Presenting, the four wonders of the mall! Oh, it's five. This is the run of the series showing Ellie's past and how she found out for the first time that she is immune but she had to lose someone along the way. The Last of Us Episode 8, the penultimate is next, prepare with everything you need to know here!
Warning! This portion may contain spoilers for The Last of Us. Read at your own risk!
What Happened Before The Last of Us Episode 8?
The Last of Us Episode 7, Left Behind, just when Ellie and Joel are starting to get along with each other, Joel gets a life-threatening hit from a raider and Ellie is panicking on how to go on without Joel on her side.
Despite taking a fatal blow, Joel instructs Ellie to go north and meet with Tommy. Ellie puts the jacket of Joel on him before she takes her things and proceed to the door, then, her flashback starts, the one where she gets bit by an infected.
Ellie, at the FEDRA training school, while listening to music, jogs along with other trainees, and one girl, Bethany, purposely bumps into her because they know her friend is not there anymore. Her walkman falls and she beats Bethany up, sending Ellie to the captain's office.
Ellie gets a black eye and she gets two options from Captain Kwong: either stay like a grunt throughout her life where she would probably get a lower position on the job or let go of her pride and maybe become an officer one day because Kwong saw a potential leader in Ellie.
Captain Kwong also reveals that if FEDRA is not there, people would start killing each other or die of starvation, similar to what happened in the Kansas City quarantine zone where, in the span of a week and a half, the infected swarmed them.
Ellie's room is full of stuff from her fascination about the life before the outbreak, even her copy of the first volume of the joke book and some posters of games like Mortal Kombat, and more, and she is reading the comic book that she and Sam loved, Savage Starlight.
When the lights are out, Ellie wakes up to a hand covering her mouth and it is none other than her best friend, Riley, who left her in the middle of everything to run away, then, she joined the Fireflies. Riley invites Ellie to a night out and they proceed in their journey.
Ellie gives in, of course, and they stopped by through a building where a dead man holds onto a bottle full of alcoholic drink and some pills. The guy even fell, much to their surprise, but the two found it as a way to laugh off and continue going through one building after another.
Riley shows Ellie a new section of the quarantine zone and explains that since the population of the place is growing, they need new buildings, thus, there is electricity on a new part of the quarantine zone that is yet to be opened to the public. Also, there's the place where Riley is taking Ellie: the mall.
Riley reveals to Ellie that she will be enlightened about the four wonders of the mall. Make that five, when Ellie discovers what an escalator is like. Then, they pass by some shops that are either full or ransacked by the people when the outbreak started.
The first wonder of the mall: the carousel. Ellie is hyped to see a magical horse with thousands of lights going round and round and she appreciates what Riley showed her. Still, Ellie wants to know more about why Riley left the FEDRA academy.
The second wonder of the mall: a photobooth. Growing up in the midst of the outbreak, both Ellie and Riley are not techies at all. They have the slightest knowledge about it and Ellie even asks if that is a time machine. They take snaps together but the ink may have already dried up, only one photo is quite clear.
The third wonder of the mall: the arcade. Ellie is a huge game fan and she even has a poster of Mortal Kombat II hanged on her wall. As Riley busted up some change, she takes Ellie to the arcade game of Mortal Kombat where they played as Raider and Mileena.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, there is a lone infected that rests inside the doll store and with the lights and noise, he wakes up.
Meanwhile, Ellie starts to realize something so she excuses herself to Riley that she will just continue their journey tomorrow and meet at the mall. However, Riley stops her there through baiting her with a gift because she knows that Ellie loves gifts.
They go through a taco shop where a copy of No Pun Intended Volume Too is waiting for her. However, that was not enough to keep Ellie there. As soon as Ellie sees the bombs of the Fireflies and some of their stuff, Ellie found out about the true reason why Riley went back to her: to say goodbye.
As Ellie always mentions, the people she loves are always either leaving her or dying, Ellie cannot process the emotion on the spot. She lashes out and makes her way out but she hurriedly comes back as she hears some screams so she frantically looks for Riley.
The fourth wonder of the mall: the Halloween store. Riley thought Ellie would love that place to be the last wonder. The screams are from a Halloween display and the two have a heart to heart talk about the decision of Riley.
Riley puts out Ellie's walkman and connects it to the speakers where they have a little dance party while wearing some Halloween masks and as soon as Ellie takes it off, before they say goodbye, Ellie kisses Riley and asks her to stay, to which, Riley agrees.
Breaking the moment, however, is the infected who comes in charging to both Riley and Ellie. Even if they struggled a bit, Ellie lands the final blow on the infected, killing it. Unfortunately, they are both bit. Ellie has a bite on her arm while Riley has one on her hand.
Ellie's rage comes out and she starts smashing the glass tables one by one while Riley talks to her on how they would deal with what just happened. They share an embrace and everybody knows that one of them comes out unharmed.
The scene cuts to the present when Ellie is just about to open the door to leave but she decides that she will not leave Joel behind. She scrambles through the cabinets and drawers to get anything that could help Joel and eventually, she gets a needle and thread to close the wound of Joel.
READ MORE: HBO’s The Last of Us Was Almost An Animated TV Show
The Last of Us Episode 8 Spoilers, Theories, and Leaks
The Last of Us Episode 7 brought some light to the infamous past of Ellie, the first time she got bit by an infected and what ensued in the abandoned mall that she told Tess about in Episode 2. While it has some differences to the game, it showed the acting prowess of the two young actresses.
As the series approaches to the end of Season 1, everyone's eyes are peeled for the next run of the show, The Last of Us Episode 8, being the penultimate episode.
Coming in on The Last of Us Episode 8 preview is the struggle of Ellie as she looks after Joel on her own while he is still recovering from the stab wound from Episode 6. Here, Ellie encounters a group of survivors with David who offers Ellie a place with them.
There's a familiar voice, too, Troy Baker who voices Joel in the game, and he plays the role of James, a member of the survivor group who thinks that it may be the will of God for Ellie to die -- one less mouth to feed.
In the game, David and his group are actually cannibals that they kidnap Ellie where Ellie takes a last stand in a burning building. As David tries to strangle Ellie, she gets ahold of a machete and ends up killing David.
Whether the series would adapt this storyline remains to be a question but given that the preview shows Ellie trying to fend for her own while Joel is recovering and she encounters a group, plus there's some parts of the burning building, it may, more or less, be the same as the game.
Where to Watch The Last of Us Episode 8?
The Last of Us is exclusively releasing on HBO and HBO Max where one can get a roster of the shows of the streaming platform for a plan starting at $9.99 per month to $15.99 per month following the price hike and depending on the inclusions of the plan whether it has advertisements or not.
When is the Release Date and Time of The Last of Us Episode 8?
The Last of Us Episode 8 is slated to come out on HBO and HBO Max on March 5, 2023 at 9 PM EST/ 6 PM PT. Subtitles will also be available with the episode release.
The Last of Us Episode 8 is expected to have 51 minutes, five minutes shorter than the previous episode.
The Last of Us Episode 8 Countdown
The Last of Us Episode 8 Countdown
Find out more about The Last of Us Episode 8 here on EpicStream!
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!