Could Ellie infect the others in The Last of Us?
The apocalyptic storyline in The Last of Us Episode VIII raises the question of Ellie's immunity, specifically whether she can infect others.
warning! spoilers for The Last of Us Episode 8 and the original games.
The Last of Us, Episode VIII contains one key scene that raises the question of whether Ellie can infect other people. Since the first episode of The Last of Us, it's been apparent that Ellie has some kind of immunity to a Cordyceps infection. It was first bitten about three weeks before the first episode, as shown in The Last of Us Episode 7, before being bitten again in The Last of Us Episode 2 by a Clicker.
None of the bites affected her in the same way the infection was shown to wipe out humanity in The Last of Us. Given the unclear nature of her immunity, David and Ellie's story in The Last of Us Episode VIII raises the interesting question of whether Ellie can infect others. From David's cannibal nature and Ellie's almost "tainted" cannibalism to Ellie physically biting David at some point in The Last of Us Episode 8, the concept of Ellie potentially infecting other people requires an explanation.
While the result of what will happen from a group of people eating Ellie - as was threatened in The Last of Us Episode VIII - is unclear, there are some hints from The Last of Us Part II about Ellie's immunity and how it works. During the second game and even the first, players can read several journal entries that provide a wealth of background context for both the characters and the world of The Last of Us. In The Last of Us Part II, an entry in Elise's journal from when she was 16 years old and living in Jackson can be read and strongly indicates that she cannot infect others.
This journal entry shows Ellie's first kiss with her ex-boyfriend, Kat. The entry explains that Kat kissed Ellie, after which she panicked due to the fear that she would be infected. Since bites are the most common way to spread cordyceps, Ellie feared her saliva would be transmitted to the cat through a kiss. However, the journal entry also reveals that Ellie watched Cat closely after that, and the latter did not convert. From this interesting, if limited, information, it can be assumed that Ellie could not infect others either through a bite like she gave David or the terrifying idea of David and his crew eating Ellie.
How accurately does Eli's immunity work in The Last of Us?
All of this also highlights the unclear nature of Ellie's immunity in The Last of Us. The show itself has yet to explain how Ellie's immunity works, however previous elements from The Last of Us Episode I and the original game could offer some semblance of an answer. Ellie's bite marks are among these, as she appears in The Last of Us still to have Cordyceps under her skin, meaning that while Ellie had Cordyceps, the infection simply didn't affect her in the same way it did the rest. for mankind.
The Cordyceps is still in Ellie's system, it just isn't taking over her brain and turning her into the typical infected that has been featured in The Last of Us so far. Ellie isn't specifically immune to the cordyceps fungus in The Last of Us, as her body doesn't kill the fungus upon entering it - something made clear by an audio log that can be found in the last level of The Last of Us. It is Ellie's body condition that causes Cordyceps to mutate into a non-lethal strain that does not cause the violent, disease-spreading hosts seen in The Last of Us.
The Last of Us comes out every Sunday on HBO.
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