The Last of Us introduced fans to a broken world where Ellie stood as someone who had the ability to protect humanity from any further damage. The game and the HBO series revealed that, unlike other humans, Ellie is special as she is immune to the Cordyceps infection that transformed the majority of the civilization into walking corpses. However, while the biggest secret was revealed in the Season 1 finale, we recall the events that made Ellie the beacon of hope for humanity.
Spoilers Warning:
This post contains spoilers about the story of The Last of Us Part 2 video game and season 2 of the TV show, so proceed with caution.
Ellie’s Immunity to the Cordyceps Virus Explained
Ellie was conceived during the outbreak, and when the girl was about to be born, her mother was chased by an infected. Anna (Ellie’s mother) hid in an abandoned house, but she could not stop the infected from entering the premises of her hideout. She tried hard but eventually got bitten, and that’s exactly when Ellie was born.
Anna cut the umbilical cord immediately so that the virus that was transferred to her body by the zombie wouldn’t do any damage to her daughter. Even though the infection didn’t take control of Ellie’s body, a small portion reached the infant’s brain, making her a carrier.
That means Ellie became someone who would never get infected, no matter how many times she was bitten. That was also why the Fireflies wanted her to be delivered to the headquarters safely. So, they hired Joel for the colossal task. Well, after spending some time with the girl and forming an emotional bond, Joel snatched the chance of becoming humanity’s savior from Ellie and pushed the young girl to face the survivor’s guilt.
When Does Ellie Learn About Her Immunity?
Ellie wasn’t familiar with her unique immunity until the time when she and Riley were ambushed by an infected in the mall. While the latter succumbed to the infection, Ellie remained unaffected, and that event shattered her to the core as she had to shoot her best friend. Ellie shooting Riley was not shown explicitly either in the video game or in the TLOU TV series.
However, the girl hinted at it several times in front of Joel, saying that she had to shoot someone in the past. Regardless, that same heartbreaking experience that Ellie had to go through also revealed to her that she can’t ever get infected.
