15 Harrowing Moments From The ‘Last of Us’ Franchise

Brothers Henry and Sam were incredibly close, though Henry, the eldest, was a bit more protective than Sam may have liked. Regardless, they kept each other safe, and it was clear through interactions with them that they would perish for one another. The two survived Hartford together and first met Ellie and Joel in an apartment building. 

They initially fight but become allies, to a point. They don't trust one another, but trust is a rare commodity when the world has come to an end. Still, they travel together and make it through some challenging encounters. Eventually, they arrive at a radio tower and trade stories before going to sleep.

The following morning, Ellie goes to wake up Sam but finds that he's turned into a runner, having been infected the previous day. Joel tries to take him out, but Henry stops him. He then shoots his brother in the head, putting him down, and turns his piece on Joel. He blames Joel for what happened to his brother, and before he can be stopped, he shoots himself in the head.

The Last of Us comes swinging right out of the gate with its introduction, and it's a real gut punch. The intro features cinematics and playable moments that depict the chaos in Austin, Texas, as the world falls apart. Joel, Tommy, and Sarah struggle to make it to safety, but it all comes to an end with Sarah's demise.

It all begins relatively normally but quickly escalates into the horror that the world has become. There are plenty of close calls and near misses, but as the mayhem escalates and the situation worsens, it becomes clear that not everyone is getting out alive. After Joel and Sarah arrive at a military checkpoint, they are fired upon, and Sarah is struck in the abdomen.

Tommy saves them by taking out the soldier, but Sarah is mortally wounded. She begins crying, and Joel attempts to help her, but his attempts are futile. He holds her in his arms while he tries to comfort her, but her crying abruptly stops. She lays dead with her eyes open as her father cries… and that is how the game begins.

The opening of The Last of Us Part II includes the introduction of Abby, a former Firefly who now fights as a member of the Washington Liberation Front in its conflict with the Seraphites. Joel and Tommy rescue Abby, but she reveals herself to be Jerry's daughter and wants revenge for what Joel did to her father (Jerry was the doctor Joel wiped out to save Ellie at the end of The Last of Us).

The group jumps Joel and Tommy, leaving Abby to torment the man who eliminated her father. Abby doesn't hold back in her mistreatment of Joel, and the scene is insanely hard to watch. She begins by having her men tourniquet his leg, ensuring he won't bleed out.

She then has her men clear out of the room and picks up a golf club, which she uses to beat the snot out of Joel. He's left a bloody, pulpy mess as Ellie rushes in to rescue him, only to be detained herself. As Ellie watches, Abby bashes in Joel's skull with the club, killing him.

While Joel is recovering, Ellie takes on the role of protector throughout the winter. She takes to the role well, but when she is met by David and James while hunting, she immediately becomes suspicious of David. When infected strike, they work together, but before long, Ellie is captured by David when she lures him away from Joel's location.

She awakens in a cage, seeing James break down a corpse. Soon after, she is taken to suffer the same fate, but she fights back, getting her hands on a knife and putting it in James' neck. She and David struggle and lose consciousness inside a burning restaurant. They recover and fight, but Ellie gets the upper hand and hacks David repeatedly with a machete before Joel finds her.

When Joel awakens in a hospital at the end of the first game, he's greeted by Fireflies who inform him that Ellie is being prepped for surgery. Due to her immunity to CBI, the Fireflies believe they can extract the infected tissue and reverse engineer a vaccine. As he's told this, Joel realizes they would have to terminate Ellie to create the cure, which doesn't sit well with him. At all.

He later finds her on a surgical table with a couple of doctors standing over her. She's not conscious, and the doctors attempt to convince Joel to let them proceed. He fells one and takes out a couple of assistants before scooping up Ellie and taking her out of the hospital.

Marlene meets him in the parking lot and threatens him. Once more, she tries to convince him to let them proceed, but he's unwilling to listen. The scene then cuts to Joel driving away, seemingly alone. In reality, he has Ellie in the vehicle and lies to her about what happened as they drive to safety.

The Last of Us: Left Behind is a beloved standalone DLC released not too long after the first game. The game serves as a prequel to the events of The Last of Us and tells a story that is somewhat similar to the comic book, The Last of Us: American Dreams, as it focuses on Ellie's relationship with Riley.

Left Behind concludes with Ellie and Riley fighting off infected, and in the process, they too are infected. Upon realizing they will both turn, the girls sit together, commiserating over their eventual demise. They have the following harrowing conversation:

Riley: The way I see it, we have two options. Option one, we take the easy way out. It's quick and painless. I'm not a fan of option one. Two, we fight. 

Ellie: Fight for what? We're going to turn into one of those things.

Riley: There are a million ways we should have died before today. And a million ways we can die before tomorrow. But we fight for every second we get to spend together. Whether it's two minutes or two days, we don't give that up. I don't want to give that up. My vote let's just wait it out. We can be all poetic and lose our minds together.