The following contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 1, Episode 1, "When You're Lost in the Darkness," which debuted Sunday, Jan. 15 on HBO.
Opening on a 1968 TV broadcast of two scientists discussing the possibilities of a catastrophic pandemic, The Last of Us ensures that the HBO series won't follow all the same beats as the video game. For better or worse, The Last of Us asks viewers to have faith in major changes that will have significant implications down the line.
As of the premiere episode, the show presents many changes that only minimally impact the story. These include the Miller family's ethnicity, the introduction to Ellie, Joel and Tess' relationship and how Sarah discovers the infected for the first time. Other elements such as the year of the outbreak, Joel and Tommy's brotherly relationship, and new features of the virus have many more implications for the series' future. That being said, there are probably more changes to come in the upcoming episodes. As such, "When You're Lost in the Darkness" is only the beginning.
The Last of Us' Outbreak Year Makes a Big Jump
Consistent with the game, The Last of Us' outbreak "officially" begins on Joel's birthday. Known as "Outbreak Day," the Cordyceps brain infection begins to cause chaos on Sept. 26, 2013 and reaches Austin in the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2013. While the days are the same in both the game and show, the HBO series jumps back a decade to make Outbreak Day occur in 2003.
While it doesn't seem like that big of a deal considering civilization falls and won't progress either way, the 2003 setting has major political and cultural implications. Being set two years after 9/11 means many people -- including Sarah -- first suspect that the virus was spread by terrorists. The change in the year also means that, technically, the series' current storyline is set in 2023. Writer Craig Mazin claimed it felt like the show was a "parallel universe" compared to the real world. To many fans' disappointment though, pushing the outbreak back 10 years means Joel and Ellie's song "Future Days" won't be included in the series since it was released in 2013 by Pearl Jam.
Joel and Tommy Have a Better Relationship in the Show
Joel and Tommy's relationship in the video game is strained, to say the least. While the brothers are on good terms in The Last of Us Part II, it wasn't always this way. Sometime before the 20-year time jump, Tommy joined the Fireflies which caused a rift between him and Joel. Eventually, Tommy quit the Fireflies and moved out to Wyoming, which Joel knew about. They were at least looking out for one another.
The series takes the liberty to change Joel and Tommy's relationship completely by citing Joel's motivation to help Ellie as a way to find Tommy. The first episode sets up a narrative that, despite their rift, Joel and Tommy are in constant contact with one another until Tommy stops answering his radio calls. While hundreds of miles separate them, Joel is willing to do whatever it takes to find his little brother, showing how much he truly still cares for him.
The Virus Has More Frightening Features in the Show
One of the key aspects of the Cordyceps virus in the game is spores, which is an airborne version of the virus that will infect people almost immediately. However, spores don't even exist in the show -- which is probably one of the most controversial changes yet. Ellie being able to breathe in spores is the entire reason Joel believes she's immune, so it's hard to believe that a notoriously skeptical Joel will easily believe that Ellie is immune.
But that doesn't mean something hasn't taken the spores' place. If viewers look closely at Mrs. Adler's infected mother in the opening sequence, they'll notice that she has a parasite growing out of her mouth. This part of the virus certainly doesn't exist in the game and may introduce new complications for the survivors as they deal with the infected outside the quarantine zone walls. More fascinating is that this new addition to the virus -- plus the other changes made in the first episode -- provides an opportunity to keep things fresh for fans of the video game.