended in tragedy with the infected swarming them which is when the pair got bit.
On the flip side of this Ellie had to fight against the infected in the mall and some hunters that had been sent out looking for them.
I played the recent remake and was hoping that they’d put this in the game when it happened but unfortunately you had to select it from the main menu which kinda sucked.
Anyway, I think we are clearly getting these two timelines in the episode as we start off with a shot of Ellie going to grab a doorknob. You can catch that she’s wearing a purple coat, and this is the same one that Maria gave to her in episode 6. So, we’re definitely getting the timeline jump and may be seeing Ellie search for supplies as she tries to fix up Joel.
Now it looks like we’re getting a time jump to much earlier in the timeline than where we started with Left Behind. We catch Ellie running circuits and this is likely for the Fedra academy that she trained with back in Boston. This location appeared in the comic and in that we also had Ellies Walkman which she appears to be wearing here.
A girl grabs this off her and she says that she’s not here anymore. This is referring to Riley who ended up leaving the academy to become a firefly.
We actually learn about what happened in the game with this when Riley is taking her through the city.
Now Riley not being there to protect Ellie has made her a bit of an easy target and even though she’s fighting back she clearly misses her friend. This is definitely foreshadowing her relationship with Joel and how she sorts of needs someone in her life who can help fight he battles because others will pick on her.
She hits the girl and from here we get taken to a Fedra officers’ room where she’s getting a bollocking for not hitting the thumbs up button and liking the video. Her hoodie looks terrible too, but she’d look way better in our Last of Us Inspired Fun Guy T-shirt which is available at Zero edition…the links in the description and the officer says that they are the only thing holding this altogether.
We’ve seen with Kathleen that that’s kind of the case too. For as bad as Fedra is they at least have rules and laws in place whereas the rebels that oust them don’t. This is why Kathleen was executing people without trials, killing kids and just being a bad Dinner Lady. I dunno what she worked as, just got Dinner Lady vibes off her. No, I’m not slagging off dinner ladies, if anything I’m saying they’re nice…too nice.
Anyway, it’s theory time…theory time….
So maybe Kathleen hated kids because she used to be a dinner lady…
So, I think this episode is very much going to be the clashing of ideologies as Ellie is in the Fedra camp currently whereas Riley is a Firefly. It’s very much this story about two people being on opposite sides of the track that end up coming together.
That night we catch Riley sneaking into Ellie’s room which is pulled directly from the game.
She woke Ellie up by pretending to bite her and this very much foreshadowed their fate in which they both got bit. Now Ellie clearly doesn’t take kindly to being woken up like this and she pulls her knife out on her. Now from this they head through the city which is what they did in the game.
They jump across rooftops and end up going to the mall.
How did Ellie get bitten in The Last of Us?
In the game you ended up dropping down into it and you found a campsite for a recently deceased hermit called Winston. Ellie and Riley had known him, and they ended up searching through his stuff which is where they found the pun book. You learn that Riley actually gave Ellie it and beyond just being filled with great jokes she loved it because it was the last thing Riley owned.
Ellie promises to show her the four wonders of the mall and this includes starting up the merry-go-round. This was a big moment in the game in which the pair rode around on it and Riley wooed Ellie with puns.
We also see them holding hands, but this quickly devolves when Ellie comes across pipe bombs on a shelf. It seems like she only finds out she is a firefly here whereas Riley told her early on in the DLC after showing her firefly pendant.
Now Ellie storms out saying that none of this was even about her and it’s possible that in the show that Riley is trying to recruit Ellie to join them. Ellie would obviously be annoyed when she thinks this is her getting closer to Riley only to learn the truth. Now she clearly ends up going back as we see other scenes involving the infected. There’s such a cool shot of one that’s grown into the wall waking up and these used to litter the game. Though some infected would go onto become Clickers there were many that would just be instructed to go lie down somewhere and they’d then grow into the wall and out from there.
This is clearly the case with this one, but he’s woken up to go and get the two girls.
We then see a location that’s pulled directly from the game and that is the Halloween store.
In the DLC you travelled into the mall and went into a shop lined with masks which you tried on. This included a clown one which we can see the display of to the left. No that’s not a mirror mate, you’re just a big clown…haha got you, ey we have a laugh at the channel don’t me.
I think it’s because we’re actually such good mates and can joke about this stuff you and me.
Anyway, it looks like they’re fighting the infected here which is a change up from the game. Originally you and Riley went to clothes shop for the final bit which is where you had a water pistol fight. Riley then put on Etta James, I Got You Babe and you danced away before the pair kissed. Originally the fireflies were shipping Riley off to another QZ, but she promised to stay in Boston to be with Ellie.
The infected then swarmed the area and cut this love story short which led to a big chase scene.
In the end the pair were bit, and they promised to lose their minds together which led to Riley’s death.
Looks like it’s following that basic structure and I’m guessing that this is gonna be used as a sort of dark mirror to the Bill and Frank episode. That entry had two people finding love in the apocalypse and they managed to live a long life together. This on the other hand is a relationship being cut short and it’s very much gonna be a tragic origin story for Ellie that kind of explains how she is.
The first person she got attached to ended up dying and thus you can see why in the present she’s so desperate to hold onto Joel.
Really adds a lot to the series I think and hopefully I’ll see you back on Sunday night with our big breakdown. I keep trying to keep things less than half an hour long but there’s just so much in these entries that it’s actually difficult to do it.
Anyway, that’s your lot and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the trailer.
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If you want something else to watch, then make sure you check out our breakdown of perfect scene in Spider-Man Homecoming. We break down the entire thing so it’s definitely worth checking out if you wanna know more.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll see you next time. Take care, Peace.
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