Comparison of TV shows and games

The following articles include Destroyer For the final episode of American Season 2, Episode 5.

Ellie's descendants who are trapped in violence do begin in the final episode of the week. Chapter 5 of the show saw her brutal attack on Nora in the spore-infected basement of a WLF hospital base. This is one of the most well-known scenes of the game, and it is still just as painful in the HBO adaptation.

The other three key sequences from the original game also work for this episode. Here we compare them to the original source material, analyzing what changes have occurred and what remains the same. You can see two versions in the video above, or read below for our written instructions.

Seattle Day 2

During the game and the show, Dina listens on WLF radio to determine the group's location and patrol mode. In the game, we see Dina explaining it all to Ellie – partly because it helps to determine goals for the upcoming levels. In the show, Dina takes notes, but there is no similar conversation about the meaning of WLF code.

Elsewhere in the theater, Ellie explores the auditorium and finds guitar. This is one of the most memorable scenes in the game – Ellie sits in the front row and starts playing. In the show, Ellie sits on a stool on the stage. Both versions play the opening ceremony of Pearl Jam's future era, although Ellie in the game sings the first two lines – Show Ellie just sings.

In the game, I saw Ellie heading to Hillcrest on the 2nd day. That part of the game was almost completely cut from the show – no dogs were hiding in overgrown houses – but we did get the version of the Six Fresco, which can be seen shortly after Ellie left the theater. In the game, “Her Love” doodles behind the truck. In the show, similar images were drawn on the wall. WLF left a serum of death beneath it, as some kind of ironic gesture.

Stalker

Later in the episode, Ellie and Dina encounter a nervous encounter with a bunch of stalkers. Although Ellie does encounter a stalker on Day 2 of the game, this scene is not a direct translation of that moment. First, Dina is now with Ellie – in the game, Dina stays in the cinema. Locations have also changed; Ellie is attacked in an office building in the game, and the show's stalker showdown takes place in a warehouse.

More importantly, though, the show’s stalkers behaved very differently than their game counterparts. In the game, stalkers are cautious, almost predators, so this encounter is a nervous cat game when you try to discover where they are hidden. While the show suggests that stalkers are smarter than animalistic runners, in this scene, there is little evidence. The stalkers almost just run around Ellie and Dina and try to break into the duo's cage.

Another change is that Jesse reintroduces this part of the story. In the game, Jesse comes out of the shadows and catches Ellie onto the WLF Patrol. On the show, Jesse is eager to help Ellie and Dina escape the stalkers.

vein

Although things that many players will remember in the event version of the show have been removed, the group's encounter with Seraphite will largely evoke the game's memory. The forest and leaves are very similar to the environment in Part 2, and the order in which the hanged person is killed by his vein kidnapper is very close to the events of the game.

The key difference here is the people present. In the game, Ellie explores the field alone, and on the show, she is accompanied by Dina and Jesse. This directly affects the critical moment when veins fire bows and arrows. In the game, the arrow hits Ellie and she is forced to tighten it from her shoulder. On the show, Dina is shot and the arrow hits her in the leg. This forces the team to move on and bring Dina to safety.

St. Mary's Hospital

The big climax of this episode takes place at St. Mary's Hospital. This is the most similar sequence to a video game – Nora's last few minutes are nearing 1:1 entertainment. Like the game, Ellie finds Nora in the WLF-occupied hospital and grabs her by the gun, demanding to know where Abby is. Their exchange ended up in Nora saying that Joel got what he deserved, and her wording on the show was very similar to the game's script. Then, she ran for it, throwing a liquid container at Ellie, shocking her temporarily. The last detail is slightly different from the game, where Nora simply throws a steel tray that catches Ellie off guard for a second.

Chasing through the hospital is similar to the chase in the game, although especially shorter and fewer games. Nora yelled at her allies, shooting from the balcony, replicating the gunshots around Ellie as you push her into the game.

The chase finally ends with the same spore corridor bathed in the red lights we see in the game. Nora collapses and breathes in the deadly spores, eventually realizing who Ellie is. She says in two versions of the story: “You are her.” In the show, Ellie then performs a swing with a metal pipe, cutting it into black. In the game, Nora's death is even more violent – the camera lingers on Ellie's twisted face, as she hits Nora three times. While this shot wasn't used for the show, HBO would have made some reproduction on Ellie's face holding Nora in the muzzle a minute ago. It's not as powerful as the footage of the game, but you can see where the inspiration comes from.

For more information on The Last Us, check out our spoiler-free season reviews and a spoiler-filled review for episode 5.

Matt Purslow is an advanced feature editor for IGN.