The Last of Us
“I'm sorry”: an inscription on a grave, accompanied by a toy. The finale of the fifth episode of The Last of Us series marked another (another) important chapter, once again painful and followed by the disappearance of significant characters. Aired exclusively on Sky and streaming only on NOW, simultaneously with HBO, let's analyze the ending of the episode that marked Joel and Ellie's journey.
The series by The Last of Us WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Last of Us the series
The ending of the fifth episode of The Last of Us
Many of the elements announced during the fourth episode of The Last of Us, were revealed in episode 5. From the appearance of the clickers hidden underground in the mysterious basement, to more revelations about Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) , exclusive character of the series, up to the inevitable fate of Henry and Sam: The Last of Us satisfactorily concluded this arc or narrative, introducing novelties compared to the original title and an even more exciting and heartbreaking ending, thanks to some details added by creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.The final scenes of episode 5 of The Last of Us reveal that Sam (Keivonn Woodard) was bitten by an infected during the main action scene of the episode. This follows the story of the original game, however with some notable differences. In the game Sam is bitten in a similar sequence, shortly after Joel takes out the sniper who has Henry (Lamar Johnson), Sam and Ellie pinned down. However, the boy does not reveal that he was bitten in the original work. The two main, notable differences in episode 5 of The Last of Us in fact touch on Sam's deafness, not present in the video game, and his tragic ending. In the series, however, Sam reveals his bite to Ellie and she even tries to heal him with her blood.
The Last of Us series Ellie's attempt to heal Sam leads to a heartbreaking scene right at the end of the episode: that's why we see that the girl writes over the grave "I'm sorry" . Ellie is immune in The Last of Us and begins to think about her condition: can she do something for humanity, thanks to her particular blood? Can she really save someone? The young woman, played by Bella Ramsey, begins to show her feelings of guilt and what torments her. Ellie trying to heal Sam, makes her a much more comprehensive and complex character, which will make sense from a narrative point of view. Sam's death at this point has a greater emotional impact on the audience, while furthering the sense of frustration and inadequacy Ellie feels due to her own immunity.
Another significant plot point concluded with the episode 5 of The Last of Us was Kathleen's - the leader of the hunters revealed that he knows why Henry gave his brother to FEDRA. Though she knows she did it to save Sam from leukemia, another change to Henry and Sam's characters from the game, Kathleen refuses to forgive Henry. She states that maybe Sam should have died and that the world doesn't revolve around him simply because he's a child. She also states that children die all the time in this world, before attempting to kill Henry. Before Kathleen can kill Henry, however, she is attacked by a young girl who has been infected. Kathleen thus dies at the hands of a little girl: a sort of poetic justice for the end of her character who showed no empathy for Sam's condition.