Warning: This article contains MAJOR spoilers for The Last of Us episode 8 and The Last of Us video game series.
The following article contains discussions of sexual violence.
HBO’s The Last of Us episode 8 makes a few alterations from the video game. The Last of Us season 1 demonstrates Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann’s commitment to the accuracy of the video game. With one episode left, fans of the video game await the bittersweet ending. While The Last of Us could still end on a cliffhanger, the likelihood that season 1 will follow the game is pretty high.
The Last of Us episode 8 introduces David, the leader of a commune, who at first seems to want to help Ellie and Joel, but is revealed to have much darker motivations and methods to help the commune survive. While HBO's adaptation has been praised for its faithfulness to the source material, episode 8 does make some changes to The Last Of Us characters and scenarios, including David and the commune.
5 David Preaches To His Commune
In The Last of Us game, where the player must shoot zombies, one of the scariest villains is actually a man. In the game, David is a creepy man who Ellie must save herself from, but he gets considerably more character development in the series. Instead of meeting David with Ellie, The Last of Us episode 8 opens with David preaching to his commune. From the scene, it is clear that David is in charge of the community and that the group has religious beliefs.
It's shown that the commune is low on resources and a mother and young girl are seen grieving a recent death. David tells them that they will bury their loved one in the spring. Those who have played The Last of Us would instantly know that David’s group resorts to cannibalism, but those who have only watched the show may not realize that the young girl’s father won’t be buried but eaten later in the episode. The opening scene doesn’t reveal that David is a cannibal but shows him as a man who is trying to keep his community together. This adds to David’s character depth and may even trick the audience into thinking David is sincere.
4 David & His Commune Eat One Of Their Own
In The Last of Us video game, the player doesn’t see much of David’s commune. In The Last of Us episode 8, the commune is shown eating human meat. When David and James bring back Ellie’s deer, they find that the community has already made a stew with “venison.” However, as some viewers may have predicted, the “venison” is the young girl’s father. This makes it even more horrifying to watch the commune gobble up their food, especially the young girl and her mother. David, who knows who is in his bowl, eats his food calmly, which just makes him even creepier.
The cannibalism is revealed in The Last of Us video game when Ellie wakes up in David’s cage. She sees men cutting up a body which causes Ellie to worry that she may end up the same. This doesn’t stop her from standing up for herself and sticking to her guns when David tries to get her to join his commune. In The Last of Us series, cannibalism isn’t confirmed until Ellie sees a torn-off ear in the room later in the day. However, there are plenty of clues in the subtext to indicate that David and his group are cannibals.
3 David Has A Teacher Backstory In TLOU Episode 8
In addition to giving David more screen time, The Last of Us episode 8 gives David a backstory as a teacher. As creepy as he is, David’s backstory as a teacher tracks with his current position as a preacher/community leader. While one would hope that David’s teacher background would make him a more empathetic person, it could also point to David’s obsession with Ellie. As a teacher, David would’ve taught young girls, possibly around Ellie’s age. He could’ve had inappropriate relationships with his students, posing as a non-threatening adult figure that the kids could come to as he presents himself to Ellie.
Ellie is understandably creeped out by David and confronts him about eating people. David tries to convince her that they only ate people because they didn’t have any other choice. However, the three bodies that Joel finds, seem to show otherwise. The further development of David’s character makes the cannibalism reveal more frightening, especially because not everyone in the commune is aware that they are eating people.
2 David Tells Ellie She Has A Violent Heart
When David tries to get Ellie to join him, he tells her that she reminds him of himself. To her horror, he says "You have a violent heart. I should know. I've always had a violent heart." While the scene in The Last of Us video game is very similar, he never tells her she has a violent heart. This comment foreshadows Ellie's violent turn in The Last of Us part 2 where she begins to seek revenge in brutal ways. Not only does this comment set up The Last of Us part 2, but it also foreshadows how Ellie brutally murders David at the end of The Last of Us episode 8.
Before this point in the HBO series, Ellie hasn't killed someone in such a horrific way on screen. The Last of Us episode 7 hints that Ellie had to kill Riley after she became Infected, but Ellie's butchering of David shows a side of her that David saw. While David may be correct about Ellie's violent tendencies, at this point in the series, Ellie isn't acting anything like David. However, this "violent heart" comment will only become more haunting as the series continues to adapt The Last of Us video game franchise.
1 Joel Doesn’t See Ellie Murder David
While The Last of Us episode 8 didn't shy away from depicting Ellie's brutal murder of David, the series changes the scene where Joel finds and comforts her. In the video game, he finds her after witnessing her murder David. He comforts her as the building burns around them. In episode 8, Joel finds her outside the building in the snow. She is traumatized, and he comforts her as in the video game. Pedro Pascal's Joel brings enormous emotional depth to this scene as he calls her "baby girl" for the first time in the series.
At the end of The Last of Us episode 8, Joel and Ellie are reunited, but their worlds will never be the same. The Last of Us episode 9 will likely show how killing David affected Ellie, but it will also conclude The Last of Us season 1. The controversial video game ending may be next for The Last of Us series, but audiences will have to wait until the finale to see the conclusion of Joel and Ellie's journey to the Fireflies base.