Love is a beautiful thing, especially in the murky world of The last of us. So it’s heartwarming to see a loving tribute from the 2013 PlayStation exclusive make its way to Craig Mazin’s HBO drama – especially when it’s about an Easter egg that one developer describes as “silly”.
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HBO’s The last of uswhich wrapped up its first season finale episode over the weekend multiple freedoms with the narration of the game. Instead of repeating the same story beat after beat, the TV series fleshes out Joel’s character, expands the relationship between Bill and FrankAnd makes Tess pretty naughty. But while there are many differences between the game and the show, a lot has also stayed the same, including one particular Easter egg, former Naughty Dog designer Peter Field, adding to the original The last of us. Spoilers for the game are just below.
A delightful, “silly” tribute in The last of us
Field, who now works at Media Molecule as the lead designer on the Creator game dreams, tweeted “a silly Easter egg” that was in the 2013 game that made its way into the 2023 show. The Easter Egg is the name of a baseball field that Joel and Ellie stumble across. Field (get it?) named it “Bethany Clare Field” after his wife, and gave a little nod to his lover in a fairly inconsequential room.
It seems that the folks behind the HBO series are taking a lot of care to stay true to the original game since the field in question found its way onto the show.
“I’m still torn,” Field tweeted on March 13. “A silly Easter egg I put in the original The last of us The game somehow survived the transition to live-action TV. It’s blurry, but it’s definitely there! I can’t imagine the HBO team knowing that the baseball field’s name was a tribute to my wife.”
The last of us Field isn’t real, but love is
The baseball field that Field is talking about is here Salt Lake Citythe last place during Ellie and Joel’s journey The last of us Game. After chasing the Fireflies back to Utah, the duo find themselves in the lush metropolis overgrown with swamps, trees and vines. The two navigate through some run-down buildings before coming to a beautiful clearing lined with a vibrant green field and a family of grazing giraffes. On the right is a scoreboard that, when enlarged and upgraded, clearly reads “Bethany Clare Field”.
In the last episode of The last of us Season 1 titled “Look for the lightEllie and Joel travel through Salt Lake City, which, much like the game, marks the end of their journey. Without giving too much away, the duo head to a similarly beautiful clearing with grass and giraffes grazing. As Field points out, the text is blurry, but if you zoom in and enhance it, you can see his wife’s name on the scoreboard.
field tells my city via Twitter DMs that the devs added loads because the Naughty Dog team didn’t have to check with legal to put easter eggs in the game [them] Back then.” For his part, he snuck in “album covers of photos of friends and family and their cats” that were apparently removed from the PS4 remaster “due to texture budgets.” The only reason he believed the baseball field’s name stuck through was that his and his wife’s last name was Field, so naming a baseball field as such felt “appropriately believable and hidden” and had them giggling every time they caught a glimpse. Field has the Easter egg, however didn’t see it himself Although he did watch the HBO show, it was someone else on Twitter who pointed out the “minor detail.”
“Seeing the Easter egg on the TV show really blew my mind,” Field said. “Of all the tiny details that survived in two ports of the game and then on a TV show, the one that probably means the most to me, but few people knew about, is Beth’s baseball field, the one that got through . I was pointed out a Reddit thread by the VFX artist at WETA FX who worked on the recording. They mentioned that they had no idea it was a meaningful honor. They just wanted to make the space as authentic as possible to the original game, so they copied that particular prop exactly. It looks like it might actually be the exact prop ELEPHANT part One! After that, a few more people who worked on the show came forward to say they had no idea either! I love how this unlikely little detail has managed to persist and survive across multiple mediums. So damn cool!”
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This is such a touching tribute. The last of us is a devastating game, an example of how far people will sometimes go to protect those they love. By honoring his wife with this Easter egg, I would say Field does justice to the theme.
Update 03/15/23 10:00 AM ET: This story has been updated to include some quotes from former Naughty Dog designer Peter Field about the Easter egg.
