HBO’s The Last of Us Makes Huge Change to the Infected

HBO’s The Last of Us has revealed another major change to how the infected operate. As with any adaptation, things have to be changed whether it be because of changes to the medium or because it introduces a more interesting ripple for a different audience. The first episode of the series was incredibly faithful, even with some tweaks and additions, but in the lead-up to the show’s release, the showrunners made it clear that it was making some slightly divisive changes. For instance, it was decided that there would be no spores in the show, something that is a big part of The Last of Us games. There are a number of reasons for this, but ultimately, they’ve been replaced with a new and disgusting element.

In the second episode of The Last of Us, Ellie notes that a horde of infected appear to be connected in some way. Tess notes that they’re essentially part of a hivemind and that there is living cordyceps fungus all over the place that act as tripwires. If you step on it or alert it, it sends a signal to the infected in the immediate area and they come running. It’s not long before we get to see this in action via another big change in the second episode. During the scene where Tess, Joel, and Ellie are at the State House discussing their next move, a dead body gets off the ground and begins moving toward them. Joel shoots it pretty quickly, but this triggers that hivemind response. Instead of FEDRA breaching the State House like in the game, a huge horde of infected storms the building. 

The Last of Us airs every Sunday night at 9PM ET on HBO. What do you think of this change to the infected? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder. 

For more Last of Us content, check out ComicBook and Entertainment Tonight’s new podcast: The Last of Pods. The podcast will include breakdowns of each episode, interviews with special guests from the show, and more. The podcast will release after every episode of the show on Sunday nights.