The Last of Us Finally Adds Major Aspect From the Games

The world of The Last of Us isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Those who live in FEDRA quarantine zones have to deal with an evil organization that seeks to grab any semblance of power left for itself. And anyone who goes out on their own runs the risk of coming face-to-face with cannibals or raiders who have no qualms about screwing them over. But the worst threat in The Last of Us is the infected, mindless monsters controlled by the Cordyceps that have one goal: to make everyone like them. Every infected is ruthless, and as The Last of Us games and show prove, they have tricks up their sleeves.

The Last of Us games up the ante by introducing a new infected variant every so often. However, the show takes a different approach, slowly revealing that the Cordyceps infection is evolving and making life harder for the survivors of the apocalypse. Season 2, Episode 5 keeps that trend alive by introducing a major aspect from the games.

HBO Changes a Major Part of The Last of Us‘ Infection

The Cordyceps aren’t very complicated when The Last of Us series kicks off. A woman in Joel’s town is exposed to them and slowly loses her mind before turning her attention to everyone around her. The infected then spend the next twenty years amassing a massive network, including tendrils that can pop up just about anywhere. In that time, the people who got turned early mutated into even more terrifying creatures known as Clickers and Bloaters. The process is pretty similar in the game, but there’s one massive difference: spores take the place of tendrils.

In The Last of Us games, the Cordyceps infection disperses itself using particles in the air. The constant threat of contamination forces everyone to have a gas mask at all times. A video game character wearing a mask every few minutes is a lot different from a big-name actor wearing one on a show, though, so HBO switches things up. The Cordyceps network isn’t a constant threat like spores, but it has drawbacks, such as allowing the infected to group up and do significant damage to settlements like Jackson. Fortunately, the need to debate the two concepts is over because spores are now a part of HBO’s The Last of Us series.

[RELATED – The Last of Us May Have Just Confirmed It’s Sticking Closer to the Games Than We Thought]

The Last of Us Is Having Its Infected Cake and Eating It Too

Early in The Last of Us Season 2, Ellie and Dina come across a Stalker that moves irregularly. It thinks before it attacks, even going as far as to hide from Ellie to get the drop on her. The fight scares the girls, and while they hope it’s an isolated incident, their time in Seattle proves the infection is kicking things up a notch. Season 2, Episode 5 sees Ellie and Dina fight an entire group of intelligent Stalkers, and they’re only able to get away because Jesse shows up to save them. The group can’t catch a break, though, running into a pack of Seraphites who aren’t looking to take prisoners. Ellie leads some of them away, but instead of regrouping with Dina and Jesse, she sets her sights on the hospital where Nora, Abby’s friend, works.

Some kind of incident shuts down a portion of the hospital earlier in the episode, and, of course, Ellie and Nora find themselves there after chasing each other around. Nora gets their first, but when Ellie catches up, her target’s not doing too hot. It turns out the basement of the hospital is full of spores, which don’t bother Ellie at all but cause Nora to begin to lose herself. While the episode doesn’t spend any time after that diving into the threat of the spores because Ellie has business to attend to, with them on the table, the conflict in Seattle has a deadly new wrinkle, one that gamers know good and well.

The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming now on Max.

Are you happy to see the spores in The Last of Us Season 2? How do you think the show will use them moving forward? Let us know in the comments below!