The Last of Us: How can Ellie be immune to the fungal infection?

• The new HBO series “The Last of Us” has been appearing weekly since January 16, 2023 and takes us into a post-apocalyptic world.
• In it, young survivor Ellie has a special role to play, as she appears to be immune to the deadly infection caused by fungal spores.
• How can her condition be explained and what does that mean for her and her companion Joel?

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Already in the first episode of “The Last of Us” Ellie’s special condition is revealed, which from now on will be groundbreaking for her and Joel’s further journey. When a FEDRA soldier tries to stop her, Joel and Tess from leaving town in post-apocalyptic Boston, he scans Ellie. It turns out she’s infected but doesn’t appear to be showing any symptoms.

To defuse the ensuing shock situation, Ellie Tess shows her arm injuries. She does appear to have been injured and infected, but since it’s been 3 weeks and she’s still alive and unmorphed, it proves Ellie’s immunity to the fungal plague. But what is the origin of this?

What does Ellie’s immunity mean exactly?

In the world of The Last of Us, the Cordyceps fungus turns anyone affected into an infected, zombie-like mutant within 1-2 days. Without a will of their own, their only instinct is to man-eat and spread the fungal parasite. Ellie seems safe from this fate, however.

Despite the infection, which still scars her and is still in her body, Ellie has never transformed and cannot transmit the fungus to others. This also explains why she is so important to the Fireflies rebel force. With the help of Ellie, they hope to develop a cure for the brain-infecting Cordyceps fungus that has nearly wiped out all of humanity.

To do this, Marlene, Joel and Tess tasked with bringing Ellie to a Firefly research team in Massachusetts. Ellie’s rare condition makes her immensely valuable to the rebel group as well as to human survival. Ellie’s immunity is not finally declared in the Naughty Dogs video game from 2013 either.

How did Ellie become immune?

However, there is a possible explanation based on a fan theory that could even appear in the HBO adaptation of “The Last of Us”. According to this, Ellie’s mother was already infected with the fungus when she was pregnant, so that Ellie was already exposed to it as a fetus. That may have given her immunity.

Because later, after being bitten by an infected, she seems unaffected and shows no signs of transformation. The appearance of Ellie’s mother was also teased in a “The Last of Us” trailer. So a scene in the later episodes could explain Ellie’s immunity.

Ashley Johnson may be in line to play Ellie’s late mother. This is said to have been cast for the series and previously impersonated Ellie herself in the games as motion capture and voice actress.

Her appearance on the HBO series would not only be a nice Easter egg for fans of the “Last of Us” games and a successful “respect” for the video game series, but also a perfect opportunity to explain Ellie’s immunity in an understandable way on the series as well .