HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us quickly established itself as a critical and commercial behemoth, lauded for its often startling faithfulness to the beloved Naughty Dog video game source material. The core emotional journey of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), the brutal depiction of its post-apocalyptic world, and many iconic sequences were translated to live-action with remarkable care. However, co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann didn’t hesitate to make significant changes where they felt the narrative or the television medium demanded it. Perhaps the most discussed change in Season 1 was the fundamental reimagining of how the Cordyceps infection spreads, in which a terrifying network of interconnected fungal tendrils replaced the game’s deadly clouds of airborne spores. The premiere of The Last of Us Season 2 demonstrates that this adaptation-specific element is evolving into a major, insidious threat that promises to reshape the future of the series and its characters in ways game players never saw coming.
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WARNING: Spoilers below for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 1
The decision to swap spores for tendrils in Season 1 created a unique sense of interconnected dread. Instead of characters needing gas masks for specific zones, the danger became potentially omnipresent, as stepping on a tendril in one spot could alert Infected yards away. This change manifested in tense sequences where characters navigated around the pulsing, vein-like growths snaking across floors and walls. While impactful, it largely served as a different method of delivering the familiar Infected threat.
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However, the final moments of the Season 2 premiere, elevate the tendrils from a mere transmission vector to a deeply rooted, internal danger for the sanctuary of Jackson. As the episode concludes, the camera descends beneath the seemingly safe community, revealing Cordyceps tendrils actively growing and spreading within the settlement’s pipe systems, a direct consequence of the community’s efforts to thrive.
This chilling reveal is explicitly linked to Jackson’s progress over the five-year time jump. The community is expanding, building new homes, and repairing infrastructure. These actions are necessary for survival and growth but also disturb the dormant threat beneath their feet. As Craig Mazin revealed on The Last of Us‘ official podcast, this was a deliberate thematic choice.
“What we liked about this is that it was the progress that caused the problem,” Mazin explains. “That these pipes, undergrounded, that have been there dormant for five years, that Cordyceps had gotten into. Nobody is touching them, nobody knows it’s there. But when you are humans and you want to expand, you cannot expand without an expense that nature has to pay. And now we see it. If you don’t fix those houses, if you don’t break those pipes, if you don’t pull out the weeds, no problem. But they have, and they don’t realize it yet.”
Neil Druckmann succinctly added the underlying theme: “Actions have consequences.”
This development transforms the tendrils into a catastrophic vulnerability, seeded by the very actions meant to secure Jackson’s future.
The Tendril of The Last of Us Season 2 Underline Jackson’s False Sense of Security
This internal fungal infiltration marks a significant departure from how threats manifest in Jackson in The Last of Us Part II video game. In the source material, Jackson represents a hard-won sanctuary, relatively secure within its formidable walls. While patrols deal with Infected and occasional hostile survivors outside the perimeter, the primary dangers are external human conflicts. The game focuses on the community’s internal social dynamics, resource management, and the emotional fallout of Joel’s actions. Still, it doesn’t depict the Cordyceps fungus actively breaching the settlement’s core infrastructure in a pervasive manner. The threat of the Cordyceps is kept at bay by vigilance and strong defenses.
The introduction of tendrils within Jackson’s pipe system fundamentally alters this dynamic for the HBO series. It shatters the illusion of absolute safety within the walls, creating a constant, low-level hum of suspense. This development validates and expands upon the showrunners’ initial decision to implement the tendril system. It proves the change wasn’t arbitrary but part of a longer narrative game plan, allowing them to craft unique threats and horror sequences specific to the television adaptation.
An outbreak within Jackson would be a devastating scenario that could help Season 2 of The Last of Us keep longtime fans of the games engaged. While Ellie and Joel deal with the arrival of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), the potential tragedy teased by the tendrils could evolve in a parallel storyline, focused on Tommy (Gabriel Luna) fighting to save Jackson from destruction. That would ensure even familiar locations from the game can feel fresh, dangerous, and unpredictable for viewers.
New episodes of The Last of Us Season 2 hit Max and HBO every Sunday.
Is Jackson in danger of being overwhelmed with Infected in Season 2 of The Last of Us? How did you like these changes from the games’ canon? Join the discussion in the comments!
