The Last of Us differences between the final episode and the game

The season finale of The Last of Us aired on Monday, bringing to a close Joel and Ellie’s treacherous journey across the post-apocalyptic United States. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, HBO’s hit drama – based on the 2013 video game of the same name – has received universal acclaim and attracted an impressive viewership in both the UK and US.

In the explosive finale – titled Look for the Light – Joel and Ellie finally make it to the Fireflies, who are in a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the hopes of using Ellie’s immunity to manufacture a vaccine. The series has for the most part been a faithful adaptation of the video game, with only some slight differences, including characters receiving more fleshed out development and backstories, or certain chapters of the game being skipped.

The game has been praised for its storytelling and its dialogue, which lends itself well to a live-action adaptation. It is no wonder then that the series has been so faithful given the source material is so highly regarded.

READ MORE: HBO The Last of Us will take ‘more than one’ season to adapt Part II video game

But there are some slight differences. So here, we break down the main differences – and similarities – between The Last of Us season finale and the closing chapter of the video game:

A new character introduced in the climactic episode of The Last of Us is Ellie’s mother, Anna. Played by original Ellie voice and motion-capture actress Ashley Johnson, a pregnant Anna is seen in a flashback being attacked and infected with the Cordyceps fungus which she then passes to Ellie as she is giving birth, explaining how Ellie was born with immunity to the infection.

When Marlene arrives to find Anna holding her newborn,