The penultimate episode of the HBO The Last of Us show isn’t for the faint of heart. And like the game, it sees Ellie taking charge while Joel is incapacitated. But there are some aspects of the episode that don’t quite match up with the game. Here are all the differences between the HBO The Last of Us show in episode 8, “When We Are in Need,” and the original video game.
A List of All the Differences Between The Last of Us Show Episode 8 and the Game
The Last of Us episode 8 has a lower body count than the game, but it’s still pretty brutal. “When We Are in Need” follows the game’s storyline pretty closely. And as an added bonus, it features Troy Baker, who played Joel in the game, as flesh-munching survivor James. So, if you’ve played the game, you know more or less how things are going to go. But the following aspects of episode 8, “When We Are in Need,” are different from in The Last of Us the video game:
- We get a look at David’s people, and we learn that the man Joel killed two episodes earlier was called Alec.
- The show omits the famously memed scene where Ellie shoots a rabbit with her bow. We only ever see her using a rifle.
- David sits down with Ellie while James gets medicine, but no infected turn up.
- David is a preacher, using religion to help keep his people together and maintain a hold over them. That’s not the case in the game.
- In the game it’s indicated that some of David’s people are considering overthrowing him. That doesn’t figure into the episode, perhaps because of David’s religious angle.
- One of David’s people discovers Joel, who kills him. In the game, Joel remains hidden till he goes to find Ellie.
- Joel kills fewer people in this episode than in the game. But he still tortures and kills two of David’s people.
- Ellie is captured right after her horse is shot. In the game she successfully escapes the situation and is only caught later.
- Unlike the game, the show confirms that most of David’s people are unaware they’re being fed human flesh.
- David assures Ellie that the food he’s offering her is just venison, but she refuses to eat it. She eats it in the game.
- Ellie stabs David once with a knife, then shortly after kills him with a cleaver. In the game she stabs him multiple times before the final cleaver encounter.
- Ellie starts the restaurant fire by throwing a glowing log. In the game it starts when Ellie and David, fighting, knock some lanterns off a table.
- Joel finds and embraces Ellie outside of the restaurant. In the game this takes place inside, which is a bad idea, what with its being on fire.
Those are all the differences between The Last of Us episode 8, “When We Are in Need,” and the original video game it’s based on.
