The following article contains spoilers for The Last of Us: Left Behind and HBO's The Last of Us, Season 1 Episode 7: "Left Behind."
In its seventh episode, HBO's The Last of Us introduced Riley Abel, a key figure from Ellie William's past in the Boston Quarantine Zone, by adapting the prequel expansion game The Last of Us: Left Behind.
Storm Reid, known for her roles in A Wrinkle in Time and Euphoria, portrayed Riley in Ellie's Bostonian flashbacks as the pun-loving survivor worked in the present to heal Joel Miller in Wyoming. While HBO's The Last of Us has altered its source material and expanded on its post-apocalyptic world, "Left Behind" provides a fairly faithful adaptation of the game expansion from which it derives its title. The episode caught audiences up on the events of Ellie's life that led to her meeting Joel and discovering her immunity by losing Riley.
Riley and Ellie in The Last of Us
Bella Ramsey's closed-off and Walkman-wielding Ellie did not form many connections in the Federal Disaster Response Agency's military school. The rebellious aspiring Firefly Riley notably broke through Ellie's defenses to become her best friend and one of her first romantic sparks. In addition to the expansion game, the relationship between the two characters was further explored in The Last of Us: American Dreams, an in-universe comic from Neil Druckman and Faith Erin Hicks.
HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us: Left Behind documented Riley and Ellie's last adventure together as they made their way through an abandoned mall in Boston. Players were treated to iconic moments from the expansion, such as Ellie and Riley's photo booth scene, the carousel and their first kiss. An encounter with an infected brought the duo's fun and games to a tragic end, deviating slightly from the game in which the two teenagers faced off against a large horde. Through this incident, Ellie discovered her immunity but at a high emotional cost. Throughout her journey with Joel in the series, Ellie has made vague references to her past tragedies that fans of the source material have been clamoring to see fleshed out on screen.
The present plot line between Ellie and Pedro Pascal's Joel also underwent some minor changes from The Last of Us: Left Behind. Instead of including an abandoned helicopter set piece, the television series took a simpler approach and had Ellie dress Joel's wound with a needle and thread found within the house she secluded them in.
HBO has already confirmed The Last of Us Season 2. The final two episodes of Season 1 will close out with the penultimate episode on Sunday, March 5, and the subsequent finale on Sunday, March 12.
Source: HBO