It's surreal watching episode seven of HBO's The Last of Us knowing that it's an adaption of a video game DLC. This episode, titled "Left Behind," is monumental for that reason. Video games themselves have a difficult enough time adapting, but a DLC? Unheard of. The fact the episode is so good underlines that a DLC got a better adaptation than most high-profile video games.

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"Left Behind" is based on The Last of Us DLC of the same name. Ellie has found safe shelter for her and Joel. In her struggles to keep Joel alive, she recalls her fateful night with his best friend, Riley, who is played by Storm Reid. Most of "Left Behind" focuses on Ellie and Riley's heartbreaking story, which means other parts of the DLC do get left behind.

10 Left Behind Is Integrated Into The Main Story

Ellie looks at Riley on the mall Merry-Go-Round in episode even of HBO's The Last of Us

The most obvious deviation from the game in "Left Behind" is the fact that the story of the Left Behind DLC is now integrated into the main story. Ellie and Riley's story in the Boston shopping mall is told through a flashback memory that Ellie reflects on as she frantically tries to save Joel's life.

In the game, Left Behind is separated from the main story. The player has to select Left Behind from the main menu and start a playthrough of that with nothing carrying over to and from. The TV show equivalent to this might've been something along the lines of a limited-run spinoff series.

9 Joel Tells Ellie To Go Back To Tommy

Ellie tends to a suffering Joel in episode seven of HBO's The Last of Us

When Joel is severely injured in the game, players are left wondering if Joel actually died. In the following scene, Ellie is out hunting, which is likely going to be the start of the eighth episode, "When We Are In Need." It takes a good while into the "Lakeside Resort" chapter before players get reassurance that Ellie isn't truly on her own.

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Since "Left Behind" covers the events of the Left Behind DLC, viewers immediately find relief in knowing Joel is still alive. Joel is even conscious enough to tell Ellie to go back to Jackson and get Tommy, which Ellie at first adheres to.

8 Ellie's Journey To Find Aid Is Skipped

Ellie looks at a statue and an escalator during the present day mall portion of the Left Behind DLC in The Last of Us Remastered

Left Behind juxtaposes two shopping malls: the one Ellie and Riley explore in the past and the one Ellie explores in the present. In the present, Ellie is trying to find anything and everything that can help save Joel. Ellie fights off both Infected and human enemies before finally finding a first aid kit on a helicopter teetering above the wreckage of the mall.

These events are skipped in "Left Behind." Ellie and Joel are already at the safehouse featured in the "Lakeside Resort" chapter of the game. As Ellie goes to leave the house, she remembers what happened with her and Riley. This compels Ellie to stay and search the house. Ellie eventually finds a needle and a spool of thread, which she uses to stitch Joel's wound.

7 A Day In The Life Of Ellie

Captain Kwong lectures Ellie in his office in episode seven of HBO's The Last of Us

Ellie's flashbacks in the show don't begin just before reuniting with Riley like in the game. It begins the day of. Viewers get a look at a normal day of training at the FEDRA boarding school. Ellie is bullied by a girl named Bethany, who Ellie fights. Bethany received 15 stitches and Ellie received a black eye.

Ellie then finds herself sitting in the office of Captain Kwong who lectures her about how she can right the course and become a leader, one who could dish out orders to someone like Bethany. Ellie reluctantly agrees to try to do better before heading back to her room.

6 Ellie's First Time At The Mall

Ellie looks on at the illuminated mall in episode seven of HBO's The Last of US

When Riley brings Ellie to the shopping mall, Ellie is shocked to know the mall is not only functioning, but also mostly free of Infected. In the game, this wasn't Ellie's first time at the mall. The mall is significant to Ellie and Riley because they explored it just after meeting for the first time.

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The events of this meeting and their first mall visit aren't actually told in the game, but rather in the four-issue comic The Last of Us: American Dreams. The show makes no mention of Winston, who was a character from American Dreams and whose encampment is where Ellie and Riley get their alcohol from in the game. Ellie also meets Marlene in American Dreams, something she never knowingly did in the show prior to her infection.

5 Ellie Actually Plays Mortal Kombat II

Riley inserts coins into a Mortal Kombat II arcade cabinet as Ellie eaglerly awaits to play in episode seven in HBO's The Last of Us

HBO's The Last of Us has already established that the fictional game, The Turning, does not exist in its universe. A game that was clearly inspired by Mortal Kombat was replaced by Mortal Kombat II itself. Ellie even has an MKII poster in her room and likely has become a fan thanks to reading about it in old magazines.

In "Left Behind," Ellie gets a chance to play MKII where she and Riley play a few rounds. They even pull off a few Fatalities. In the game, the arcade cabinet for The Turning is broken, so Riley has Ellie close her eyes as she describes a fight that Ellie "plays."

4 Riley Was Stationed At The Mall

Ellie holds a homemade bomb and demands an explaination from Riley in episode seven of HBO's The Last of Us

After Ellie and Riley take pictures at a photobooth, Riley takes Ellie to her room. Rather, a sleeping bag in a kitchen at the food court. There, Riley gives Ellie the second volume of the joke book as she does in the game. However, Ellie discovers a stockpile of homemade bombs.

Ellie realizes that Riley is stationed at the mall and is meant to keep watch over this stockpile. Ellie is angry because these bombs can eventually be used to kill her. Riley then reveals that she's being moved to the Atlanta Quarantine Zone. Ellie furiously leaves, but before Ellie heads out of the mall, she has second thoughts and returns to Riley.

3 Party Store & Department Store Are Merged

Riley encourages Ellie to dance on a counter while wearing Halloween masks in episode seven of HBO's The Last of Us

As Ellie heads back into the mall, she hears a scream. Ellie urgently searches for Riley before finding her in a party store. The scream comes from a Halloween decoration. This party store is set later in the story than it was in Left Behind. Ellie and Riley don't explore the Halloween store, either, although it would've been fun to have an extra half hour of Ellie asking "Skeleseer" questions about her future.

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In "Left Behind," the party store is merged with the department store as Ellie and Riley put on Halloween masks and dance on top of a counter. The two share a kiss, but this moment of happiness is short-lived.

2 No Water Gun Fight

Ellie taunts Riley while holding a water gun in the Left Behind DLC in The Last of Us Part I

Because the party store and department store are merged, this leaves Ellie and Riley's water gun fight missing. In Left Behind, Riley manages to get back water guns that were previously confiscated at the boarding school.

Ellie and Riley have a competition where they sneak around the store and try to soak each other. Ellie and Riley's competitive bonding in the show was over MKII, instead. Not only was there not a water gun fight in the show, but there also wasn't a brick-throwing competition either. Ellie is no "Brick Master" in the show.

1 Only One Infected

Ellie on the ground after being attacked by an Infected in episode seven of HBO's The Last of Us

All good things must come to an end. Just as Ellie starts to convince Riley to leave the Fireflies, they are interrupted by a lone Infected. This Infected was previously in a doll-filled toy store that appears like the one from the present-day mall from Left Behind. Ellie and Riley fight off this Infected in the party store before Ellie finally kills it. Afterward, Riley points out Ellie's Infected bite before sheepishly revealing her own bite.

In the game, Ellie and Riley flee the department store chased by a hoard of Infected. Ellie and Riley manage the escape, but not before each is bitten. The story in both the game and show progresses the same with Ellie reacting to her bite violently and Riley declaring that the two should "be all poetic and lose our minds together."

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