Spoilers for The Last of Us video game story below!Though expected to be a faithful adaptation, game actor Troy Baker teases The Last of Us episode three will change fans' expectations. Based on the 2013 PlayStation 3 video game of the same name, the HBO adaptation centers on the relationship between weathered survivor Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) and 14-year-old orphan Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Following a deal gone wrong, Joel and his smuggling partner Tess (Anna Torv) are tasked with escorting Ellie across a zombie-infested United States to the militant revolutionary faction known as the Fireflies. Although Joel initially wants nothing to do with his precocious cargo, he soon comes to understand Ellie's significance when he learns of her rare immunity to the fungal infection plaguing the world.
While on the Play Watch Listen podcast with Alanah Pearce, Baker said that audience's expectations will change by The Last of Us episode 3. The actor, who voiced and performance captured Joel in the game, explained that he had watched the show up to episode 5 and praised what he had seen. Baker also stars in the new show as James, a member of violent survivor group. Read what Baker had to say about The Last of Us below:
"I've seen up to episode five and, I can tell you right now, you get to episode three, you're done. You are standing on your desk, "O, Captain! My Captain!" What it sets up in the first two episodes, it introduces you to the world if you have no idea what it is. It takes all of your expectations and just gets rid of them."
How Far Into The Game Will The Last Of Us Episode 3 Go?
The Last of Us HBO co-creators, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, have repeatedly assured fans that the upcoming adaptation will remain faithful to the source material. As such, the show will likely follow many of the same major plot points of the original game, especially regarding the heartbreaking prologue chapter. However, recently released The Last of Us images from HBO have shown that the show has expanded much of the story's first act.
The original acclaimed video game begins Joel and his daughter Sarah on the night of the fungal outbreak. After a brief scene in which Sarah gifts her father a watch, the prologue shifts to terror when Joel, his brother Tommy, and Sarah are forced on the run by infected. HBO's latest released images show that episode 1 will expand the prologue's narrative as Sarah (Nico Parker) can be seen during the day, and will include much of Joel and Tess' dealings in the Boston Quarantine Zone. As a result, episodes 2 and 3 will likely feature Joel, Tess, and Ellie's journey out of the Quarantine Zone and through Boston, possibly concluding shortly after Tess' death. This would coincide with the Prologue and first three chapters of the original game. Per Baker's comments, how the plot points will unfold will likely differ dramatically.
The Last Of Us Show Will Honor & Change The Game At The Same Time
Although Druckmann and Mazin have promised an authentic adaptation of The Last of Us, they have also promised new mind-blowing additions to the show. Story content from the original game will be inserted in the HBO series and new characters and sequences have also been written specifically for the show. With The Last of Us arriving at HBO on January 15, 2023, audiences do not have to wait much longer to see if the show will honor the beloved critically-acclaimed video game.
Source: Play Watch Listen