The evolution of Cordyceps in The Last of Us has presented many challenges to the survivors of the fungus-infested world, but one problem already has a very obvious solution that nobody has mentioned. The Last of Us Season 2 recently concluded with a massive cliffhanger, as Ellie (Bella Ramsey) finally tracked down Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) on her mission for revenge for Joel’s (Pedro Pascal) murder, but Abby turned the tables. While there are many twisted human survivors to handle, The Last of Us also hasn’t forgotten its seemingly-unbeatable fungal villain.
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The Last of Us Season 2 examined the father-daughter relationship between Joel and Ellie in the weeks after Ellie works out that Joel had been lying to her about what happened in Salt Lake City in Season 1’s finale. Ellie’s immunity to Cordyceps made it possible for a Firefly doctor to create a cure from her brain tissue, but this would have killed her. Joel saved her by killing almost all the Fireflies, including the doctor, Abby’s father, which apparently made it impossible for a cure to now be made – but this isn’t the case.
The Last of Us has put a lot of stock in Ellie being the only immune individual, and the only candidate to be the source of a possible cure for the Cordyceps infection. However, the way in which Ellie became immune means that any newborn baby could also become immune, should the mother be infected during labor. Of course, this would be truly tragic in another sense, as it would be a very controversial choice to have new mothers be killed in order to immunize their babies, but this would be a clever and surefire way to ensure herd immunity.
Ellie’s birth was shown in the opening moments of The Last of Us Season 1’s finale, “Look for the Light.” In the sequence, Anna (Ashley Johnson – who portrayed Ellie in the video game) was bitten by an infected while giving birth, and cut the umbilical cord after the bite. This meant that Cordyceps had been growing in Ellie’s body from birth, which made her insusceptible to new infection. This surely wasn’t a one-off event, so there must be other individuals out there who are also immune, and this creates a way for new individuals to be immunized, too.
Of course, we’re not condoning the murder of mothers simply to immunize the population from the Cordyceps infection – but Ellie is living proof that it works. Since Dina (Isabela Merced) is pregnant in The Last of Us Season 2, it’s possible, however tragic it would be, that she could be bitten while in labor, delivering a new immune resident of Jackson. In the video game, Dina gives birth to a baby boy whom she names Jesse Jr. after his deceased father, but the futures of Ellie, Dina, and the baby might not be so clear-cut in the live-action HBO adaptation.
Do you think Joel should have left the Fireflies to make a cure in The Last of Us Season 1? Let us know in the comments!
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Image courtesy of Netflix
