With an episode title like “Endure and Survive,” The Last of Us season 1 episode 5 is just asking for trouble. Aside from delving into brothers Henry and Sam’s situation, this episode features one heck of a climax. So let’s discuss all the major differences between the HBO show The Last of Us episode 5 and the video game.
Among the Major Differences Between The Last of Us Show Episode 5 and the Game, It Dials One Game Scene Up to 11
There are several differences this time around between episode 5, “Endure and Survive,” and the game, though Henry and Sam’s fates are the same as in The Last of Us Part I. Here are those changes:
- We learn more about Kathleen who, aside from being the current rebel leader, was also primarily responsible for overthrowing FEDRA. In the game, the hunter / rebel leader remains unseen.
- We also see a huge number of people celebrating FEDRA’s demise — in the game, all we see are the hunters.
- Sam is deaf and also has leukemia. Neither of these is the case in the game.
- Henry explains that he informed on Kathleen’s brother to get Sam’s leukemia drugs. In the game, hunters killed his group, with no specific motivation (other than survival).
- Henry saw Joel and Ellie being pursued by the rebels. That’s never mentioned in the game.
- Instead of just bumping into Joel and Ellie, Henry and Sam actively seek the pair out, offering them a way out of the city if they help them escape.
- Joel, Ellie, Henry, and Sam do head underground. But unlike in the game, they don’t encounter any infected down there. It’s stated that FEDRA cleared out the tunnels.
- Joel gets a sniper rifle, but he offers the sniper, an older man, a chance to surrender. He goes for his gun and Joel shoots him. In the game, the hunter with the rifle jumps Joel when he enters the room and tries to stab him.
- Instead of sniping the rebels / hunters until they’re all dead, as in the game, Ellie, Sam, and Henry are overwhelmed by the hunters.
- Henry attempts to surrender, which doesn’t happen in the game.
- The infected do show up, as they do in The Last of Us Part I. But they attack the rebels as well, whereas in the game they only arrive when they’re dead. Apart from the Left Behind chapter/DLC, human enemies and infected enemies never interact in the first game.
- There’s an absolutely massive horde of infected, compared to the handful of enemies that turn up in the game. Also, the game enemies just rush in, while the show’s infected break through from underground.
- A bloater is amongst the horde. In the game, you don’t encounter a bloater while Henry and Sam are with you.
- One of the clickers is a child. In the game, all the clickers are adults. In fact, apart from Sam, all the “regular” infected are adults too.
- In the game, Joel defeats the infected. Among the pronounced differences between episode 5 and The Last of Us the game, in the show, the four run, leaving the horde very much active.
- Sam shows Ellie that he’s infected. In the game, his dialogue implies this, but he never shows her.
- Ellie attempts to use her blood to fight the infection, wiping it on the bite wound. This doesn’t happen in the game. It doesn’t work.
- She attempts to stay awake for Sam but falls asleep. In the game she’s asleep because she’s unaware of his bite mark.
- Joel and Ellie bury Sam and Henry. We don’t see this in the game.
So, What Happens to Kansas City?
“Endure and Survive” ends with Joel and Ellie continuing their journey, though we’re definitely curious as to what happened to Kansas City. Playing the game, we didn’t much care because we didn’t get to see the rest of the Quarantine Zone’s inhabitants.
But thanks to all the backstory the show gave us, we’re much more curious. We already saw the ground beneath the city shifting, so we have the horrible feeling the horde will burst through there as well. Kathleen likely took the city’s best, most well-trained adults with her, so now that she and her forces are gone, there’ll be no one to protect the city.
Things probably won’t end well for Kansas City’s survivors, but with Ellie and Joel moving on, we won’t find out. Well, unless we get that Tales from The Last of Us spinoff we’ve been craving.
That does it for all the differences between The Last of Us episode 5, “Endure and Survive,” and the original game. Stick with The Escapist for the differences found in each episode!
