The Last of Us Creator Breaks Down Daughter's Depeche Mode Cover

By Cameron Bonomolo

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode 6.] An '80s song means trouble on The Last of Us, and there was trouble in Sunday's "Kin." After Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) track down Joel's radio-silent brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) in Wyoming's Jackson city, they learn they must continue south to find the Firefly facility that needs Ellie's blood to develop a cure for the Cordyceps infection. Joel, fearing he's going to fail and get the girl killed like his daughter, begs Tommy to escort Ellie to the university in Colorado, which Ellie overhears. 

"If you're going to ditch me, ditch me," Ellie tells Joel, adding: "What are you so afraid of? I'm not her, you know." Joel replies, "You're right. You're not my daughter, and I'm sure as hell not your dad." But when it comes time to go their separate ways, Joel and Ellie decide to stay together — they're kin.

At the University of Eastern Colorado, Joel and Ellie find the campus abandoned except for a pack of raiders (and wild monkeys). They also find a map indicating the Fireflies faction packed up and relocated to Saint Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

An altercation ensues, and Joel is stabbed in the gut by a raider he manages to kill. Joel and Ellie escape on horseback, but he seemingly succumbs to his wounds and collapses into the snow, unresponsive. "Joel, you gotta get up. I can't f—ing do this without you," Ellie cries. "I don't know where the f— I'm going, what the f— I'm gonna do. Joel, please!"

What Is the Song at the End of The Last of Us Episode 6?

The song that plays at the end of The Last of Us episode 6 is a slower rendition of "Never Let Me Down Again" by Depeche Mode, which played at the end of episode 1 as Joel, Ellie, and Tess (Anna Torv) escaped the Boston QZ. "I'm taking a ride with my best friend / I hope he never lets me down again / He knows where he's taking me / Taking me where I want to be / I'm taking a ride with my best friend." 

On HBO Max's official The Last of Us podcast, episode writer and series co-creator Craig Mazin revealed the Depeche Mode cover was performed by his 18-year-old daughter, artist Jessica Mazin. At the time of publishing, the haunting rendition of "Never Let Me Down Again" has not yet been uploaded to Mazin's Spotify page or YouTube channel. (On Twitter, Mazin confirmed the song will eventually be available as part of The Last of Us original soundtrack album.)

Depeche Mode Cover on The Last of Us, Explained

"I had this idea that, at the end of this episode, when Ellie is looking down at Joel, and this is the person — she was taking a ride with him, and he has let her down, even though it's 'never let me down again.' This is how it comes around," Mazin explained. "I wanted to re-present that song, but in this point of view of just sadness and loss. And I also wanted to hear a female voice singing it to echo Ellie. You can spend months reaching out to various people of all levels of fame trying to do it, but the problem I had was that there was this kid down the hall from me in my house who I knew could crush it. So I sent her the song and I said, 'Jessie, can you do a cover of this that is haunting and slow and about a daughter mourning the loss of her father? Just have that in your mind as you do it.'"

Mazin continued: "The version that we put together for the end, I think, it feels like an echo of Ellie. And to the extent that Jessie is my daughter, and I think of Bella as kind of an adopted daughter, it's this gorgeous moment for me personally where it's like my two daughters are together in this moment at the end of the episode."

New episodes of The Last of Us premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. Follow for more The Last of Us on ComicBook.

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