The Last of Us episode 9: Ellie's immunity revealed by Ashley Johnson
Warning: spoilers ahead for The Last of Us season 1 episode 9.
One of the most highly anticipated moments of the entire The Last of Us TV series was the arrival of the one and only Ashley Johnson as Ellile’s mother in a flashback scene.
As fans of the video game will know, Ashley was the original actor for Ellie in the franchise, starring as the character through voice acting and motion capture, before Bella Ramsey took on the role in the HBO adaptation, leading the cast with Pedro Pascal as Joel.
In the episode 9 finale, the show finally addresses a huge question – how did Ellie become immune to Cordyceps in the first place?
Here’s how it plays out.
How is Ellie immune to Cordyceps?Since the start of The Last of Us, how Ellie became immune to Cordyceps has remained an unanswered question. Until now.
While it was only hinted at in the video game, in the TV show, the truth comes out in the opening moments of episode nine.
In a throwback scene, Ellie’s mother Anna is being chased by an infected while struggling with the agonising pains of labour.
Anna manages to get into a Firefly safehouse and make her way upstairs, but the infected bursts into the room.
In the chaotic fight that ensues, Anna is able to stab the infected to death with the knife that would later be passed onto Ellie.
As Anna realises that she’s given birth to her daughter on the floor, she also spots that she’s been bitten in the leg.
Despite understanding that this means that her life is over, Anna quickly cuts the umbilical cord and soothes her newborn child until Marlene and the other Fireflies finally arrive.
At the sight of Anna’s bite, Marlene is assured that she cut the umbilical cord before she was bitten – which of course, we know isn’t the case.
Therefore, it’s seemingly made clear that the reason Ellie is immune to Cordyceps is because her mother was infected while pregnant, and then possibly transferred antibodies to her through the umbilical cord.
If Anna had been honest to Marlene and told her that she cut the umbilical cord after being bitten, then there’s a chance that Ellie might have been killed as a precaution.
On the other hand, doing so could have also led to an earlier investigation into a cure for the infection, if they realised that Ellie wasn’t turning despite being exposed. The power of ‘what ifs’!
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW.
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